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A novel mathematical model can weigh the mass of a pulsar - a rapidly rotating magnetized neutran star - using principles of nuclear physics, rather than gravity. Up until now, the mass of a star could only be determined in relation with other bodies, based on the gravitational pull these exerted. Now, using the new model scientists will be able to study pulsars in isolation, allowing for more precise measurements than ever before.
In the wake of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant explosion in 1987, hundreds of thousand had to move immediately without notice. Their lives changed forever. Many didn't have time to pack anything, as documented by the ghost towns around the fallout site still littered with toys, valuable items and other personal belongings. But while humans had much to suffer, the same can't be said about the wildlife. In the almost four decades since the dramatic disaster, wildlife and vegetation has simply sprung to life like never before. In some instances, there are more wildlife per square meter than in some of the busiest protected natural parks in neighboring Belarus. Turns out wildlife doesn't mind that much radiation - what they mind is humans.
Chilly peppers: hate them or love 'em. Few could have imagined the impact of Columbus' discovery of a spice in the XXVth century so pungent that it rivaled the better known black pepper native to South Asia. In only a couple of years ago, the red chilly was planted all over the globe after being brought from South and Central America. Today, it's one of the most widely used spices in the world. But is chilly actually healthy? Many studies seem to contradict one another, so the debate is far from over. Some scientists claim chilly acts against cancer and helps us stay healthy, but at the same time chilly can hurt the inside of the stomach and esophagus and can even lead to internal bleeding. All foods have their good and bad sides, though, so probably people are more interested in the net effects of ingesting a certain food, chilly or otherwise - doesn't matter. And finally, there's a study that seems to suggest that, overall, chilly is our friend. That's according to Chinese researchers who tracked the eating and health habits of 500,000 individuals and found those who ingested chilly at least two times a week had a mortality rate 10% lower than those who only seldom ate chilly or not at all. Those who ate the devilish spice six or seven days a week had an even lower risk of dying.
Despite decades worth of research, unbelievable computing power and sophisticated algorithms, one of today's best artificial intelligence can't score better than a four year old on a standard IQ test.
They say beauty lies in the eye of the beholder, but science had yet to have its final word. While there are some people that are generally considered more attractive than others, and likewise some that are seen as less attractive, the consensus is far from perfect when people in between are factored in. Each person seems to have his or her own checklist used to internally rate attractiveness depending on how the body is shaped, height, hair colour, muscles, symmetry and so on. However, what influences these factors? Are these nurtured by the environment, like who our friends are or what the media tells us what an attractive person should look like, or is it genetics? A new research that studied the preferences of twins and non-twins found that it's each person's life experience that counts the most.
For most people listening to music or playing an instrument is a great way to relax, unwind, have fun, and express themselves. But not everybody is able to perceive, appreciate or memorize music, to sing or to dance. Monica is one such person, and to her, any kind of music is just a bunch of noise that makes her head ache and feel stressed.
An asteroid impact wiped out the dominant life forms on the planet, both on land and in the oceans, some 65 million years ago. Like in all matters of life, there are winners and losers, and incidentally those who had most to profit from the demise of the dinosaurs were also the weakest: mammals. Small, battered and restricted to only a couple of ecological niches, not only were the mammals more adapted to a post-apocalyptic Earth devoid of sunshine and with little food to spare, but once everything cleared they simply took over. Now, paleontologists have come across a totally new genus of ancient mammals that used to share the planet with the dinosaurs, but managed to survive the fallout and continued its lineage for millions of years after.
This year's Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine is split into three parts, being divided between William C. Campbell and Satoshi Ōmura -- who jointly share a half "for their discoveries concerning a novel therapy against infections caused by roundworm parasites" -- and Youyou Tu "for her discoveries concerning a novel therapy against Malaria."
Material scientists at Oxford University, collaborating with experts from Karlsruhe, Munster and Exeter, have developed the world's first light-based memory banks that can store data permanently. The device is build from simple materials, in use in CDs and DVDs today, and promises to dramatically improve the speed of modern computing.
NASA's New Horizons shuttle wasn't only taking mind blowing photos of Pluto, it was also peeking at Pluto's moons, especially Charon - the largest one. The latest set of images analyzed by NASA researchers revealed quite a busy past, filled with violence and geologic activity.
Hurricane Joaquin is an active tropical cyclone that severely impacted large parts of the Bahamas and is currently threatening Bermuda, although its extremities will also pass through other areas in the Atlantic, including Britain. Now, according to NASA data, the hurricane will be experiencing a phenomenon called eyewall replacement.
It’s a great day to be a space fan: NASA has just released all the photos taken by Apollo astronauts on lunar missions; digitized and grouped by the roll of film they were shot on, that’s over 8,400 images, featuring the blurry moon, the missed shots, and above all, the great features from a great […]
Over a period of 50 days of monitoring, researchers found 2,625 different plant species for sale on eBay. 510 were known to be invasive in at least one region somewhere in the world and out of that group, 35 are on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s list of the 100 worst invasive species. With […]
A few days ago, we were telling you about a potentially groundbreaking study which found a rather surprising correlation between height and cancer incidence. The study made quite a wave within the scientific community and was met with quite mixed opinions. Here are some of those impressions, from leading experts in the field. Prof Mel […]
Two drugs, currently prescribed to organ transplant patients to suppress their immune system after the procedure, show great promise as birth-control medicine for men, according to a study published in the journal Science.
For every extra 10 cm in height from the median, the chance of getting cancer increases by 11% for men and 18% for women. The link was reported by Swedish researchers at the European Society for Paediatric Endocrinology meeting in Barcelona, Spain. While other studies have reported this link, this was the largest yet performed involving 5.5 million Swedish men and women ranging in height from 1 meter (3.3 ft) to 2.25 meters (7.4 ft).
A group of NGOs has filled a lawsuit in federal court against a ridiculously controversial law which makes it illegal for any citizen to take samples or photograph open lands in public or private property. As such, a person who isn't acting under governmental approval - say a concerned citizen - can't take samples from a contaminated river, photograph it or collect any meaningful evidence in these lines for the purpose of alerting the authorities.
The third largest emitter of carbon emissions, India, pledged it would reduce its emissions relative to its GDP between 33 and 35% by 2030 relative to 2005. India, a rapidly developing country, will continue its industrial expansion which includes, of course, building more coal plants and releasing more carbon emissions than it does today, however what the government, in fact, pledges is decoupling emissions from economic growth. It's a sound victory for the planet, but to achieve its goals India will require help from developed nations. Hopefully, this might be possible under a common climate-protection framework on a global level which will be discussed in Paris during the UN talks scheduled in November.
Yesterday, we wrote about how the Chinese will be selling genetically engineered micro-pigs as pets; the pigs, which were originally developed to serve as cheaper models for the human body, were engineered to grow only up to 25 kgs, but they also raise some important concerns: is it ethical? Should we engineer animals so that […]
While everyone from Google, to Tesla, to BMW is engineering driverless cars, gearing up for an impeding auto revolution, a Chinese company went directly for a niche market: driverless buses.
Publication bias strikes again: because only positive results are published in scientific journals, medical literature greatly overstates the benefits of talk therapy for depression.
After the recent Volkswagen fiasco which revealed that their cars emit much more than they should (and claimed), a new study revealed that diesel cars made by Renault, Nissan, Hyundai, Citroen, Fiat, Volvo and many others also emit more.
The Scandinavian nation has set its mind on ridding itself of fossils fuels. To this end, the government announced it will increase spending on climate-protection measures for the next year bringing it to $546 million. That might not sound like much but Sweden is a small country which already uses energy very efficiently. It also gets three quarters of its energy from non-fossil fuel sources, mainly nuclear and hydro.
When it comes to human waste products and pollutants, plastic claims the crown. There are very few things our planet can throw at it to get rid of the polymer. It becomes bendy and rippy and shredy but it just won't go away. When you compound the resilience of this headstrong material with the sheer quantities of it that we dump into the oceans, it looks like a pretty one-sided battle that nature can't win, despite all our desperate efforts to increase recycling and take it out of landfills. But now it seems that mother nature still had a trick up her sleeve, and the non-biodegradable reign of plastic is about to come to an end, undermined by the heroic appetite of the mealworm.
Drivers and passengers who light one up while kids are in the car now face fines in England in Wales, in an attempt to curve down the effects of passive smoking.
Further increasing their conservation efforts, New Zealand will develop the world's largest oceanic sanctuary - twice as big as their entire country.
In what can only be classed as a breakthrough in medicine, a team at Washington University in St. Louis found a way to make an universal test that can identify virtually any known virus. The method works by analyzing bodily samples for signature genetic markers unique to each virus. It's surprisingly accurate, as the researchers report the test not only identified the viruses on par with standard tests, but found additional ones which would have otherwise gone unnoticed. Once it passes extensive clinical trials, doctors using the test could come up with a complete list of viral infections harbored inside a patient's body, correctly diagnose their condition and apply the right treatment. In some situations, it could mean the difference between life and death.
At the European Planetary Science Conference in Nantes, France, NASA presented some spectacular maps and observations about Ceres, the largest object in the asteroid belt, and the largest of the minor planets within the orbit of Neptune. Astronomers analyzed data coming from the Dawn spacecraft, which entered orbit around Ceres on 6 March 2015.
Enticed by warming waters, king crabs might soon make a run for Antarctica's continental shelf where they haven't been seen for at least 10 million years. As such, the fragile wildlife comprised of creatures like sea stars, sea worms, sponges, sea anemones, sea lilies and feather stars - all lacking protection against the crushing claws of the king crab - could face rapid annihilation.
When there's rain, let alone a storm, city streets form puddles and in some extreme cases get flooded. That's because concrete mostly keeps water out, and only a tiny volume gets absorbed. A company from the UK, however, has come up with such an innovative solution that it almost seems like magic were it not pure science at work. Namely, they came up with a new kind of concrete that allows more water to percolate through its gaps, so much that 1,056 gallons were gobbled up in under 60 seconds during a test. It all seems unreal - but it's as concrete as it gets.
Many researchers have expressed concerns about using such advanced techniques for such frivolous purposes, and personally, I feel like this could cascade onto many other problems - despite their undeniable cuteness.
A new study conducted on medical consumption of cannabis came up with some good news, and some bad news: for starters, while there were some adverse effects on consumers, no serious effects were reported. However, the reduction in pain also seems to be very small.
The word on every tech executive's mouth today is data. Curse or blessing, there's so much data lying around - with about 2.5 quintillion bytes of data added each day - that it's become increasingly difficult to make sense of it in a meaningful way. There's a solution to the big data problem, though: machine learning algorithms that get fed countless variables and spot patterns otherwise oblivious to humans. Researchers have already made use of machine learning to solve challenges in medicine, cosmology and, most recently, crime. Tech giant Hitachi, for instance, developed a machine learning interface reminiscent of Philip K. Dick's Minority Report which can predict when, where and possibly who might commit a crime before it happens.
In front of hundreds of guests, Tesla's CEO, the ever resourceful Elon Musk, unveiled the company's new model: the Model X crossover. It's been a long heralded and waited vehicle, and it sure didn't disappoint. This beauty, all dressed in white, looks more like a bird than a car with its upward-opening "falcon doors". It also flies like one, reaching 0 to 60mph in 3.2 seconds making it the world's quickest SUV. Wait 'till the kids see it.
Six years ago, at the 2009 climate talks in Copenhagen, things seemed to have taken a dire turn, with no solution in sight. Basically, no one really wanted to pledge anything significant. But then, Hillary Clinton, then secretary of state, brought forth a proposal.
Despite manufacturers have tirelessly designed new types of razor blades for a cleaner shave, the process has stayed virtually unchanged for thousands of years. The difference between a modern razor blade and an ancient roman shaving knife isn't that large, on a fundamental level at least. This may set to change if the Skarp Laser Razor makes its way into the shaving kit market. The gadget is basically a high-tech razor - named so only by function - that uses a highly focused laser beam instead of a blade.
Paleontologists believe they have found the oldest evidence of the bubonic plague, embedded in a flea trapped in amber for the past 20 million years. This could provide insight onto how this devastating disease appeared and evolved.
Two days ago, NASA made a spectacular announcement: they found liquid water on Mars, confirming suspicions and clues from years ago. But while they make a compelling case for the water, it would still be better to examine it on the spot, except there's a slight problem with that: NASA can't immediately investigate the water on-site, using the Curiosity rover or anything else, because it's bound by international treaties.
"Hey, what did you find" "We found a bio-florescent turtle!", a researcher triumphantly declared. David Gruber, a biologist at City University of New York, and colleagues made the find while diving in the Solomon Islands this July. Previously, researchers have found ever growing evidence of bio-luminescence and bio-fluorescence in the animal kingdom, from coral to seahorses, but this was the first time anyone has laid sight on a glowing reptile.
Even though wages today are higher than they were in the '70s, after you account for inflation these are only marginally better. At the same time, productivity has almost doubled according to a reported issued by the U.S. Census Bureau. In other words, despite the economy has significantly grown in the past 40 years, American workers got a pay cut - not a raise.
North Carolina State University researchers have succeeded in proving that the crystalline structure of a material can be formed by disorder at an atomic level and not chemical bonds, by creating the world's first entropy-stabilized alloy incorporating oxides.
Our ability to inhibit impulsive behaviors, to exercise willpower, is considered a core feature of the brain's executive functions. This, along with others such as reasoning, working memory and attention regulate our thoughts and guide our behavior, allowing us to adapt them to the changing demands of our environment. But the effort our brain puts into refraining from impulses is so great that it can actually diminish its ability to form memories of the experience.
Fewer materials in nature rival the toughness and resilience of a tooth or a seashell, and it's all due to their unique structure; viewed under powerful enough microscope, they reveal layers upon layers of micro-plates, perfectly aligned and fused together. Material scientists have long sought to produce something that imitates these structures, with comparable properties and complexity, but apart from nacre (mother-of-pearl) they've had very little success. Until now.
Endemic to Andes Mountains of Chile, Argentina, Bolivia and Peru, the Andean Cat is one elusive feline. It's only been sighted a couple times in the wild, let alone photographed. Some researchers were lucky though after their camera traps photographed a gem: an adult and her kitten.
During an extraordinary conference hosted by NASA, a team of researchers report that flowing briny water is flowing out of Martian mountain slopes. Let that sink in for a moment. Now, time to pull yourself together and check out some more details.
After they analyzed more than 2,000 traditional Indian recipes down to the molecular levels, scientists now think they know what makes Indian cuisine so appealing. Unlike western dishes, Indian recipes are based on ingredients whose flavors don't overlap for a unique taste that dumbstrucks anyone who tries it for the first time.
Another boost for India's low-cost, but extremely promising, space program took place this morning after the country launched its first space observatory in space. Blasting from the spaceport of Sriharikota, close to Chennai, the Astrosat telescope was deployed without any difficulties in Earth's orbit, some 650 km above. Along with it, some six satellites piggybacked, four belong to the US, one to Canada and the last to Indonesia.
A 30KW high-power laser was demonstrated by Lockheed Martin after it was used to disable a vehicle more than a mile away. One of the great perks of laser weapons is their phenomenal accuracy. To showcase this, the weapon was directed specifically on the hood of the vehicle, where it fried the engine. The beam from the Advanced Test High Energy Asset, or ATHENA, is believed to be most powerful ever documented in a laser weapon.
The ancient Greek shipwreck that produced the awesome Antikythera mechanism, hailed as the world's first analog computer (being almost two millenia old), had archaeologists' collective pants full of ants and it seems that their enthusiasm was well placed. The shipwreck is slowly yielding new artifacts, offering a glimpse into the lifestyles of the ancient "1%" in the Hellenic peninsula.
Each memory relies on three critical elements, those being the "what," "where" and "when" building blocks. Neuroscientists from MIT have identified a brain circuit -- connecting the hippocampus and a region of the cortex known as entorhinal cortex -- that handles the "when" and "where" components.
