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The waves of controversy and outrage following former CIA and NSA technical officer Edward Snowden’s leaks of details that reveal the US and British governments had been secretly deploying mass surveillance programs on their citizens are far from over. Recently further details as to the extent and reach these programs possess have been uncovered, after a […]
We’ve all come to love and cherish the visionary images of astronauts out in space in their spacesuits. There’s something truly incredible about getting to see a humanoid form right in space, overlooking our beautiful blue marble, wrapped inside a protective suit that shelters the new millennium explorer from the cold, deadly grips of vacuum. […]
This isn’t a cyborg gold fish from a borg’s aquarium, this little amazing fellow is called Einstein. He unfortunately ended up with a disability caused by a disease that has basically made him useless in water: he can’t swim anymore. Not by itself, at least. Feeling heart broken by seeing his pet fish so helpless, […]
A new study performed by scientists in China has further elevated stem cell research after they successfully grew teeth-like structures using cells derived from an unlikely source: urine. Eventually, they hope that human stem cells could provide the basis for a tooth bud that could be transplanted into the jaw of the patient. Some of you […]
It’s summer, so beach season is naturally in full swing. A lot of people diving trough coastal areas in the Atlantic and Pacific are worried, however, of being attacked by sharks. So, what are the chances of being attacked by one? In short: really, really slim. Popular Hollywood flicks like Jaws and its sequels, as […]
Weighing in at 33 pounds (15kgs), this huge honey mushroom was recently discovered by locals in China’s Yunnan Province. Specialists aren’t sure yet, but the giant fungus could actually be a record breaker. The large clump of mushrooms, which numbered over 100 caps attached at the base of their stems, caused quite a stir amongst […]
According to a recently published in the journal PNAS, some 1,700 cities in the United States coastal areas are under threat of becoming swept by water as a results of rising sea levels due to climate change. The list of threatened communities spans Sacramento, California – which lies far from the sea but would be vulnerable […]
The first use of the umbrella, albeit in a more primitive form, can be traced back to ancient times. In Persia the parasol is repeatedly found in the carved work of Persepolis, while others works such as sculptures frequently depict figures likes a king in his chariot, with an attendant holding a parasol over his […]
It’s no easy task for any psychologist to bear the news to a parent that his child is suffering from autism. For the parent, receiving the news is much worse. Not all hope is lost, however, as it’s been reported that a promising fraction of those diagnosed with autism eventually recover during young adulthood, despite […]
This is quite possibly the woolliest sheep in history, Shrek the sheep. He was found in this condition in 2004, in the very land of sheep – New Zealand – after escaping the annual spring shedding for six consecutive years. If you ever wondered what a really woolly sheep might look like, here you have […]
There are more people in the world than at any point in history, and the advent of technology has brought with it accessible means of connecting human hubs all across the world. There are few places left on Earth that haven’t been graced by the touch of man, and for many of these it’s only […]
Scientists at the University of Darmstadt, Germany have set a new record after they devised an experimental set-up that allowed them to stop light in its tracks for a full minute. During this time, the light could have traveled 18 million kilometers or roughly the equivalent of 20 there and back trips to the moon. Beyond […]
Launched just month, NASA’s IRIS telescope which is currently orbiting Earth has already beamed down its first images of the sun. The details are unprecedented, as scientists can now study a multitude of thin, fibril-like structures that have never been seen before, revealing enormous contrasts in density and temperature. The telescope’s main mission is that […]
The United States is a country renowned for its history of technological innovation and stewardship. Some of the world’s greatest inventors, though not all of them may have not been born there, first displayed their work in the US. Samuel Colt (colt revolver), A.G. Bell (telephone), Thomas Edison (light bulb, among many), George Washington Carver […]
The prisoner’s dilemma is one of the most famous paradigms and at the same time one of the most discussed case studies in both economics and psychology introductory classes. Basically, two prisoners are each isolated from one another and are presented with two choices: either they turn the other in (sabotage) or remain silent (cooperate). […]
That faint blue dot at the center of this beautiful composition is none other than our very own blue marble – planet Earth. The opaque giant surrounded by the countless colored rings in the foreground is, as most of you have already guessed, Saturn. Step back, take a moment to reflect over this picture and […]
Biotech giant, Monsanto, has been met with a wave of furious protests during the past year in Europe, as the company intended on introducing genetically modified seed crops in the EU. As opposed to the US, where despite the general public is nearly or just as adverse in the face of genetically modified crops, politicians […]
Scientists have striven for years to comprehend the complicated neurological mechanisms that underline the human brain and consciousness. Besides the philosophical aspects of such a quest (how we do think? what is consciousness born?), a better understanding of the human brain will help solve a number of medical issues that currently plague the human brain. […]
Society today is becoming ever stressed out it seems. According to a recent American Psychological Association poll, nearly a quarter of Americans confessed to currently feeling under “extreme stress,” however not all of us are as stressed under the same conditions. For instance, there’s a general consensus in the medical world that women are better at […]
Engineers at Bristol University have developed a microbial fuel cell (MFC) that turns organic matter, in our case urine, into electricity. The fuel cell is equipped on a mobile charger, and its creators envision the device being implemented in various other applications that can recycle urine. Restaurants, bars and various other buildings that employ public toilets might […]
Valles Marineris is the largest canyon on Mars, and in the solar system for that matter that we know of. It’s 4000 km long, 200km wide, 10 km deep and stunningly beautiful. Just so you can get a glimpse of how beautiful it is, ESA just recently posted a movie that focuses on an enclosed 8 km-deep […]
Researchers at Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) have successfully grown and inserted functional blood vessels into animal models after they used vascular precursor cells derived from human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). These blood vessels lasted for as long as nine months, much longer than any previous attempt, making the Harvard researchers’ efforts seem extremely promising. Patients […]
Physicists today and the theories they currently elaborate are seemingly entrenched in one major idea: that the Big Bang occurred once in a moment of singularity (infinitely dense Universe) and has expanded ever since. Christof Wetterich, a theoretical physicist at the University of Heidelberg in Germany, has an alternate view. He believes the Universe is not […]
Every little thing we hold for granted here on familiar ground and gravity is different in space. Take washing your hair for instance. Expedition 36 crew member Karen Nyberg recently uploaded a video on YouTube which has since gone viral which demonstrates how astronauts aboard the International Space Station wash their hair in microgravity. At first […]
For years scientists have hypothesized that a rise in CO2 levels will cause the world’s forests to use water more efficiently, however only recently was this theory proven after Harvard University researchers performed the most complex study of the sort to date. The team of researchers led by research Trevor Keenan and Andrew Richardson actually found the the world’s […]
What’s possibly the most advanced humanoid robot ever built was recently unveiled by Boston Dynamics – one of the most impressive and renowned robotics company. Named ATLAS, this 6′ 2 tall, 330-pounds powerhouse has all the agility and strength of the Petman, only this time it also has a head. Mounted inside the head are a LIDAR sensor […]
Research on nematodes have always been convenient for scientists. For one, they grow and breed really fast, making them ideal for work pertaining to genetics. Some of them have amazing properties, like the planaria or “flatworm”, which some scientists believe it possesses the indefinite ability to regenerate its cells and thus practically never grow old. It […]
The reason why some drugs can only be taken by injecting them, instead of less intrusive solutions like oral ingestion, is because otherwise these drugs can not reach the bloodstream effectively. For people suffering from chronic diseases that require a lifetime treatment of drugs administered by injection, like those suffering from diabetes who need an […]
Scientists at the Laboratoire Charles Fabry (LCF) in Palaiseau and the University of Lille have for the very first time performed a direct measurement of a Van der Waals force – the weak intermolecular force that causes, in some cases when there isn’t a strong force present, to attract and “stick” to one another. The Van […]
What if the world’s greatest unsolved heists were made by aviary burglars? Bear with me for a second. A bird is small enough to fit through cages and window cracks, it can fly in and out fast and on the sly, and if it ever gets caught, it won’t turn its partners in crime since […]
It’s rather ironic how in developed countries, despite an ever better quality of life, giving birth and raising a child becomes ever more difficult. Sure, people earn more, they’re more career orientated and growing responsibilities, or lack of responsibility for that matter, has transitioned parenting from early-twenties just a few decades ago, into early-thirties. It’s […]
Musica Universalis or Music of the Spheres is an philosophical concept which portrays the proportions in the movement of the celestial bodies – the sun, planets, stars and so on – as a form of music. These observable patterns aren’t quite musical, since they lack harmony, but the idea itself has influenced a great of […]
Located in the North Atlantic, right in between Greenland and Scotland, Faroe Islands is one of the smallest countries in the world. At the same time, however, it has also remained fairly isolated for many centuries, which in time has led to the formation of a distinct language and population. You can spot a native […]
The Japanese freshwater eel (Anguilla japonica) is a popular choice on any sushi menu, but recent findings reveal that there’s more to it than just a simple snack. Biologists have identified a special fluorescent protein – the very first case found in a vertebrate – that makes the eel naturally glow in a bright green when […]
Mind-controlled devices, also known as brain-computer interfaces, have evolved a lot in the past few years alone, offering countless people who are paralyzed or missing limbs the chance of living a normal life. Non-afflicted individuals may profit from brain-computer interfaces as well, either for fun (why bother with gamepads or even Kinect when you can […]
You may have heard about the Tunguska event – a huge blast of energy which occurred in 1908 over Russia and flattened more than 2,000 square kilometres of forest. More than a century since, its remarkable that scientists have yet to confirm the source of what undoubtedly is the biggest Earth impact in recorded history. The leading […]
As reported earlier on ZME, as little as three thousand tigers are currently alive today in the wild from six subspecies, or thirty times fewer than 100 years ago. Loss of habitat and poaching are the main drivers that brought these majestic cats at the brink of extinction. Now, a new threat might put tigers […]
An extremely rare and small galaxy has just been reported by astronomers, which by all accounts can be considered the least massive galaxy discovered thus far. The very faint galaxy, consisting of roughly 1,000 stars, supports current theories relating to the formation of the Universe. Located in the constellation Aries, the dwarf galaxy dubbed Segue 2 […]
In the aftermath of heavy rains from Tropical Storms Debby and Andrea, a giant mosquito species has surfaced and invaded central Florida. Authorities have issued warnings to residents to be extra careful of these very aggressive bloodsuckers that can grow up to 20 times the size of a typical mosquito. Their bite isn’t a lot more […]
Most certainly, one of the top goals in physics today is proving the existence of dark matter – the elusive form of matter that makes up 85% of all matter in the Universe. Many theories have been proposed and tested, however to this day we only have glimpses and possible hints of dark matter. A […]
A new visualization technique developed by researchers at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute used a thin sheet of laser light that beams, stepwise, into different planes of a specimen to create intricate and detailed snapshots of cells. In these pictures featured above and below you can see how zebrafish and fruit fly embryos were imaged using this novel […]
A long-time assumption in the medical world is that mature, differentiated neurons do not divide and that they’re formed during the embryonic development stage. This does not necessarily mean, however, that all neurons are grown during this stage only and that they do not form during adulthood as well. Proving that neurons can form during adulthood […]
Our general appearance and dominating facial features have come a long way since the days of our early homo sapiens ancestors some hundreds of thousands of years ago. For instance the size of our brain, and of course skull that houses it, has grown in size three times since then. Moreover, medical records only a […]
Non-stop sunshine, an incredibly beautiful ocean, one of the highest standards of living in the developed world and the Koala are just a few possible reasons why Australians are the happiest people in the world, at least according to the annual Better Life Index survey authored by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. This is the third […]
Psychologists closely studying chimpanzee, bonobo and human infants found striking similarities among the three species in terms of different types of gestures. Their findings seem to back-up the theory that claims language, as we know it, evolved from gesture-based communication first. Panpanzee, a female chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes), and Panbanisha, a female bonobo (Pan paniscus) were […]
If you’re a regular follower of NASA’s updates, you may have caught glimpses of some of the X-ray photos they report showing the surface of the sun. In these photos, dark specks of various sizes can be seen, which are actually what astronomers refer to as coronal holes. They may extend from the Sun’s equator to […]
Invisibility cloaks have become the object of study for many research institutes out of a number of considerations. There’s the simple scientific thrill of breaching the SciFi barrier, something every researcher dreams of. Then of course, there’s always the corporate and military tail that always likes to meddle with concepts that shine with the possibility […]
Scientists at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago (RIC) demonstrated a type of peripheral interface called targeted muscle re-innervation (TMR), part of DARPA’s Reliable Neural-Interface Technology (RE-NET) research program which seeks to develop effective brain interfaces. The prosthetic is simply amazing, as one can see in the video below featuring former Army Staff Sgt. Glen Lehman, injured in Iraq. The […]
One big obstacle scientists face in their efforts to develop effective drugs against HIV is the virus’ capsid – an outer cell membrane-derived envelope and an inner viral protein shell that protects HIV essential proteins and genetic information. Current drugs have a hard time breaching this structure, however this might change. Using a supercomputer that crunched immense […]
We’ve written a great deal about schizophrenia in the past, mostly reports about new theories pertaining to the development of the disease or new types of pharmacological treatments. A great deal of interest and efforts are being invested in battling this severe psychological disorder, since it affects so many people (as many as 1 in […]
