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"Spring is coming," said no Stark ever. You've already noticed that the traditional starting dates for each season have become misaligned, and in some instances patterns have changed with shorter winters and longer springs. This trend is set only to exacerbate in the future. By 2100, spring could come three weeks early on average across continental United States. In some parts, like the Pacific Northwest and the mountainous regions of the Western U.S., spring will be a month early. This might sound like good news if you live in Wisconsin, but in the long-run this spells disaster as ecosystems get disrupted by abrupt seasonal changes.
One of the most important open questions in paleobiology today is whether dinosaurs were cold-blooded or warm-blooded. Their appearance suggests dinosaurs had a low metabolic rate, lazying around, charging at the sun much like modern reptiles like crocodiles. At the same time, their direct descendants are warm-blooded birds. Unfortunately, you can’t stick a thermometer up […]
Chronic inflammation of the colon has been recognized as a leading factor contributing to senescence and age-related diseases. Previously, scientists identified polyamines (PAs) levels, which are aliphatic low- molecular compounds, as being linked with systemic inflammation. The more PAs you have, the healthier your gut. But as we age, PAs levels fall and intestinal barrier dysfunction may occur. To test how significant is this contribution, researchers from Japan fed mice with probiotic supplements than compared them to a control. They found the mice lived longer, suggesting "ingestion of specific probiotics may be an easy approach for improving intestinal health and increasing lifespan."
A study assessed how sea level rise at the hand of global warming will affect coastal populations in the United States. The analysis made by Climate Central, a nonprofit news organization that analyzes and reports on climate science, found 20 million Americans’ homes might be flooded, and more than 1,500 U.S. cities and municipalities could have at least half of their residential area under water if the world emits under a 'business-as-usual' scenario. Unfortunately, there's a lot of damage that's already been done. Carbon emitted today will continue to warm the planet for hundreds of years and its effects on the climate are already locked in. Cities like Miami and New Orleans are 'already lost in the long run,' said Ben Strauss, vice president for sea level and climate impacts at Climate Central.
Earlier this week Tesla CEO Elon Musk took to twitter announcing a new software update for the Model S will come bundled with an autopilot feature for highway cruising. Previously, Tesla worked with a couple hundred early adopters, but come October 15th, everyone will be able to enjoy the spoils. The v7.0 autopilot features include auto-steering, lane change activated by the turn signal and auto-parking in parallel spaces.
The battlefield is shifting from trench soldiers to cyberspace and unmanned machines. As always, when a new technology of war is developed, a counter that levels the game isn't far behind. Business Insider reports three companies in the UK are working on a device that freezes drones in mid-air by flooding them with radio signals across all frequencies, similarly to how cell phone blockers work, or how Cooper in Interstellar captured a drone in his corn fields.
In 1847, at the tender age of 27, Ada Lovelace became the world's first programmer, more than a hundred years before the first computer was actually introduced.
That's the year man first set foot on the moon. Our computer tech has shot even farther away, though.
For the past two weeks the scientific community was stirred by news that a biologist captured a male moustached kingfisher, took the first ever picture of a male from the species, then killed the bird shortly after.
Tourism is affecting wildlife in more than one way.
The remarkably well preserved fossil of a wing that belonged to an early Cretaceous bird suggests some of the first avian creatures could fly. The remains were unearthed from a limestone site in Spain, and exhibit features reminiscent of modern birds like intricate arrangement of muscles, tendons and ligaments. This soft tissue system is excellent for controlling position and allows rapid adjustment of the wing to navigate through the air.
Less than two months away, 200 governments will join the U.N. Paris talks where an international agreement might be reached seeking to limit the amount of greenhouse gas emissions for each country. The goal is to eventually level emissions significantly relative to 1990 levels for developed countries and cap emissions as soon as possible for developing countries like India and China. Each country, however, wants to get the best deal and many critics are weary that we're simply heading for another Copenhagen bust like six years ago, or worst even - another Kyoto which failed miserably.
Capitalizing a more than a decade's worth of neuroscience and computer science research, an international team of 82 researchers from institutions around the world report one the most detailed digital reconstruction of a mammalian brain. The researchers simulated 30,000 neurons and almost 40 million synapses, part of a rat's brain measuring less than a third of a cubic millimeter. It's a small step that might one day help simulate the whole brain, not just of rats, but also of humans - the ultimate goal of the Human Brain Project (HBP), an ambitious project which the European Commission prioritized and awarded $1 billion in funding.
The complete genetic code book of a person who lived 4,500 years ago in Ethiopia was completed by US researchers. Although much older genomes have been sequenced, like those of 38,000 year-old Neanderthals, samples from African forefathers have proven difficult to sequence as the DNA is often destroyed by accelerated decay, driven by tropical conditions. As such, this is the first time a complete genome retrieval was performed from an ancient human in Africa. In this light, the findings are very important: they suggest even older DNA could be retrieved - maybe even millions of years back to the age of other species of the homo genus.
Possibly the greatest demographic challenge China is facing has due to do with a hugely discrepant gender imbalance.
Are homosexuals hard wired this way or merely the product of their environment? Some argue that its both, but whether or not there's a 'gay gene' or more is up to debate. The fact that it's such a delicate subject, i.e. hard to get funding, means that progress is slow. One could argue that it wouldn't be worth researching anyway. If someone found a scientific causal-link, say some genes, that's responsible for homosexuality than it's possible to maybe reverse it. A 'cure' for homosexuality, if you will. Even this very prospect is enough to kill research out of politically correctness. At the American Society of Human Genetics (ASHG) in Baltimore, however, the audience might have been surprised to hear about the findings of a group from University of California (UC), Los Angeles that found there's reasons to believe homosexuality is rooted in epigenetics. The authors are quick to caution that their findings are far from being the final word, and hence should be taken with a grain of salt.
Our planet's magnetic field is the first and ultimate shield that guards life from the elements of space, particularly radiation. It's enough to look at Mars, which also had a magnetic field but only for 500 million years, to see what could happen were it absent: what was once a "blue planet", filled with vasts oceans of liquid water, maybe even vegetation and other life forms, is now a barred red rock. This invisible, protective shield likely existed shortly after the planet formed 4.5 billion years ago, when it was still a big blob of molten rock. It was only after the super hot iron liquid core lost enough heat to freeze (more properly said, it solidified) did the field become strong enough to allow life to foster. Previous studies estimated this happened sometime between 500 million and 2 billion years ago. A more refined analysis by University of Liverpool places the timeline between 1 billion and 1.5 billion years ago.
A newly founded artificial intelligence lab, called Vicarious, wants to build the world's first, unified artificial intelligence that can match human intelligence. This is not the first time we've heard companies or universities trumpet such ambitious goals, but considering who's backing the project I can only entertain the possibility Vicarious might just do it. Entrepreneurs with great vision and a track record of backing successful companies have all hopped aboard, like Elon Musk (SpaceX, Tesla), Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook), Peter Thiel (Paypal, founder of venture capital and hedge funds worth billions), Jerry Yang (Yahoo! founder), Jeff Bezos (Amazon founder) and more.
The feel-good, floating sensation people get after a good run is analogous to smoking pot. Researchers came to the conclusion after they found mice released chemicals in the brain that bind to the same brain receptors which are triggered when one smokes the herb. The practical implications of the research are limited, but they do seem to suggest that evolution fostered running otherwise it wouldn't have been this pleasurable.
If you've ever brushed past the tailpipe of a running car, then you know just how smoking hot it can be. And since tailpipes aren't exactly heating radiators, that's just wasted energy. Not much you can do, you might say. That's just the 2nd law of thermodynamics mocking us humans. But there are ways to turn otherwise wasted heat into something useful, like residential heating or electricity. Typically, engineers design systems that transfer the heat to water which then turns to steam and so on until you can get something useful out of it - eventually. There are other ways also which are more convenient in most situation - after all, you can't fit a steam turbine in your car. For instance, you could use thermoelectric materials that directly convert the heat into electricity.
Quantum computing is one of the future's transitional technologies destined to transform human society, along with advanced materials like graphene and metallic glass or advances in space propulsion. Imagine what the transition from vacuum tubes to transistors did for computing, scale that a couple of folds and you might somewhat be close to what quantum computers are capable of. Operations that today's supercomputers require days even weeks to crunch, would be completed immediately by leveraging the quantum weirdness that happens below the nano scale. All of this is theoretically possible - but in practice building a working quantum computer that doesn't disintegrate information has proven to be an immense challenge. We're still far from there, but advances reported by Australian researchers hint that quantum computers aren't a pipe dream.
While surveying the island of Sulawesi right in the center of Indonesia, a group of researchers came across a previously undocumented species of rodent. It was pretty easy too, considering the animal's uncanny appearance: what would otherwise look like a normal looking rat, but with the nostrils of a hog.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature assessed the state of cactus populations around the world and found almost a third of all species are endangered. The report summarizes that human activity is threatening hundreds of species with extinction. This includes illegal trading, agriculture and aquaculture, but also land-use change.
Watches might keep time in an absolute manner, but people don't. Each person perceives time differently depending on mood, and moreover this perception changes with age. "When you are courting a nice girl an hour seems like a second. When you sit on a red-hot cinder a second seems like an hour. That's relativity," Einstein famously said. Apparently, time slows down even when white folks are concerned not to appear racially biased, according to a study published in Psychological Science.
A novel mathematical model can weigh the mass of a pulsar - a rapidly rotating magnetized neutran star - using principles of nuclear physics, rather than gravity. Up until now, the mass of a star could only be determined in relation with other bodies, based on the gravitational pull these exerted. Now, using the new model scientists will be able to study pulsars in isolation, allowing for more precise measurements than ever before.
In the wake of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant explosion in 1987, hundreds of thousand had to move immediately without notice. Their lives changed forever. Many didn't have time to pack anything, as documented by the ghost towns around the fallout site still littered with toys, valuable items and other personal belongings. But while humans had much to suffer, the same can't be said about the wildlife. In the almost four decades since the dramatic disaster, wildlife and vegetation has simply sprung to life like never before. In some instances, there are more wildlife per square meter than in some of the busiest protected natural parks in neighboring Belarus. Turns out wildlife doesn't mind that much radiation - what they mind is humans.
Chilly peppers: hate them or love 'em. Few could have imagined the impact of Columbus' discovery of a spice in the XXVth century so pungent that it rivaled the better known black pepper native to South Asia. In only a couple of years ago, the red chilly was planted all over the globe after being brought from South and Central America. Today, it's one of the most widely used spices in the world. But is chilly actually healthy? Many studies seem to contradict one another, so the debate is far from over. Some scientists claim chilly acts against cancer and helps us stay healthy, but at the same time chilly can hurt the inside of the stomach and esophagus and can even lead to internal bleeding. All foods have their good and bad sides, though, so probably people are more interested in the net effects of ingesting a certain food, chilly or otherwise - doesn't matter. And finally, there's a study that seems to suggest that, overall, chilly is our friend. That's according to Chinese researchers who tracked the eating and health habits of 500,000 individuals and found those who ingested chilly at least two times a week had a mortality rate 10% lower than those who only seldom ate chilly or not at all. Those who ate the devilish spice six or seven days a week had an even lower risk of dying.
Despite decades worth of research, unbelievable computing power and sophisticated algorithms, one of today's best artificial intelligence can't score better than a four year old on a standard IQ test.
They say beauty lies in the eye of the beholder, but science had yet to have its final word. While there are some people that are generally considered more attractive than others, and likewise some that are seen as less attractive, the consensus is far from perfect when people in between are factored in. Each person seems to have his or her own checklist used to internally rate attractiveness depending on how the body is shaped, height, hair colour, muscles, symmetry and so on. However, what influences these factors? Are these nurtured by the environment, like who our friends are or what the media tells us what an attractive person should look like, or is it genetics? A new research that studied the preferences of twins and non-twins found that it's each person's life experience that counts the most.
An asteroid impact wiped out the dominant life forms on the planet, both on land and in the oceans, some 65 million years ago. Like in all matters of life, there are winners and losers, and incidentally those who had most to profit from the demise of the dinosaurs were also the weakest: mammals. Small, battered and restricted to only a couple of ecological niches, not only were the mammals more adapted to a post-apocalyptic Earth devoid of sunshine and with little food to spare, but once everything cleared they simply took over. Now, paleontologists have come across a totally new genus of ancient mammals that used to share the planet with the dinosaurs, but managed to survive the fallout and continued its lineage for millions of years after.
For every extra 10 cm in height from the median, the chance of getting cancer increases by 11% for men and 18% for women. The link was reported by Swedish researchers at the European Society for Paediatric Endocrinology meeting in Barcelona, Spain. While other studies have reported this link, this was the largest yet performed involving 5.5 million Swedish men and women ranging in height from 1 meter (3.3 ft) to 2.25 meters (7.4 ft).
A group of NGOs has filled a lawsuit in federal court against a ridiculously controversial law which makes it illegal for any citizen to take samples or photograph open lands in public or private property. As such, a person who isn't acting under governmental approval - say a concerned citizen - can't take samples from a contaminated river, photograph it or collect any meaningful evidence in these lines for the purpose of alerting the authorities.
The third largest emitter of carbon emissions, India, pledged it would reduce its emissions relative to its GDP between 33 and 35% by 2030 relative to 2005. India, a rapidly developing country, will continue its industrial expansion which includes, of course, building more coal plants and releasing more carbon emissions than it does today, however what the government, in fact, pledges is decoupling emissions from economic growth. It's a sound victory for the planet, but to achieve its goals India will require help from developed nations. Hopefully, this might be possible under a common climate-protection framework on a global level which will be discussed in Paris during the UN talks scheduled in November.
While everyone from Google, to Tesla, to BMW is engineering driverless cars, gearing up for an impeding auto revolution, a Chinese company went directly for a niche market: driverless buses.
The Scandinavian nation has set its mind on ridding itself of fossils fuels. To this end, the government announced it will increase spending on climate-protection measures for the next year bringing it to $546 million. That might not sound like much but Sweden is a small country which already uses energy very efficiently. It also gets three quarters of its energy from non-fossil fuel sources, mainly nuclear and hydro.
In what can only be classed as a breakthrough in medicine, a team at Washington University in St. Louis found a way to make an universal test that can identify virtually any known virus. The method works by analyzing bodily samples for signature genetic markers unique to each virus. It's surprisingly accurate, as the researchers report the test not only identified the viruses on par with standard tests, but found additional ones which would have otherwise gone unnoticed. Once it passes extensive clinical trials, doctors using the test could come up with a complete list of viral infections harbored inside a patient's body, correctly diagnose their condition and apply the right treatment. In some situations, it could mean the difference between life and death.
Enticed by warming waters, king crabs might soon make a run for Antarctica's continental shelf where they haven't been seen for at least 10 million years. As such, the fragile wildlife comprised of creatures like sea stars, sea worms, sponges, sea anemones, sea lilies and feather stars - all lacking protection against the crushing claws of the king crab - could face rapid annihilation.
When there's rain, let alone a storm, city streets form puddles and in some extreme cases get flooded. That's because concrete mostly keeps water out, and only a tiny volume gets absorbed. A company from the UK, however, has come up with such an innovative solution that it almost seems like magic were it not pure science at work. Namely, they came up with a new kind of concrete that allows more water to percolate through its gaps, so much that 1,056 gallons were gobbled up in under 60 seconds during a test. It all seems unreal - but it's as concrete as it gets.
The word on every tech executive's mouth today is data. Curse or blessing, there's so much data lying around - with about 2.5 quintillion bytes of data added each day - that it's become increasingly difficult to make sense of it in a meaningful way. There's a solution to the big data problem, though: machine learning algorithms that get fed countless variables and spot patterns otherwise oblivious to humans. Researchers have already made use of machine learning to solve challenges in medicine, cosmology and, most recently, crime. Tech giant Hitachi, for instance, developed a machine learning interface reminiscent of Philip K. Dick's Minority Report which can predict when, where and possibly who might commit a crime before it happens.
In front of hundreds of guests, Tesla's CEO, the ever resourceful Elon Musk, unveiled the company's new model: the Model X crossover. It's been a long heralded and waited vehicle, and it sure didn't disappoint. This beauty, all dressed in white, looks more like a bird than a car with its upward-opening "falcon doors". It also flies like one, reaching 0 to 60mph in 3.2 seconds making it the world's quickest SUV. Wait 'till the kids see it.
Despite manufacturers have tirelessly designed new types of razor blades for a cleaner shave, the process has stayed virtually unchanged for thousands of years. The difference between a modern razor blade and an ancient roman shaving knife isn't that large, on a fundamental level at least. This may set to change if the Skarp Laser Razor makes its way into the shaving kit market. The gadget is basically a high-tech razor - named so only by function - that uses a highly focused laser beam instead of a blade.
"Hey, what did you find" "We found a bio-florescent turtle!", a researcher triumphantly declared. David Gruber, a biologist at City University of New York, and colleagues made the find while diving in the Solomon Islands this July. Previously, researchers have found ever growing evidence of bio-luminescence and bio-fluorescence in the animal kingdom, from coral to seahorses, but this was the first time anyone has laid sight on a glowing reptile.
Even though wages today are higher than they were in the '70s, after you account for inflation these are only marginally better. At the same time, productivity has almost doubled according to a reported issued by the U.S. Census Bureau. In other words, despite the economy has significantly grown in the past 40 years, American workers got a pay cut - not a raise.
Endemic to Andes Mountains of Chile, Argentina, Bolivia and Peru, the Andean Cat is one elusive feline. It's only been sighted a couple times in the wild, let alone photographed. Some researchers were lucky though after their camera traps photographed a gem: an adult and her kitten.
During an extraordinary conference hosted by NASA, a team of researchers report that flowing briny water is flowing out of Martian mountain slopes. Let that sink in for a moment. Now, time to pull yourself together and check out some more details.
After they analyzed more than 2,000 traditional Indian recipes down to the molecular levels, scientists now think they know what makes Indian cuisine so appealing. Unlike western dishes, Indian recipes are based on ingredients whose flavors don't overlap for a unique taste that dumbstrucks anyone who tries it for the first time.
Another boost for India's low-cost, but extremely promising, space program took place this morning after the country launched its first space observatory in space. Blasting from the spaceport of Sriharikota, close to Chennai, the Astrosat telescope was deployed without any difficulties in Earth's orbit, some 650 km above. Along with it, some six satellites piggybacked, four belong to the US, one to Canada and the last to Indonesia.
A 30KW high-power laser was demonstrated by Lockheed Martin after it was used to disable a vehicle more than a mile away. One of the great perks of laser weapons is their phenomenal accuracy. To showcase this, the weapon was directed specifically on the hood of the vehicle, where it fried the engine. The beam from the Advanced Test High Energy Asset, or ATHENA, is believed to be most powerful ever documented in a laser weapon.
Deep in the Arctic, nestled inside an icy island lies one of humanity's backup plan: the Svalbard Global Seed Vault. Open in 2008, the center houses seeds from virtually all the plants on the planet be them wild, domesticated or genetically modified. In case of a global calamity of any kind (nuclear war *cough), these seeds would be put to good use if a species is faced with extinction or research is required on such seeds. This is precisely why the first withdrawal request from the vault was made by Syrian researchers.
A couple of quadrotors wove a bridge out of polyethylene fiber rope in an intricate dance. Some 120 meters of rope were used by the quadrotors to bridge the 7.4-meter gap, neatly tying knots, links, and braiding. Ultimately, the final test was passed after an ETH Zurich’s Institute for Dynamic Systems and Control student crossed the robot-manufactured bridge.
