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The mass extinction that wiped out the dinosaurs 65 million years ago also terminated most of the lizards living on our planet at the time – including a newly identified creature that’s been named Obamadon gracilis in honor of President Barack Obama. This is when you know you’ve made it big – when you’ve already […]
Negotiating an official climate change pact is an extremely high-stake game, not only due to the threats posed to our entire civilization, but also because re-engineering the global economy to a low-carbon model will redirect a massive, multi billion dollar sum towards different sources. Of course, behind all the “save the planet” rhetoric lies the […]
In a significant blow to people who believe climate change predictions are just blowing hot air, an international study established that climate change predictions made over 20 years ago, in 1990, were actually pretty accurate. What the report did was to compare predictions from the first Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Assessment Report, published […]
Some of the human waste we flush out each day could become valuable research material – a potent source of brain cells to analyze, something extremely important for neurodegenerative diseases studies. The technique, described in Nature Methods doesn’t involve embryonic stem cells, which have serious drawbacks when transplanted such as the risk of developing tumours. […]
As a geologist, I tend to see the Earth as a dynamic setting, with all sorts of processes taking place; however, for me, 100.000 years is a really short period. For other, normal people, over the course of decades and centuries, the Earth is really static, with mountains and valleys seemingly anchored firmly in place. […]
Europe’s largest minority group, the Romani people have migrated from northwestern India, a new genetic study shows. The Romani, also known as the Roma, or Romi (depending on the language) have been originally called “gypsies” in the 16th century, because of their widely spread origin and because they were thought to come from Egypt. However, […]
If current climate change trends continue, rising sea levels could prove devastating for low lying coastal areas around the globe, placing the biodiversity at extremely high risks. Islands are especially threatened by rising sea levels, and this study conducted on the Hawaiian islands offers the most detailed and multifaceted assessment available of how island biodiversity […]
After the thrilling success of SpaceX, which is currently the best option to ship equipment and supplies in and out of the International Space Station, another company tries to fill in some big shoes: Golden Spike announces plans to offer manned space flights to the surface of the moon by 2020. The private US company […]
A strong earthquake with an epicenter off the northeastern coast of Japan shook buildings all the way to Tokyo, leading to a tsunami warning for coastal areas of the northeast. The first estimate of the magnitude was 7.4, but was then lowered to 7.3. The United States Geological Survey (USGS) explained there is no risk […]
It was a warm, drought plagued year – in July 2012, farmers in the U.S. Midwest and Plains regions watched crops wither and falter, after a series of unusually high temperatures and low precipitations. However, as the lack of rain continued to make its mark scientists observed another indication of drought in data from NASA […]
Scientists working at NASA and NOAA have released an unprecedented new look at our planet at night. A global composite image, constructed using cloud-free night images from a new NASA and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration satellite shows the firefly-like glow of the human built establishments across the planet in greater detail than ever before. […]
The Ebb and Flow satellites, known together as the Grail mission are mapping the slight differences in gravity across the Moon. The results show that the Moon received a much bigger battering than previous expected. A troubled past Beneath its surface, the Moon’s interior bears clues from the very early solar system – unlike the […]
French people are among the healthiest nations in the world, but even so, their sperm is sinking, not swimming, according to a recent study. The study analyzed the little swimmers from 26.600 men, taken in a span of 17 years, and they found a significant decrease in quality as time passes – both in concentration […]
The North Star (or Pole Star) has been a guiding light for generations of navigators. But a new study conducted on it claims that the distance from the star to Earth has been grossly overestimated – by 30 percent, actually. Polaris is about 323 light-years away from our solar system, an international team explained, 30 […]
If things continue to move in this direction, a few decades from now, we will be living in a world with only a handful of tigers: just over 3000 tigers remain in the wild today! But if you think other species have it much better, then, you’d better take a seat. Africa’s lions have lost […]
Nyasasaurus parringtoni may have not been revered by other dinosaurs, but according to a new study published in Biology Letters, he is the oldest dinosaur to walk the face of the Earth, surpassing the previous record holder by 10-15 million years. It walked on two legs, measured 2-3 m in length, had a large tail […]
Did you know that the Navy trained dolphins to find mines which often blow up? Apparently, it was a cost effective method; now, the Navy are preparing to replace the dolphins with robots, not because they were doing a bad job or because they want to do a more humane job, but because, guess what? […]
Debunking conspiracy theories Oh boy, it’s this time of the year again: grab your supplies and head on to the bunker, cause the world is ending – again. The popular Mayan conspiracy theory that the world is ending on December 21 has made a surprisingly high number of adept, and NASA had to step in. […]
Data shows that CO2 emissions in 2012 hit 35.6 billion tonnes, showing a 2.6% increase since 2011, and 58% above 1990 levels. Putting this new data into context, it becomes increasingly clear that global warming will not be kept below an increase of 2C (3.6F) above pre-industrial levels, researchers claim. The research by the […]
Researchers from the US have developed a hybrid printer that is able to print cartilage which might one day be implanted into injured patients to help them re-grow lost cartilage in vulnerable areas, such as joints. The innovative 3D printer is a mix of a mix of a traditional ink jet printer and an electrospinning […]
After no less than 48 hours of negotiating in Naples, Italy, the 20 European nations that support the European Space Agency (ESA) have finally agreed on a budget for the agency and a set of priorities which, while not delightful, doesn’t disappoint, despite the tight economic situation Europe is in at the moment. ESA’s activities, […]
Sharks are in a dire position right now, with their numbers decreasing by the millions each year. However, conservationists failed to win new protections for threatened sharks in the Atlantic Ocean at the annual meeting of a major international fisheries commission; they still have hope for following years though, because for the first time, the […]
Most physicists believe that space is not smooth, but it is rather composed of incredibly small subunits, much like a painting made of dots. This micro-landscape is believed to host numerous black holes – black holes, that is, smaller than a trillionth of a trillionth of the diameter of a hydrogen atom, popping in and […]
A few days ago, the Curiosity rover staff made an announcement that sent echoes throughout the entire scientific community – and not only. They announced that they have made a discovery ‘for the history books’, one that is so spectacular they want to quadruple check before they publish it, just to make sure it’s not […]
One of the biggest mysteries scientists are trying to figure out is how the brain encodes thoughts, perceptions and memories – at a molecular level. Nobody knows how this assembly truly works. But a study from MIT and Boston University might shed some light on that matter; the team, led by Earl Miller, the Picower […]
Autism is a condition we’re just starting to learn about, and currently, autism spectrum disorder (ASD) affects up to 1 in 110 people. The problem here is that while some drugs do treat some symptoms, none can deal with the social deficits common to ASD in humans. As it turns out, mice, can be autistic […]
The Curiosity rover is spending Thanksgiving on Mars, but its plans don’t involve eating turkey or watching football. The rover will spend the day scouting for possible sites to begin its first time drilling. “Thanksgiving isn’t so different on Mars. I had a long drive & plan to take photos. No pie, though,” the Curiosity […]
There’s already a heating debate about legalizing MDMA (the active substance) in ecstasy, especially since it’s becoming clearer and clearer that the substance can be used in therapeutic purposes – particularly in treating post-traumatic stress. Hundreds of veterans from Afghanistan and Iraq suffering from post-traumatic stress (PTS) are seeking help from a married couple who […]
It’s the already a clichee: the big, international company wants to do some highly profitable operations, threatening the native wildlife and environment. This time, the corporate behemoth is Northern Dynasty Minerals, of British Columbia, who teamed up with other companies, and now name themselves the Pebble Partnership. In the other corner lies native groups, […]
A study conducted by researchers from the Carnegie Institution for Science concluded that both Earth and Mars got their water from the same source chondritic meteorites. However, unlike Earth, Martian rocks containing atmospheric volatiles such as water don’t get recycled into the planet’s deep interior. The origin, history, and evolution of Martian water are […]
Greenhouse gas emissions are growing, growing and growing; the level of CO2 emitted by humans grew to 390.9 parts per million (ppm) – 40 percent above the levels in the pre-industrial age. Fossil fuels are the biggest are the biggest contributor to this volume, responsible for 375 billion metric tonnes (413.37 billion tons) of carbon […]
They may not take up surfing or start drinking or just being weird around cupcakes, but chimpanzees go through mid life crisis too – just like humans. A survey of 508 great apes in captivity published today shows that the animals just get the blues from the late 20s to mid 30s, and their […]
When the first major talks about global warming began, a top margin of 2 degrees was set for 2100, people slowly understood the globe is warming up much faster than previously expected, so the limit was pushed – first to 3 degrees, now to 4 degrees – and even this isn’t certain. So heat […]
A new study published by MIT revealed, for the first time, what happens inside the brain when you go unconscious. By monitoring the patients’ brain as they were given anesthetics, the researchers were able to identify a distinctive brain activity pattern that occurred as unconsciousness settles in. The pattern can be characterized by a breakdown […]
Bill Foster, member-elect of the U.S. House of Representatives wants more scientists in the office, to ensure a more analytic mindset. If you think about, you can use your fingers to count the scientists elected in recent years, and that can’t really be a good thing. Here, Scientific American published an extremely interesting interview with […]
Freestyle rapping is perhaps the most prized skill in hip hop – it is the ability to make rhymes on the fly, and it’s usually what rappers do to “duel” – the one who makes the better insults win. But Siyuan Liu and Allen Braun, neuroscientists, didn’t go to a rap show – they brought […]
The world’s oceans are teeming with life, a new census estimating almost 1 million species out there; but marine life is declining, with the main causes being overfishing, ocean acidification and coastal damage. Avoiding a crisis The new numbers are just estimates, but they are much lower than previous studies, which put the number of […]
Early humans developed sophisticated hunting weapons half a million years ago, 200.000 years before researchers believed they did. As surprising as it may be, humans aren’t the only species who used spears: Western Chimpanzees have also been observed to do it, breaking straight limbs off trees, stripping them of the bark then sharpening with their […]
Remember the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico? It is one of the biggest environmental disasters in the human history, and it just couldn’t fade away, despite what big oil companies expected. According to three sources, the company will plead guilty to criminal misconduct, paying a record $7.8 billion. They will […]
Radioactivity is still persisting in the ocean waters near the Fukushima nuclear plant, despite researchers expectation to drop. Researchers published new data showing that radioactivity levels near the plant remain stable, instead of falling as expected; they believe this is mostly caused by run-off from the river and continued leaks from the plant. The levels […]
Law-makers in Canada and the US are making moves to restrict rat poisons based on blood thinners as studies show that the toxins accumulate in birds of prey and other animals. Blood thinning and rats For many people, rats are the worst pets, and they will use all sorts of methods to get rid of […]
According to researchers, thousands and thousands of bacteria types (some new to science) can be found in your belly button – but don’t worry: “it’s quite beautiful”, they say. A pristine environment The belly button is one of the microbial habitats closest to us, yet it remains relatively unexplored. Rob Dunn and his team analyzed […]
Single cell amoebae can remember, make decisions and anticipate change, urging researchers to redefine what we perceive as intelligence as soon as possible. For gardeners, they are usually a pest, for some hikers, a nice view, and for researchers, they are protists, a taxonomic group reserved for “everything we don’t really understand,” says Chris Reid […]
In October 2010, China developed the fastest computer of the day, beating the previous record by 30% – quite an impressive feat. But the US didn’t just lie on its back. Titan, which resides at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee is an upgrade from the 2009 record holder, working at 17.59 petaflops per […]
According to a new study conducted by Professor Gerald Crabtree, who heads a genetics laboratory at Stanford University in California, humans have peaked their intellectual capacities thousands of years ago, and now we are in a slow, but certain, state of decline. The provocative theory comes from one of the leading minds in genetics, and […]
Researchers at the Large Hadron Collider have detected one of the rarest decay particle found in nature, dealing a big blow to the supersymmetry theory in the process. SUperSYmmetry “Supersymmetry may not be dead but these latest results have certainly put it into hospital.”, explained Prof Chris Parkes, who is the spokesperson for the UK […]
What would you like with your burger? Some anaphylaxis, maybe? No? How about nausea, stomach cramps, indigestion, vomiting, diarrhea, congestion, sneezing, headaches or asthma? If this would happen to me, I would definitely say pass. What does this have to do with a tick or with anything for that matter, one might ask. As it […]
A trio working for Abbott Laboratories Inc to treat hepatitis C obtained very high cure rates in new patients and patients who were unresponsive to the standard treatment alike – in clinical trials. A dangerous disease Hepatitis C is a viral disease that leads to swelling (inflammation) of the liver. The disease doesn’t have any […]
This has the potential to be the holy graal of solar energy – UCLA researchers have developed a new organic polymer that produces electricity, is nearly transparent and much more resistant than silicone. If you think about solar cells, usually, the blacker the better – the blacker they are, the less energy is lost. But […]
We’ve been getting a lot of questions and suggestions from all you wonderful fans out there, so to answer them beforehand, we’ll be publishing a monthly newsletter, just giving you the quick word about what we have in store for you guys. Facebook quiz: What mad scientist are you ? [play quiz here] There’s a […]
