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Here's a great way to spend science dollars: see if humans literally find robots sexy. They do sort of, or so conclude Stanford researchers who asked volunteers to touch an anthropomorphic robot in various body parts.
Biological engineers have created a programming language that allows them to rapidly and efficiently program and design DNA-encoded circuits, giving new functions to living cells. There are already a myriad of programming languages. Fortran and C++ allow for rapid computations, PHP is a scripting language for web development, Ruby is a popular object-oriented language – […]
For centuries, chocolatiers have been trying to develop the perfect chocolate coating for bonbons, honing their skill to the point of artistic performance. But scientists believe they can take things even further.
Fake 3-D printed eggs packed with sensors help scientist learn how vultures incubate their eggs. This way, they might be one day able to incubate their own eggs, without having to rely on vultures.
Takeout, instant noodles and cheap beer -- the only known organisms able to survive solely on these three items are university students. A new study examined undergraduates' dietary habits to see what powers their resilience to low-quality food, and if this trait can be grafted into human beings.
A new report questions the legitimacy of today's "War on Drugs," seeing as the five-decade long process has failed to reduce either the supply or demand for narcotics. The authors urge for 'scientifically grounded' policies to be implemented, including regulated markets for cannabis.
Food packaging does influence the amount of calories consumed, a new study found. By showing portion sizes much larger than recommended, the pictures on various product's packaging could make it difficult to eat healthy. Extras such as toppings or frosting on cakes are also usually not taken into account on nutritional labels, exacerbating the problem.
Wood, one of the cheapest and most widely used construction materials humanity has ever employed, has just had its range of uses expanded; Researchers at Stockholm's KTH Royal Institute of Technology have developed a method of turning wood transparent that's suitable for mass production.
A new nanomaterial printing method could make it both easier and cheaper to create devices such as wearable chemical and biological sensors, data storage and integrated circuits -- even on flexible surfaces such as paper or cloth. The secret? Plamsa.
Russian paleontologists dated the fossil remains of a Elasmotherium sibiricum, a giant beast the size of a mammoth with a saber like horn, and found these were 35,000 years old. That places the closest resembling unicorn animal in the same place and time with humans migrating and settling Asia.
In the year 79, the Vesuvius volcano erupted, wiping out the Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum and killing at least 1,500 people. But while Pompeii usually takes the spotlight, it's Herculaneum that may provide us with key information.
Data is key to our modern society, and data transfer has become pivotal for many industries, as well as for our day to day lives. Thankfully, the maximum speed is constantly increasing and while we may not see this in current infrastructure, there are reasons to be optimistic. University of Illinois researchers report that they’ve […]
The first images of Viking treasure, stashed in a pot more than 1,000 years ago and buried in a field in Galloway, have been made public by the conservators working to preserve them. The items, including six silver disk brooches, a gold ingot and Byzantine silk, are not currently on display.
Tired of laundry day? Pioneering nano research into self-cleaning textiles could soon make cleaning your clothes as easy as hanging them out on a sunny day.
A new collaboration study between NASA and Harvard University found that climate change is breaking an important link between droughts and the grape harvests in France and Switzerland.
Scientists have developed a graphene patch that can monitor sugar levels in diabetic patients as well as deliver metformin - a drug used to treat diabetes - through the skin.
If you’re like me, then you still use the old Kindle model because hey – if it ain’t broken, don’t fix it. Also, if you’re like me, you’re usually pressing the ‘Skip’ button whenever updates are in store. If this is the case, then you should know that your old Kindle will be disconnected from […]
A study into a strain of red bread mold could revolutionize our rechargeable battery technology. The paper's findings could be the first step towards producing sustainable electrochemical materials.
The town of Albertville in southeastern France has begun using cheese to generate electricity. Their power plant, build in the Savoie region, uses the byproduct of the local Beaufort cheeses as the base for its biogas power generation system.
Heavy marijuana users react to anxiety-inducing stimuli similarly to people diagnosed with anxiety disorders, a new study found. The results could help improve the accuracy of anxiety disorder diagnostics in the future.
A new type of metamaterial that can grow when stretched, with possible applications for medical equipment and satellites, was inspired by an unlikely source -- ancient Islamic art.
The sounds you make while chewing have a significant effect on the amount of food you eat, a new study has found. The results suggest that people are likely to consume less if they can hear themselves eating.
What's the most important resource on the planet? Water of course.
A virus similar to SARS has been identified in Chinese horseshoe bats that may be able to infect humans without prior adaptation. Overcoming this genetic barrier could be the first step for an outbreak, according to a study at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Morgan Beeby and his colleagues at the Imperial College London used electron microscopy to image these biological motors in high resolution and three dimensions for the first time.
A new study analyzing sea level rise forecasts as well as population growth projections found that we've underestimated just how many people would be impacted by rising waters. Anywhere from 4.3 to 13.1 million people from the US alone will face the risk of inundation by 2100, according to their estimate.
Lithium, the stuff the battery in your smartphone or notebook are made of, is a toxic substance and in short supply. It's pretty clear it's not a sustainable solution to our mobile power generation needs. One alternative explored by researchers at MIT uses carbon nanotubes, which are non-toxic and non-metallic.
Inspired by ants, researchers mimicked the insects' individual super strength and collective hive mind in tiny robots. Each weighs only 0.2 pounds, but six were enough to tow a 3,900 pound-car, with one of the researchers seated as well.
It's been a tough run for Go champion Lee Se-dol who lost game after game in what could very well be the match of the century, against Google's AlphaGo algorithm.
Spiders' diets aren't limited to juicy insect bits. They spice up their menus with vegetarian courses too, zoologists from the US and UK have found.
Researchers have manipulated the genome of chicken embryos so that they develop dinosaur-like bones in their lower legs.
A new study measuring the forces that shape bacterial genomes determined that a difference in efficiency of hundredth of a percent is sufficient to determine the winners and losers in the evolutionary race.
Inspired to 'make tomorrow now', an industrious team of Saudi researchers baffled everyone by demonstrating an artificial skin made with household items.
Religiousness in the Unites States is on the decline, mirroring patterns seen across the western world a new study from UCL and Duke University finds.
More than half of American's calories come from ultra-processed foods, a new study finds. The data also indicates close to 90% of total added sugar intake can be traced back to these foodstuffs.
Google engineers may have their eyes set on Starcraft - a strategy computer game.
Google's algorithm AlphaGo stunned the world by defeating Go legend Lee Se-dol yesterday, and today, it just won the second game of the series.
A new study found that whole populations of bacteria retain their tolerance to stressors for a much longer duration than individual cells.
An international team has discovered that by inhibiting Gq protein production in adipose tissue, cells can be re-purposed from storing fat to burning it.
Mechanical engineers at Brigham Young University are combining the versatility of origami with mechanical know-how to produce the smallest surgical tools.
Researchers found a positive association between the amount of time spent playing video games and children's mental health as well as their mental and social aptitudes.
A new paper suggests that we've been overlooking how two key human responses to climate -- the total area farmed and the number of crops planted -- will impact food production in the future.
Iowa State University engineers have created a flexible, tunable "meta-skin," a material that uses rows of liquid-metal devices to cloak an object from radar detection.
An artificial ‘skin’ can stretch up to 480 percent its original size, and can sense changes in pressure – a haptic feature that could lend both robots and human prostheses a sense of touch.
These predatory amoebas are usually very good at finding enough to eat by themselves, but when food is short they do something astonishing.
Researchers found that the app misses high blood pressure in 8 out of 10 cases, giving patients a false sense of security.
Schools in Estonia's capital Tallinn are piloting a new program, gradually moving to PC workstations running on free and open source software.
A tragedy is just waiting to happen in one of the largest cities in the Middle East, engineers warn. The Iraqis who built the dam structure for the Mosul dam warn that the structure is “increasingly precarious” and threatens to kill 1 million people. They also said the government’s answer has been ridiculous. The Mosul […]
A research team from University College in London has calculated that in the last five years, the ten biggest cities have increased their climate adaptation spending by a quarter. But they also found that it’s capital, not people, that we’re investing the most to protect. Beyond the moral implications this entails, it also means that poor […]
An MIT research team has developed a new technology that will allow for the creation of lighter and thinner solar cells than ever before. While the team says there is still work to be done before making them commercially available, the panels already proved their efficacy in laboratory settings. They hope that their work will power […]
