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Not even the quickest pistol drawer from the wild west could have ever stand a chance against the Janken robotic hand at rock-paper-scissors, the favorite game for settling who needs to get out and buy beer. Developed by Ishikawa Oku Laboratory at the University of Tokyo, the Janken robot, which is the name of the game […]
That’s right. Scientists have found that one of our early ancestors, the Australopithecus sediba, South African species from two million years ago, used to have an unique diet of forest fruits and other woodland plants. Basically, all the other hominids, we currently know of, focused more on grasses and sedges. This makes A. sediba a truly […]
You’re not the only that doesn’t like math, it seems. A new study from scientists at Bristol’s School of Biological Sciences found that biologists pay less attention to theories that are dense with mathematical detail. The scientists involved in the study compared citation data with the number of equations per page in more than 600 evolutionary biology papers […]
A talented team of students from the University of Maryland’s Clark School of Engineering has set a new record for the longest flight time for a human-powered helicopter. The helicopter in question, called “Gamera II”, after the flying monster turtle of Japanese films and the university’s terrapin mascot, was devised and built by the students themselves. First thing that […]
In an extraordinary feat of science, Japanese scientists have used induced stem cells to grow into a liver-like tissue in a dish. The researchers have a long way ahead of them before they can grow livers safe for human transplants, which is the main goal, however even at its current stage, the tissue grown by the […]
According to a recently publicized rapport by the Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), renewable energy sources could account for as much as 80% of the US’s electricity demand by 2050. The rapport signals the various difficulties that need to be overcome to reach this goal, and note that while 80% might be very challenging […]
It’s remarkably impressive how a spacecraft built and launched in the late 70’s is not only still functional, but well on its way of becoming the first man-made object to leave our solar system. After 35 years, new data shows that this plucky probe may soon cross the undulating boundary between the edge of our solar […]
A groundbreaking climate change study, which contains data 2,500 times more detailed than previous studies, predicts weather patterns from 2041 to 2060 in the Los Angeles region. Findings show that the region is expected to heat by an average of 4 to 5 degrees Fahrenheit by the middle of this century. This implies tripling the number of […]
Kepler, a space telescope on a mission to find alien planets by measuring dips in the brightness of more than 150,000 stars, has come across a fantastic discovery. Two planets orbiting a distant star, which are closer to one another than any other two planets discovered thus far. Apparently, from the surface of the smaller planet, […]
If you feel very proud of your iPhone’s 8Megapixel camera or your high resolution DSLR, you might want to consider what a camera capable of taking photos with gigapixel resolution implies. Researchers at Duke University and the University of Arizona thought this through, and managed to devise a 50 gigapixel camera. Here’s Paris in 26 Gigapixels […]
The cheetah is the Bugatti Veyron of the animal kingdom, capable of reaching speeds as high as 29m/s (65mph). Actually, in a 0 to 60 mph race, most cars would have a hard time in out-pacing the fastest land animal in the world. How does the cheetah manage to outstrip all its other animal contenders, even those […]
Scientists at MIT, Brown University, and NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center may have come across an incredible discovery, after data from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), a spacecraft which orbits the Moon from pole to pole, suggests water ice might be present inside a massive crater, called the Shackleton crater. The researchers used the spacecraft’s laser altimeter to illuminate the crater’s interior with […]
Researchers from the Natural History Museum in Madrid counted chinstrap penguins in Antarctica’s South Shetland Islands in 1991-1992 and again in 2008-2009. They discovered a frightening decline in penguin population in the area, with one species culled by more than a third. The most affected species at hand is the chinstrap penguin, named so after the black strip […]
DNA 11 combines genetic science with art by providing its customers with their own, unique DNA portrait. Pioneers in the field, DNA11 empowers you to create art that has a deep personal meaning to you. You choose the size and style of your art piece, as well as your own color scheme from over a million […]
The Higgs boson or the God particle, as it’s also been commonly referred to, is a hypothetical particle that endows other elementary particles with mass. Confirming its existence is of crucial importance to physicists at the moment, otherwise scientists would be forced to rethink another method of imputing mass to particles. Last year, scientists at CERN registered a hint; […]
Quasars are some of the brightest objects in the Universe. Their formed after black holes devour captured material, like gas dust and stars that come too close, and release bright light that can be seen across the universe. Most of the popular astronomy today is orientated towards the particularly extremely bright quasars; those formed in a singular […]
According to biblical account, the Tower of Babel was an enormous tower whose top was intended to reach for the very heavens. Amused by this ploy, God said “Come, let us go down and confound their speech.” With their tongues twisting words in different languages, the people there couldn’t coordinate their efforts any longer. Man never […]
Today, only 10% of the currently published scientific papers are open access; freely available to the public online in their entirety. A recently published report commissioned by the UK’s Minister of Science encourages scientists to publish their works in open access journal and claims the benefits of an open access system outweigh the downsides. The […]
This Monday, China took a historic step forward after the nation’s manned spacecraft Shenzhou-9 successfully docked the Tiangong 1 space station test platform. This marks the first time a Chinese mission crew docks with a space platform. Also, another unprecedented event occurred – the first ever female Chinese astronaut to travel in space. The Shenzhou-9 capsule was launched […]
The Standard Model of Physics is currently the accepted model which describes how sub-atomic particles behave and interact in the Universe. A recent analysis of data gathered by a decade-long experiment at the US Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, shows a certain particle decay happening at a pace far exceeding that predicted by […]
In the summer of 2011, Swedish marine explorers looking for various goods from shipwrecks, which sank in the Baltic Sea a long time ago, came across a peculiar discovery. The Swedish treasure hunters’ sonar revealed an extraordinary image: a formation of objects at the bottom of the sea that bears an uncanny resemblance to Star Wars’ fabled Millennium Falcon. One […]
The most sophisticated rover developed by NASA to date, the Mars Curiosity rover, is set to land on the red planet in August. During its one year mission, the rover’s main objective is that of investigating for signs that might hint towards the presence of life, past or present, on Mars. Scientists have unanimously agreed […]
A team of researchers at MIT have successfully manage to fabric a fuel cell capable of running on glucose, which scientists envision will power highly efficient medical implants in the brain that can help paralyzed patients express motor functions again. The outputted power is in the microwatt range, but despite its low range, scientists claim it’s just enough to […]
Carnivorous plants may soon have to give up their meaty habits and turn veggie, as a recent study found that carnivours plants in Swedish bogs have significantly reduced their preying behavior, due to nitrogen pollution. The sundew drosera rotundifolia is one of the most common carnivours plant species, growing across much of Northern Europe in rain-fed bogs. […]
Be it a bacteria or a fully complex being, say a human, all living, biological organisms undergo lighting fast protein structure reassembly in response to environmnetal stimuli. For instance, receptor proteins in the sinus are stimulated by various odor molecules, basically telling the organism that there’s food nearby or it’s in the vicinity of danger (sulphur, methane, […]
Using the Subaru and Keck optical/infrared telescopes on Hawaii’s Mauna Kea, a 4,200 metre-high summit which houses the world’s largest observatory for optical, infrared and submillimeter astronomy, a team of Japanese astronomers claim in a recently published paper that they’ve discovered the earliest galaxy found thus far in the known Universe – it is 12.91 billion years […]
This time last year, the whole scientific community was faced with one of the most controversial findings in recent history – namely, that neutrinos could travel at a speed greater than the speed of light, fact which would directly contravene with Einstein’s Theory of Special Relativity and, in consequence, force scientists to rethink the fundamental laws that […]
First discovered in 2005, and then studied in more depth since 2007, NASA scientists have finally isolated the ethereal glow thought to originate from the very first objects in the Universe with the highest precision yet. As seen in the image above, depicted in orange and red, the ‘lumpy’ infrared glow was observed using the […]
This month, the 20th anniversary of the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio, an United Nations conference where various issues where addressed like the systematic scrutiny of patterns of production, alternative sources of energy to replace the use of fossil fuels, new reliance on public transportation systems in order to reduce vehicle emissions or the growing […]
Fed by ignorance, hypocrisy and frustration, members of an international group of eco-anarchist have, during the past few years, plotted and attacked various scientific facilities and scientists alike, injuring many in their attempts and seeding fear, in an anti-technology and science ploy. The violent attacks were self-attributed by the various organisations working in close tandem, […]
A team of international scientists from Britain and the United States have devised a new mathematical formula, considered more accurate than previous methods, which measures the body weight of dinosaurs – they found that dinosaurs weighed much less than previous estimates had considered. For instance, the giant Berlin Brachiosaur, which lived in the late Jurassic period (from about 200 […]
Atom = at·om, noun \ˈa-təm\, from the greek ἄτομος (atomos) meaning “indivisible”. Apparently the atom isn’t that indivisible after all. Scientists at the University of Bonn have managed to split an atom into two with a special laser, in special conditions, before merging it back together. Just like in the case of light, quantum mechanics allowed an atom to be split […]
A new study from anthropologists at University of Tennessee analyzed the skulls of caucasian American men and women from between the mid-1800s to the mid-1900s. Their findings showed that the average American’s skull today is larger and narrower than it used to be seven generations ago. In total, over 1,500 skulls have been analyzed, and though […]
Now this is something that doesn’t happen everyday, especially from behalf of one of the most paranoid and money-gobbling organizations in the world, an US intelligence agency. According to a recent press release from NRO, the secretive government agency that flies spy satellites, two such functional and high-capable spy satellites were handed over to NASA as […]
Many efforts and funding have been put into countering vibrations, such as the ones produced by an internal combustion engine, to dampen shocks and reduce noise. Much progress has been made; you only need to compare two vehicles, one twenty years old, the other brand new, and you’ll instantly notice the differences. One, noisy and […]
Stephen Quake is a professor of bioengineering and applied physics at Stanford University and investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Besides his fruitful academic background however, Quake is an extremely prolific inventor, as well, his most successful one being a chip with miniature pumps and valves that incorporates complex fluid-handling steps to speed genetic research. […]
Curious enough, one hundred years after renowned physicist Max von Lauefirst used X-ray diffraction to unravel the intricate atomic architecture of molecules, a team of international scientists have analyzed tiny protein crystals at an unprecedent scale of resolution, premiering in the process the world’s first hard X-ray free-electron laser. Called the Linac Coherent Light Source at Stanford, the X-ray […]
Located in the western region of South Asia, and spread over what are now Pakistan, northwest India, and eastern Afghanistan, was the once flourishing Indus Valley Civilization or the Harappan civilization as it’s also referred to, by the the city of Harappa, which was the first excavated city. The Harappan was one of the first attested […]
The most successful private space flight venture, SpaceX, continues its successful streak which began with the successful launch and docking of its Dragon capsule with the International Space Station, after the company announced recently it has sealed its first contract for its slated Falcon Heavy rocket, which is expected carry about twice as much payload […]
The 2012 London summer Olympic games are just a few weeks away, and as millions are set to flock to the city and other hundreds of millions will rejoice on the web and TV at the world’s grandest spectacle of athletic performance, it’s pretty clear this is one of the most anticipated events of the year. Every […]
Genetic diversity is what keeps species evolving, helps them tackle diseases and is a prime pre-requisite for natural selection. Understanding genetic diversity is imperitive for scientists in the field, whether it’s about identifying associations between genetic variants and diseases or highlighting interesting aspects of human population history. One of these aspects is geographical location. Remarkably, an international […]
Besides ever thinning ice, permafrost melting, soot deposits, habitat loss, you might as well add another significant factor threatening the arctic ecosystem – mercury. For some time, the alarmingly high mercury concentrations in the regions were rather unaccounted for, in part, however a new research by scientists at Harvard’s Atmospheric Chemistry Modeling Group suggests that […]
A group of researchers at University of British Columbia and the Smithsonian Institution have discovered a new sensory organ in rorqual whales, a subspecies of baleen whales, which also includes the largest animal that has ever lived, the blue whale, capable of reaching 150 tonnes. The scientists involved in the study claim that this organ plays a vital role in […]
Last Saturday, after many meticulous preparatory stages and a couple of exasperating postponements, SpaceX was set to launch its Falcon 9 rocket, along with its Dragon capsule filled with food, supplies and science experiments destined for the International Space Station. A faulty valve, however, signaled officials to abort the launch with just ONE second to go. Years and […]
In an absolutely remarkable discovery, Professor Yun Hang Hu, along with associates at Michigan Technological University, have discovered a chemical reaction which can turn the alarmingly ever increasing greenhouse gas carbon dioxide into a solid-state semiconductor (Li2CN2), while also releasing energy in the process. You couldn’t ask for something better. CO2 is an extremely pesky compound for […]
A new study published by the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory found that pollution leads thunderstorm clouds to capture more heat than in normal, clean air conditions, thus becoming a contributing factor to global warming. Thunderclouds or deep convective clouds, by the scientific term, generally form and develop in any geographic location and […]
Nothing short of extraordinary, two people paralyzed from the neck down controlled a robotic arm to perform actions of various complexity, like manipulating objects, simply by using their minds. One of the participants involved in the demonstration of the brain to robotic arm set-up actually controlled the arm to retrieve a coffee recipient and eventually drank from […]
Scientists have uncovered pieces of fossilized amber containing tiny female insects called thrips, which upon closer inspections were found to have particles of pollen dusted over them. The insects found are around 100 million years old, officially making them the oldest pollination record ever found. During the lower Cretaceous Period, which corresponds to the recently discovered […]
According to the World Wildlife Fund‘s annual Living Planet report, humans are using Earth’s resources at a rate 1.5 times greater than the rate of replenishment. “During the 1970s, humanity as a whole passed the point at which the annual Ecological Footprint matched the Earth’s annual biocapacity. This situation is called “ecological overshoot”, and has continued since […]
The Cross River gorilla is a critically endangered gorilla species, native to the border region of Nigeria-Cameroon. Today, only about 250 to 300 individuals are alive, due to habitat loss and poaching, making it the rarest of all four gorilla species. It’s so rare and elusive, that no one has ever been able to record […]
