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By the time the oil stopped flowing, nearly 11 million gallons had leaked out, contaminating 1,300 miles of shoreline and stretching over 470 miles from the crash site. Photo: Bettmann / Corbis Shortly after midnight on March 24, 1989, the Exxon Valdez, a mile off-course in an attempt to avoid icebergs, ran aground on Bligh […]
Right on the western exterior wall of the Temple of Isis at Shanhur, located just 12 miles north of the famous Luxor, archaeologists have uncovered an ancient stone carving depicting the Roman emperor Claudius dressed as a pharaoh. The scene is the most preserved out of the other 36 original scenes discovered during the 2000-2001 excavation season, […]
During a lifetime, a person sees hundreds of thousands of faces. Of course, you wont remember all of them, in fact you might find you’re embarrassed when you fail to recognize a distant relative at a family gathering. Things like this happen, but you shouldn’t be upset on your brain. In fact, it does a […]
Researchers at the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration have published findings that demonstrate what was speculated for a long time – oil and gas drilling in the vicinity of rural Utah is leaking important quantities of volatile chemicals, particularly high ozone levels, that are much higher than those typically found in busy cities. In fact, the pollution […]
Crops, like any plants, adapt to their surroundings and, depending on conditions, can offer more or less yield. In the biggest study of its kind, the results from 1,700 published simulations that evaluate yield impacts of climate change were compiled and analyzed together. The team of researchers involved in this massive aggregation found that even a 2 degrees […]
An eminent team of US researchers found that it is highly unlikely that the moon ever once harbored important quantities of water, after studying a mineral called apatite. Generally speaking, scientists have always though the moon was water barren, a theory confirmed by the initial rock samples brought back by the Apollo missions, however in […]
Floating wind farms may seem like something out of a science fiction novel, but a MIT start-up called Altaeros Energies just unveiled an enormous helium-filled wind turbine which will hover 1,000 feet above ground for 18 months. The turbine, called Altaeros BAT, is a part of a pilot program aimed at demonstrating that airborne wind turbines are feasible. A wind turbine […]
Some thirty years after Chernobyl’s nuclear plant meltdown that caused an international incident, scientists have yet to assess the full blown damage the radioactive disaster has caused. While the rest of the world has moved on, ever since the disaster the area surrounding the former nuclear plant has remained largely unchanged, even the plants and […]
Scientists have made great efforts to discover a material that can be used to both absorb and emit light. A fluke may have suffice, since researchers at Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore discovered by accident a material that can be used to work as a solar panel, harnessing energy from the sun during the […]
A potentially game changing drug developed by scientists at Karolinska Institutet and Uppsala University infiltrates the cells from glioblastoma, the most aggressive type of brain tumor, and causes them to literally explode. Trials so far have been made only on mice whose tumor growth was reversed and survival was prolonged considerably. Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is […]
The backbone of today’s modern telecommunication industry is held by fiber optic cables. These information highways have accelerated data transfer and help people all over the globe stay connected, but that’s not all they’re good for. A group of international researchers are exploring the idea of using fiber optics as a lab-on-chip device. The tubes […]
A while ago, Andrei published a post in which he uploaded and spoke about seven key charts that show plain and simple that global warming is real and man-made, unless you know of another perturbing climate factor other than humans capable of producing the same effects. Like I said, plain and simple – for those […]
There’s a common number thrown around for how many scents a human can smell – 10,000. Even scientific literature has cited this figure, though it is highly debatable. This makes a lot of people believe that they have an extremely poor sense of smell compared to most animals, like familiar canines. In reality, it seems […]
High voltage power lines aren’t quite the safest places to be around, especially if you’re a large animal or bird and touch two different conductors, thus creating a voltage difference which kills on the spot. Apparently, though, not too many animals wonder near power lines. Roads are known animal traffic disruptors, but even power lines […]
Isaac Asimov, the father of the three laws of robotics, made some startling predictions many years ago about how thet future might look like. He’s been dead on in some respects, however the writer miscalculated how advanced robots would be in 2014 and how integrated these would become in human society. You see, before robots […]
For men of simple means and upbringing, it’s easy to credit racism: the other fellow is different from me – his skin is of another color, his hair is weird, his language sounds stupid. Racism has had a wicked role to play in society since antiquity, fueling the murders and enslaving of millions of people […]
Every time a new manufacturing or development technology concerning solar cells was introduced, the futurists and tech pundits were quick to hail the coming of a new generation. The first were the monocrystal silicon cells doped with Phosphorus and Boron in a pn-junction; these are expensive to produce, yet comprise 80% of the total solar panel […]
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said in a statement that California just came off its warmest winter on record. On average there were 48 Fahrenheit (9 Celsius) for December, January and February, making it 4 degrees hotter than the 20th-century average in California. The state is currently facing its most dire drought streak […]
The BICEP2 experiment at the South Pole reported the first ever piece of evidence that support the cosmic inflation theory of how the universe cam to be. Their data suggests that scientists have come across signals left over by the super-rapid expansion of space that must have occurred just fractions of a second after everything came […]
Caring for a loved one who suffers from dementia is demanding. It often seems like a losing battle too. One thing that caregivers often fail to do is to consider things from the dementia sufferer’s perspective. That’s not to say that it’s easy. Erratic behaviour, miscommunication and other everyday occurrences can quickly erode the patience […]
One of the 16 teams involved in a collaborative project funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation that aims to help some of the 2.5 billion people around the world lacking safe and sustainable sanitation recently unveiled their innovative design: a solar-powered toilet that treats solid waste by effectively carbonizing it. The concentrated solar […]
In an obesity challenged society, physicians first recommend the elderly to maintain an optimal body mass index (a weight to height ratio) in order to prolong their lives. A better indicator and predictor for all-cause mortality, however, may be based on the muscle mass index, according to a recent research published in the American Journal […]
When you buy your spices, you might be getting more seasoning than you might expect. Why not get some free tiny fragments of insects, dirt or animal feces to go with your chilly? According to the Food and Drug Administration spices entering the U.S. are nearly twice as likely as the average FDA-regulated foodstuff to contain Salmonella pathogens […]
Listening to a high pitched tune will enhance the sweetness of food, while a low hum will make your taste buds signal bitter. Obviously, listening to all low frequencies won’t turn your chocolate bar into a pickled vegetable, but research in this respect suggests there’s genuine synesthetic behaviour. Some restaurant owners are already exploiting this […]
The human body is littered with free ions and salts, which goes to explain why so much of our physiology is controlled by electrical signals, from neural pathways to muscle articulation. Very related, researchers at UC Berkeley have shown for the first time that direct current can be used to deliberately guide migration of a sheet […]
Imagine going to a meeting, flipping your phone on the table and then instantly project your slide presentation or traveling to a remote location, where there aren’t any displays or projectors, and use nothing but your phone to project a multimedia application [a movie, a video game, etc.]. Such ideas are being currently manipulated by […]
The wild is often home to a game of hide or seek, and animals need to be well adapted to their part of the game. For those who are constantly juggling the role of prey, however, the game seems to always favor them less. We, as humans, have little direct contact with these underlying mechanics […]
A year long investigation by Greenpeace reveals grim palm oil harvesting practices in Indonesia, where suppliers are currently engaging in massive deforestation, which severely threaten the already endangered Sumatran tigers and orangutans, shady PR tactics and intentionally lighting up forest fires. Among the findings is a horrific graveyard where the buried remains of several orangutans […]
A freak accident left Jason Barnes without his left arm below the elbow – a disheartening matter by all means, made worse when considering he also used to be a drummer. The young man did not despair, however, and as an Atlanta Institute of Music and Media student he sought to fill in his missing arm as best […]
Considering population growth and increased life expectancy, experts estimate that by 2050 some 115 million people will be afflicted by Alzheimer’s disease – a prevailing neurodegenerative disease that needs no introduction. There’s no cure to Alzheimer’s, but there are treatments that help mild symptoms or prolong sanity before the point of no return is reached. All […]
It was only around the mid 1980s that the world finally recognized the dangers posed by the build-up of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) in the atmosphere. A big hole in the ozone layer revealed at the time by a team of scientists from the British Antarctic Survey showed what these sort of chemicals withering through the atmosphere could do. […]
In most of the world, winter long ground to a halt to make way for more harmonious seasons. Still, these are still tense times for your health, as one day can be sunny, the other murky and cold. A lot of people get snuffed and catch a cold. While you’re tucked inside your sheets, blowing […]
A wonder pill that prolongs life and cuts the risks of developing deadly diseases. Scientists have been looking for such a drug for a long time. Research in this direction shows that enhancing the expression of a certain gene called SIRT1 (sirtuin 1) may fare good results in this respect. Recently, researchers at the National Institute […]
Following Russia’s invasion of Crimea, the world political scene has been suddenly turned upside down. Many were surprised by this move, and harsh words and threats from the west were thrown down Putin’s alley. Talks of economic sanctions for Russia, in hope its military presence in Ukraine might be withdrawn, have been publically made. ZME […]
Hydraulic fracking has grown to unimaginable hights in the past few years, growing by some 20% a year, and reaching a total market cap of $37 billion today. Recent tumbling prices for natural-gas have slightly detered exploration, but North America at least, which accounted for 87 percent of the fracking market last year, shows no […]
It sounds like the synopsis for an apocalyptic movie: scientists uncover a dormant 30,000 years old virus trapped frozen deep in the Siberian permafrost, after it thawed however the researchers were astonished to find the virus was still active and began to infect. The bad news: it’s not a movie plot, this is for real […]
Exploiting both the latest in 3D printing and stretchable electronics, scientists at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Washington University in St. Louis have devised a new electronic membrane that could replace pacemakers. The membrane is designed to ‘cloth’ the heart and constantly delver electrical shocks to maintain a constant heart beat rate, avoiding arrhythmia and minimizing […]
In light of recent NASA budget cuts, a lot of politicians, citizens and, frankly mostly non-science folks, reflect that money should be funneled to other more, immediate goals: education, health, fighting unemployment etc. The rhetoric goes by the familiar terms that there isn’t any reason for man to venture outside the planet, until he at […]
In attempt to mitigate the adverse effects of global warming, one of the key measures considered by policy makers is the introduction of a carbon regulation in hopes that alternative, cleaner energy sources may be supported. In the event of a hypothetical carbon tax, households in the lowest income group would pay as a percent of […]
You may not find many interesting things to see when glaring into a chicken’s eye, but after closely studying its retina researchers at Washington University have come across a most fascinating discovery. It seems chicken eyes bear a never before seen state of matter in biology, an arrangement of particles that is both ordered and […]
A long time ago I wrote a piece on the developments made by a group at University of California, Berkeley that managed to restore light perception to blind mice without using invasive procedures like surgery. A chemical was used and just as easy as putting some eye drops, the researchers enabled mice to sense light when […]
Researchers at Penn State College of Medicine studied the eating habits of overweight women during pregnancy, and found that those who expressed an “eating for two” were more likely to gain excessive weight, which contrary to what some may think is not recommended in their condition. Overweight is defined as having a body mass index of […]
Sometimes it’s best to make use of what’s already available and “designed”. There’s no need to reinvent the wheel when nature has been gracious enough to offer the fruits of billions of years worth of evolution – to those who have the ears and reason to discover, of course. For instance, a team of researchers […]
The common saying “think before you speak” is often used after a person spoke something inappropriate. It implies that the person in question has not given enough thought to the consequences of his spoken words. Obviously we can’t speak without thinking, though, so naturally the question arises: how do we plan out our utterances? Researchers […]
Ultra strong, a fantastic electrical conductor, and even suitable for better beer storage, graphene is dazzling the w0rld with its potential applications. Now, it seems there’s another use to add for the growing list of applications for the atom thick hexagon carbon structure. Scientists at Queen Mary University of London and the Cambridge Graphene Centre found that […]
Typically in physics, your calculations and such are as precise as your use of constants. Meaning, if you have a skewed value for your constant, this will obviously affect all the computations where this constant is used. Today, all the important physical constants are rather precisely known, whether we’re talking about the speed of light […]
An international team of scientists believe they have across the “microbial Pompeii” after they found preserved bacteria and microscopic particles of food on the surface of teeth more than 1,000 years old. The findings were made after the dental calculus or plaque that covered the ancient teeth was analyzed. Some very important discoveries were made in the process: ancient […]
Using two different dating technique, geologists have come across what they believe to be the oldest piece of Earth discovered thus far. The zircon crystal, found on a sheep ranch in Western Australia , was confirmed to be 4.4 billion years old and offers tantalizing clues and insights on how our planet must have looked like in […]
Reliable, well supplied and with years and years of manufacturing experience behind it, copper is the most widespread material used for delivering electrical charge. Some applications warrant more efficient materials, though, and researchers at Rice recently showed that carbon nanotubes spun into fiber can carry four times as much electrical charge than copper cables of […]
Sometimes, I come across stories or various research that make me wonder “why the heck hasn’t anyone else thought of this before?” We should be grateful, nevertheless, that researchers from University of Texas at Dallas have found a way to manufacture artificial muscle that is up to 100 times stronger than the flimsy tissue that […]
