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We’ve written about some bizarre animals in the past, but just when you think nothing can come as a surprise… well, meet the Chinese soft-shelled turtle, an animal that has an unique ability, never before encountered in the animal kingdom – it can urinate through its mouth. This is definitely not your typical turtle, even its […]
Paleontologists have uncovered the fossil remains of a 3-inch-long extinct arthropod in Yunnan Province, China, dating from the Cambrian period. What makes it particularly special is the fact that it provides an unusual example of preservation of the brain and nervous system, atypical for fossil records this old, but most interestingly it suggests that complex […]
Astronomers have come across a peculiar phenomenon after observing a distant dying star that sheds matter in a three-dimensional spirally pattern due to pulsations at its core. This is a totally atypical behavior, which scientists have yet to encounter before, one that might shed new light on star evolution. The red star called R Sculptoris, […]
Researchers at MIT have developed a novel technique of creating cheap and reliable sensors for toxic gases by simply etching carbon nanotubes with a mechanical pen on a special paper, fitted with electrodes. The method allows for easy to make, cheap and reliable sensors that detect noxious gases in the environment, without the hassle that […]
When last year scientists at CERN reported how neutrinos traveled a few tens of nanoseconds faster than the speed of light, the whole scientific community was left in shock, since it defied even the most elemental restriction of modern-day physics, a cornerstone without which physicists would have to rebuild the Standard Model. Still, some researchers, […]
There were 5.4 million automobile crashes on U.S. roads in 2010, killing 33 000 people and injuring more than 2.2 million, according to survey released by the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The death toll around the world is much higher. While cars have been designed to be a lot safer by making them more crash […]
Oil spills are one of the most devastating man-made ecological disasters out there. During such an outbreak, millions of gallons of oil can end up in the ocean, killing countless marine life, as well as harming the ecosystem. Handling such disasters, beyond pointing fingers which comes to no avail to the marine life, has become […]
Trapped in the web, the wasp knows it’s done for, as it counts the seconds to its impending doom. The spider snatches its prey, and is prepared to act its revenge upon the ancient wasp, which is a parasite of spider eggs. But just as the final killing blow is imminent, resin oozes from a tree […]
Scientists at University of Sydney have been studying for the past few years one of the most peculiar events in nature. It seems that a living slime, no less, no more, is capable of reading information and remembering its past “steps” acting on some sort of external memory, this despite the fact that it has no […]
It may look like an ordinary cup of sand, but for NASA scientists this is a milestone almost as important as the rover’s landing on Mars itself. Yesterday, Curiosity finally scooped a patch of martian soil and shook it for refinement, a moment which was being observed with anxiety from back on Earth. “There was a […]
There’s a general belief, most likely resulting from extensive marketing ploys, that electric cars are the cleanest mean of transportation, and an adoption should be hastily made in order to save our planet. While it’s true that electric cars have virtually zero emissions and not even one part per million of CO2 is released during operation, a […]
A curious specimen which bares a resemblance to the iconic Jedi master Yoda, due to its large lips on either side of the creature’s head reminiscent of the Jedi’s ears, has been recently collected from far, far away in the ocean depths. Upon closer inspection it along with two other creatures have been recognized as distinct […]
Astronomers at UCLA university have made a remarkable discovery, after they’ve confirmed the presence of a star orbiting the black hole at the center of our galaxy in a mere 11-and-a-half years – that’s the shortest known orbit of any star near this black hole. The researchers involved in the paper describing the find claim that […]
Be tall, be thin, be beautiful. The media has made sure we’re constantly bombarded by such imperatives, and aside from frustrations, some people have gone to such extremes to fit popular media expectations that they end up hurting themselves. This is, sadly, most evident in the case of women, where eating disorders or anorexia are frequently […]
Kyoto University researchers have produced normal, healthy mouse pups after inseminating a foster mother with eggs and sperm derived from stem cells, exclusively grown in a petri dish. This remarkable accomplishment came after last year scientists produced mouse pups from stem cell grown sperm. Their research might lead to the development of novel techniques through […]
No, this is not the prologue for a Steven Spielberg movie. Yevgeny Salinde, a 11 year old boy, found what’s been later identified as a 30,000 year-old perfectly preserved mammoth carcass while strolling near his home in Russia’s far north, some 3,000 kilometers away from Moscow. The boy told his parents, who work at the […]
A while ago I told you a bit about one of the most anticipated international scientific joint effort in recent history – the Square Kilometer Array. When ready, the SKA will cover one square kilometer of South African or Australian soil, hence the name, with thousands of radio dishes that combine and work as one, […]
Precisely today, October 4, 55 years ago one of the most important milestones in human spaceflight took place. Then, the first ever artificial satellite, the soviet Sputnik, was launched into space and into Earth’s orbit, signaling the start of the space race, while also sparking an unprecedented support for sciences in American schools. As the […]
A group of researchers have successfully tested a novel nanodevice treatment, in which intelligent nanoparticles selectively open and release drugs which target aging cells. The approach could render results when treating patients suffering from diseases involving tissue or cellular degeneration such as cancer, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, accelerated aging disorders (progeria). It could also boosts results in the cosmetic industry, […]
Graphene is the strongest material ever discovered by man, and naturally its applications has been extended to a variety of fields – most recently genetics. University of Texas at Dallas scientists have used advanced manipulation techniques to shrink a sheet of graphene to the point that it’s small enough to read DNA. This successful attempt now opens […]
A lot of the climate change models today are based under the assumption that greenhouse gas emissions weren’t that significant pre-1850, when the industrial age boom began. A new study from scientists at Utrecht University in the Netherlands found otherwise, and reported that human activity was responsible for plenty of greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere […]
Black holes are simply the worst neighbors to have around, as they wreck havoc in their vicinity. Scientific belief states, however, that in a globular cluster, which is a massive spherical conglomeration of thousands of thousands of stars, you can’t have more than one black hole, if any. New findings however show that there’s no safe neighborhood, […]
Interestingly enough, a group of cognitive psychologists at Japan’s Hiroshima University found that browsing through cute photos, such as those of baby animals like kittens, serves as a productivity booster. Although the lolcats peak is long gone, there’s still a significant wave of viral enthusiasm for sharing and collecting photos of cute animals – a […]
A group of paleontologists recently authored a monograph dedicated to a group of puny herbivore dinosaurs, discovered in the 1960s but only identified as a distinct new species in the past few years. Basically a two-legged porcupine, the Pegomastax africanus puzzled scientists with its distinctly long and sharp fangs, and extremely curious fact for a […]
Surrounding our planet are rings of plasma, part of Earth’s magnetosphere, which are pulsing with radio waves. These aren’t audible to the human ear, but radio dishes and antennas always pick them up. Recently, NASA scientists recorded some of the Earth’s pulses and transformed them into acoustic waves – the end result is a short song […]
The Russian space program’s Mission Control Center recently announced that the International Space Station will adjust its orbit to prevent a possible collision with a debris cloud from a Japanese satellite. The dodge is provisionally planned for 10.22am BST (9.22 GMT, 00.01 PST), time at which the Russian Zvevda module will fire its booster rockets and move […]
A group of researchers at Universities of Sheffield and Sussex have embarked in a highly ambitious project, in a quest to accurately develop computer models of a honey bee brain. Findings during actual development and testing itself might help answer some of the most puzzling questions in neuroscience, in a bid to understand how animal cognition […]
Rovers, like Curiosity, have been great for gathering samples and studying the terrain and atmosphere of distant worlds, but what about environments less favorable to wheeled machines? An interesting concept has been unveiled recently, in which scientists propose landing a sort of robotic boat on Titan’s largest methane lake, in order to have a physical […]
According to the most comprehensive study ever carried out on the World Heritage Site, findings have shown that damage caused by storms, crown-of-thorns starfish and bleaching have resulted in more than half of the amount of coral covering reefs being cut in half since 1985 and will likely continue to decline if immediate countering steps are not made. Australia’s […]
In a surprising find, scientists have discovered a cold layer sandwiched between two hot ones in Venus atmosphere, the hottest planet in the solar system. The said layer is so cold, that carbon dioxide freezes over and falls down on the surface as ice or snow. Popular astronomical conception has Venus portrayed as Earth’s evil twin, a […]
A small sundew, carnivorous plant native to Australia has amazed scientists with its unique ability of fling prey into its trap, where it is digested by the plant. The biologists studying the plant conclude that it has one of the fastest and most spectacular trapping mechanisms known among carnivorous plants. Found in southern Australia, the Drosera glanduligera […]
According to the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, climate change models suggest that average global temperatures will likely rise by 2 to 11.5 degrees F (1.1 to 6.4 degrees C) by the end of this century. The consequences of an increase of just a few degrees are dire. Apparently, taking clear and effective steps […]
Nebulae are among the most brightest objects in the sky, and besides their fantastic halo in the night sky, which served to inspire artists for countless past generations and more to come, they’re also an indispensable part of the Universe’s ‘ecosystem’. Essentially interstellar clouds of dust, gas, hydrogen, helium and other ionised gases, a nebula serves like a […]
Biologists have found a new species of fresh water fish east-central Mexican waters, and what they discovered was more than they bargained for. Apparently, to fight off the female’s selective reproduction blocking mechanism, the male has evolved an… interesting, let’s say, penetration mechanism of its self – a four hook genitalia. No, this is not a […]
Although this Saturday night full moon might seem ordinary enough, it bares a certain significance. Traditionally dubbed the “harvest moon” for generation by people living in the northern hemisphere, its light helped farmers stay longer in the fields even at night during the peak of the harvest season. Curiously enough, the moon officially turns full on […]
At the center of most galaxies lie black holes, some of which are classed as supermassive black holes. These cosmic bodies can have a mass billions of times greater than that of the sun, crammed in just a fraction of the latter. Gravity goes completely haywire in such an environment where this humongous mass gets crushed […]
When fine art is concerned, or visual arts in general for that matter, complex cognitive functions are at play as the viewer analyze it. As you go from painting to painting, especially different artists, the discrepancies in style can be recognized, and trained art historians can catch even the most subtle of brush strokes and identify a […]
For decades now, scientists have known what are the biochemical reactions that trigger a penile erection, however not those that actually maintain it. In a breakthrough, physicians at Johns Hopkins Medicine have finally uncovered the exact biochemical chain of events involved in the process. The findings will hopefully lead to novel medical treatment for patients suffering […]
Australian scientists say that persons with psychopathic tendencies could be spotted through a smell test, correlated with a psychological questionnaire. The link doesn’t lye in the actual odor emanated by a potentially psychopathic person, though, but rather in their sense of smell. The study conducted by Mehmet Mahmut and Richard Stevenson, from Macquarie University, is based on […]
Since they were first invented in 1931, aerogels have become widely used in the industry, mostly for insulation purposes, thanks to their low thermal conductivity and light weight. Traditional silica aerogels, however, are brittle and obtuse, typically unsuited for applications where flexing of the material would occur. A novel class of polymer aerogels seeks to fix […]
In the wake of the Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster, and as always Chernobyl, as anti-nuclear manifestos are quick to remind every time nuclear powered energy is concerned, there seems to be a sort of stigma applied to nuclear power. Countries are revising their policies – some for the better, being long overdue, while other […]
After Nevada, California has become the second state in the US, and well the world for that matter, to legalize self-driving cars. The main developer of self-driving technology for auto-vehicles, Google, believes this to be yet another milestone in motor revolution waiting to unfold. Governor Edmund “Jerry” Brown signed the bill, SB 1298, alongside Google co-founder Sergey Brin and […]
A peculiar animal, which thanks to the harsh environment it calls home couldn’t be studied very well, the vampire squid is actually a detritus gobbler, skimming the oceans for any kind of remnants from crustacean eyes and legs to larvae poop – quite far from a blood-sucking predator. These conclusions could be made only recently, and […]
Though a barren, life-intimidating landscape, Mars still has the most resembling weather to Earth compared to the other planets in our solar system. Recent measurements beamed by the Curiosity rover, which touched down on the martian surface a few weeks ago, have confirmed the scientists’ theories of extreme pressure swings. According to observations, pressure variations can be […]
Discovered just last week by a Russian team at the International Scientific Optical Network (ISON), the comet C/2012 S1 (ISON) is set to flyby less than two million miles away from the sun, unleashing a spectacle of light in the process at the end of 2013. Astronomers estimate, if it doesn’t desintegrate, that the comet […]
In a remarkable feat of science, scientists at Harvard University have surpassed seemingly insurmountable technological challenges have managed to take over the behavior of a lab worm. Using precisely targeted laser pulses at the worm’s neurons, scientists were able to direct it to move in any directions they wanted, and even trick it in thinking […]
Harnessing the oscillation of magnetic microscopic beads, MIT scientists have carried out experiments which show that it’s possible to develop a tiny device capable of diagnosing biological samples instantly. Such a tiny lab would allow for fast, compact and versatile medical-testing. Tiny magnetic balls, in the micrometer scale or a millionth of a meter, embedded with biomolecules […]
Leaders, whether they’re heads of states or business executives, are generally less stressed than non-leaders, contrary to popular belief, according to a recent study from Harvard psychologists, recently published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. For the study, the researchers invited 65 non-leaders from various professions and 148 leaders, mainly recruited from a Harvard […]
After the most recognized physics figure in the world, Albert Einstein, past away on April 18, 1955, the whole world was left in shock, seeing how he was even by then considered the most famous physicist in history. His dying wish was that of being cremated, however an eccentric physician by the name of Thomas Harvey, a […]
Recent measurements conducted by NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, and observed by other X-ray instruments from around world and in space, suggest that our galaxy is surrounded by hot spherical gas formation that stretches across 300,000 light years and has an equivalent mass of some 60 billion suns or roughly all the stars in the Milky Way. If […]
