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Everybody was expecting it to be bad, but it’s just so incredibly bad: of the most powerful storms ever recorded killed at least 10,000 people in the central Philippines, a senior police official said on Sunday, as huge waves struck down poor villages and a developed city alike, destroying 70-80 percent of all buildings in […]
A laudable, ambitious initiative is nearing fruition: the US$90-million Transportable Array, a moveable grid of seismometers that blankets America. Since 2004, the set of 400 seismometers, loaded on trucks, have gradually marched, from the Pacific coast across the Rocky Mountains and the Great Plains and is finally reaching the eastern coastline. Whenever they arrive at […]
The world is spending half a trillion dollars on fossil fuel subsidies every year, according to a new report released by the Overseas Development Institude (ODI). Let me say that again: about $500.000.000.000 are spent each year with the aim of promoting the beneficial economic and social outcomes of the oil industry – that’s what […]
Black holes, the most massive objects in the Universe that we know of, which exert a gravitational force so big that even light can’t escape, come in one shape, but a variety of sizes; on the smaller end, you have stellar black holes, which take shape when a sufficiently large star collapses into itself, and […]
The fastest way to get from any point A to any point B is through a straight line – but when your point A is on a mountain, and your point B is on another mountain, that’s pretty hard to work out. According to architect Arturo Tedeschi (A>T), that’s also boring, so they came up with a […]
Why the US is against GM labeling is beyond me. In the European Union, all products must clearly state if they contain or not genetically modified organisms. However, in the United States, where over 60 percent of processed foods contain a genetically altered ingredient, GM labeling is not required, and consumers remain largely unconcerned about […]
Researchers have found that methane-decomposing bacteria from hot springs need rare earths to produce the energy they need to survive. Rare Earth Elemenets (REE), or rare earth metals as they are sometimes called are a group of 17 chemical elements in the periodic table, specifically the so-called lanthanides plus scandium and yttrium. They are among […]
Parents usually don’t encourage their kids to play computer games, even though by now, several studies have established significant benefits that come with the game. This most recent study from the Max Planck Institute showed that even playing a game as simple as Super Mario 64 results in increased size in brain regions responsible for […]
As we were telling you a while back, the Western Black Rhino is officially extinct. Poaching, the loss of habitat, war… it was too much for the rhino to handle, and now, the species is extinct. But things don’t look especially better for other rhino species, and if something drastic doesn’t happen soon, we’ll soon […]
Hybrid nuclear plants, working in conjunction with geothermal, shale oil, or hydrogen production could help slow climate change, and provide more cheap energy – when used . More than the sum of its parts Many efforts have tried to smooth the transition of renewable energy and fill in its gaps, and a rather viable, yet […]
In 2012, in the US, the fast food industry spent $4.6 billion to advertise (mostly unhealthy products) – with children and teens being the main target audiences. A new report released by the Yale Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity highlights some minor improvements such as healthier sides and beverages in most restaurants’ kids’ […]
A giant platypus fossil, measuring more than 1m long (3ft) was discovered in Queensland, Australia. The animal lived 5-15 million years ago, as paleontologists explain in the journal Vertebrate Paleontology. Until now, the oldest fossil was dated 100.000 years ago. As if the evolutionary status of the platypus wasn’t extraordinarily complicated as it is, this […]
A statistical analysis of observations based on the Kepler telescope indicates that 20 percent of all stars in the Milky Way host earth-sized planets, a significant part of which could potentially be habitable. Habitable planets in the Milky Way NASA’s Kepler telescope is crippled – it’s reached the end of its four year mission, but […]
According to a new research published in Psychological Science, the width of blood vessels in the retina may indicate your brain health. Previous studies have already shown that younger people who score relatively low on IQ tests tend to be poorer and have a shorter lifespan — however, it’s still a matter of debate if […]
It’s a big, bad, lava world – and according to what we know about astronomy, it simply shouldn’t exist. Kepler-78b circles its star every 8 and 1/2 hours, featuring one of the tightest known orbtits. According to currently accepted theories on planetary formation, it couldn’t have formed so close to its star, nor could it […]
The two drugs which are set for approval, simeprevir and sofosbuvir, work in conjunction with another drug called ribavirin, and eliminate hepatitis C in over 80% of all cases – and they do this without the use of interferon. Hepatitis, interferon and drug cocktails For decades, people with the hepatitis C virus (HCV) have had […]
Growing up wasn’t easy for 14 year old Jake Zeldin; his stutter was so bad that he sometimes finds it extremely hard to finish a word, let alone a sentence. But he didn’t let that get in his way, and he found a most unlikely ally – rap. From Jake Zeldin to Lil JaXe Even […]
Researchers from North Carolina State University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Laser Zentrum Hannover have worked together to discover a natural compound which can be used in the 3D printing process of creating medical implants out of non-toxic polymers. The compound goes by the name riboflavin, but is better known as […]
A group of paleontologists believe that the same event that killed off the dinosaurs some 66 million years ago also caused a widespread extinction in bee populations. Currently, the widely accepted theory is that an asteroid or comet struck our planet 66 million years ago (the Cretaceous-Paleogene event, or K-Pg event), the impact and its […]
It’s not the workload that usually causes depression – it’s an unfair boss and an unfair environment which usually does the trick. Researchers handed out questionnaires to 4,500 public employees at Danish schools, hospitals, nurseries, offices, etc and also conducted interviews with employees suffering from clinical depression; they also conducted lab research on their saliva, […]
Judging by the emails we get, lots of our readers take Tylenol on a (mostly) regular basis, and lots of you are worried about its effects. As I already discussed how to take it responsibly in a previous post, now I’ll talk about using it with infants. Tylenol (which is also paracetamol or acetaminophen depending […]
I’ve received lots of questions about this picture which we posted on our Facebook a few days ago (we sometimes post things only there, so be sure to follow us for the full ZME experience). The picture describes the ‘Before and after’ stages of bioremediation in Manila, the capital of Philippines; in this article, I’ll […]
Residents in China’s northeast region of Harbin are experiencing severe levels of smog pollution, which reduced the visibility to just 10 meters and virtually paralyzed all activities. Today (Monday morning), all schools and airports were closed and public transportation is limited. This is certainly not the first time in recent years when China was faced […]
Researchers from the University of Washington have come up with a software program that helps blind people (and not only) make accurate yoga poses. The software watches the user’s movements and gives spoken, simple and easy to understand feedback on what to change to complete a yoga pose. “My hope for this technology is for […]
Observations from NASA’s Kepler spacecraft have for the first time uncovered a ’tilted’ solar system, with two planets orbiting a star at a 45-degree angle. Did you ever wonder why the planets from our Solar System are all in the same plane? They formed from a flat disc of gas and dust revolving around the […]
A new, controversial analysis of a skull suggests that Homo habilis, Homo rudolfensis and Homo erectus were in fact the same species, something which would force scientists rewrite a big page of anthropology. Researchers compared the anatomical features of the of a 1.8-million-year-old fossil skull with those of four other skulls from the same excavation […]
Just 1 out of 5 children in Britain are still connected to nature, and there’s no reason to believe that things lie any differently in the western world. What does ‘connected to nature’ mean? Saying that someone is or isn’t connected to nature, at an intuitive level, is often times fairly simple. But making that […]
A drug treated with a special dye allows doctors to monitor real-time bacterial growth. Despite advancements in technology and despite all the effort put in by doctors, bacteria often manage to sneak onto medical implants such as bone screws, where they cause severe, possibly life-threatening infections. A new research published in Nature Communications suggests using […]
Lots of children have imaginary friends, something which is generally frowned upon by adults and seen as a bad thing. But now, a study published in Experimental Child Psychology has shown that young children’s habit of talking to imaginary friends develops their inner dialogue that helps them to deal with challenging tasks now and later […]
A British company has developed colored but transparent solar cells which add just 10% to the price of the glass they are attached to. Glass and sunlight Oxford Photovoltaics, a spin-off from the University of Oxford, was able to “print” colourful glass that can generate electricity from the sun’s energy; they reported a £2m funding […]
The best way to send much-needed supplies to isolated communities following a natural disaster such as an earthquake, tsunami or volcano eruption would be to send them via converted intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), one researcher says. Usually, it’s the military “borrowing” technologies used in other fields (dynamite and the nuclear bomb, to name just two […]
A recent study was picked up a lot by the media, claiming that “Oreos are as addictive as drugs“. Just to get that out of the way as soon as possible, this headline, as flashy and attractive it is, is flawed. I’ll explain why in this post. The Study The first paragraph from their press […]
In the heart of Bangkok, Thailand’s capital, green spaces are a rarity. With the idea of creating an escape from the congested streets of Bangkok, Somdoon Architects came up with this design of two towers, each tailored for a specific type of customers, but also eco-friendly. A “green skin” covers the building providing temperature control […]
Not as unique as we thought An “emotionally competent” young ape rushes to hug another juvenile that has just been attacked. I think the idea of animals doing something “like humans” is pretty outdated as it is – so many things that we thought were unique to us have been proven to be if not […]
It almost seems too good to be true – a novel device that uses only sunlight and wastewater to produce hydrogen gas could provide a sustainable energy source, while also improving the efficiency of the waste water system. A sustainable, self-driven system In a paper published in the American Chemical Society journal ACS Nano, a […]
We’ve already written novels on how much 3D printing has evolved and what magnificent things we can accomplish through it: from printing bacteria to printing baroc rooms, from saving babies’ lives to rocket engines and from ears and cartilages to nanoscale objects, 3D printing promises to revolutionize the world we live in. Now, the European […]
Improved disaster preparedness and early warning systems in the region greatly reduced the number of casualties caused by “Super Cyclone” Phailin – no less than 800.000 people were evacuated to shelters set up in temples, schools and government buildings to avoid the path of the 140mph cyclone. Phailin resulted in 23 casualties; a comparable cyclone, […]
France’s ban on hydraulic fracking was completed, with the court upholding a 2011 law which prohibited the practice and cancelled all exploration permits. The decision posted on the court’s website said the ban “conforms to the constitution” and is not “disproportionate,” effectively protecting it from any future legal challenge. In other words, the decision is […]
What tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the active hallucinogen in marijuana can do in several diseases has been researched for decades, but now, a new study has shown that the non-hallucinogenic components of cannabis act as effective anti-cancer agents. The team from St George’s University of London was led by Dr Wai Liu; they used a number of […]
Ötzi the Iceman goes by lots of names – the Similaun Man, the Man from Hauslabjoch, the Hauslabjoch mummy, etc – but most people just call him Ötzi; he’s a well-preserved natural mummy of a man who lived about 3,300 BCE, found in the Ötztal Alps (hence the name) near the border of Austria and […]
Finding mosquitoes trapped in amber is truly exciting, but it’s not really unique – there have been several reported cases all around the world, and some people are even selling such samples (which I don’t think is a good thing, but that’s another discussion). But finding a fossilized mosquito in sediment… now that’s unique! It […]
A new, non-invasive test for Down Syndrome would allow women with high-risk pregnancies to avoid amniocentesis and in the future may provide detection early enough for treatment to improve some babies’ cognitive function, a Tufts University neonatal genetics expert told a symposium at Harvard Medical School on Tuesday. Nowadays, physicians recommend all pregnant women to […]
Urine isn’t exactly the first place you want to start looking for eye diseases – but according to a new Duke University study a patient’s urine can be linked to gene mutations that cause Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP), an inherited, degenerative disease that results in severe vision impairment and often blindness. “My collaborators, Dr. Rong Wen […]
It’s actually happening Good news – encouraging results from the longest and largest trial of a malaria vaccine could see the world’s first anti-malaria jab approved by 2015; malaria is one of the most dangerous diseases in the world, affecting over 220 million people every year (some say 300 million). The vaccine could be used […]
An international discovered a young, exotic, rogue planet – PSO J318.5-22, is just 80 light-years away from Earth and has a mass six times that of Jupiter; it was formed apporximately 12 million years ago – which makes it a newborn in terms of planets (the Earth was formed approximately 4.5 billion years ago. “We […]
It was a result so unexpected that MIT researchers first thought there was some kind of mistake – under certain conditions, putting a cracked piece of metal under tension (pulling it apart) has the reverse effect – causing the edge of the cracks to fuse together. The surprising, counterintuitive find paves the way towards self […]
A lost moon of Neptune has not been seen since its discovery in the late 1980s – until now, that is. A new announcement from the 45th Meeting of the Division for Planetary Sciences of the American Astronomical Society revealed the rediscovery of the moon of Neptune which was only glimpsed briefly back in the […]
Improve your memory, improve your reasoning and observational skills, and many more – brain training games are becoming more and more popular, and it’s not hard to see why – many people want to go to the “brain gym”, giving their mental abilities a boost. But now, a Georgia Tech research suggests that brain training […]
Martin Karplus, Michael Levitt and Arieh Warshel won the 2013 Nobel Prize For Chemistry on Wednesday “for the development of multiscale models for complex chemical systems.” Chemists used to create atomic models using balls and sticks. Some 40 years ago, Martin Karplus, Michael Levitt and Arieh Warshel laid the foundation for the powerful programs that […]
For the first time, researchers have found evidence of a comet entering Earth’s atmosphere and exploding, obliterating everything in its path before ultimately crashing down into the Sahara. Comets and asteroids Many people will probably be asking themselves “Didn’t we find comet evidence on Earth before?”. No, not really – if you did wondeer that, […]
