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I love disruptive technologies, and 3D printing is undoubtedly one of the leading such movements in the 21st century. This kind of tech will democratize manufacturing, moving it away from 3rd world sweatshops to your own garage. And no, you don't have to be a geek to own one. Ten years from now, it should be as easy to use and as widespread in homes as a regular ink printer. But for now, 3D printing is limited, particularly as far as electronics are concerned. Usually, you have to print the plastic parts, then order electronic parts like circuits, chips or motors, before finally assembling it all together yourself. You can't have a global manufacturing revolution if you need to be a lab wiz to print a new TV remote control to replace the one the dog just shred to pieces. But this is all changed. We're just now seeing the first steps that might one day lead people to print their own smartphones.
University of Washington researchers have created the first telepathic link between two humans. Their technique didn't rely on supernatural powers, but rather on nerve impulses, electrodes, and advanced science.
The Great Barrier Reef, which stretches 2,000km (1,200 miles) along the coast, is the world’s largest living ecosystem. Yet it's being threatened and every year the coral retreats at the hand of pollution, tourism, farming and pests. One such pest is the crown-of-thorns starfish which attaches itself to the coral and destroys it with its venomous thorns. Various pest control measures have been tried, but none proved more effective than injecting the animals with vinegar. James Cook University researchers tried out various concentrations of vinegar, needle size and injection locations until they found the sweet spot for a 100% kill rate within 48 hours of contact. Widespread and sustained (you have to control the starfish every year following breeding season) could thus help save the Great Barrier Reef, or at least buy time until we address the more serious causes leading to its destruction.
California is currently experiencing its worst drought in over a millennium. Trillions of gallons of underground waters were lost in 2013 alone, and things are not looking up. Now, a new study has found that not even giant sequoias, majestic trees that have been living for centuries, are safe from the effects of this drought.
Enamel, the hard, mineralized substance that covers your teeth originated on tough fish scales and then migrated to the teeth, researchers found
A while ago I wrote about how the fossil fuel divestment movement is gathering a huge momentum, as more and more funds, universities and companies are choosing to migrate their financial assets away from fossil. The movement is spearheaded by Bill McKibben, one of the founders of the 350.org group, who first organized rallies and lobbied key partners. "Almost from the start, academics have called it the fastest growing such anti-corporate campaign in history, and it’s clearly accelerating by the day,” said McKibben. But I don't even think McKibben himself predicted how far divestment would go. It was launched more like an awareness campaign on the dangers of global warming. It's grown fast, for sure, but this fast? Let me run some numbers: according to a report released by Arabella Advisors, $2.6 trillion in assets have moved away from fossil portfolios or 50 times more than last year. That's not just a dent anymore - that's serious cash!
Specialists from the University of Cambridge and the University of Colorado estimate that the effects of climate change are going to take a hefty toll on our economy -- $326 trillion in damage by the year 2200, roughly $201 million each hour, the Christian Science Monitor reports.
New research suggests that simply fidgeting around could counter some of the effects of sitting down for too long.
For the first time, Japanese researchers have successfully grown a pair of kidneys in a lab and then transplanted them into animals. The organs functioned just fine, and this gives big hopes for the transplants ultimately moving to humans.
No kidding, Stanford researchers actually showed it's possible to cool solar panels by applying a special coating that reflects some of the heat back into space. The coating, called a photonic crystal cooling system, is transparent. This allows the light to reach the PV cells so these can generate energy, but - crucially - some of the heat is reflected back in space. It's so good that the researchers showed their PV panels can even stay below ambient temperature, which is incredible by itself. If you know a thing or two about solar panels, then you'll remember their efficiency is directly related to temperature. The cooler a panel is, the more of the sun's energy it can convert into electricity. And we're talking about a mere coating, which shouldn't be too difficult to scale. Bit by bit, you if you multiply the extra efficiency by millions of panels you end up with a huge useful energy gain. This may be a game changer.
Scientists working at the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) have created a very specific type of material from over 1 billion magnets placed in a specific configuration. Astonishingly, its magnetic properties now change with temperature, just like water can be liquid, solid and gaseous based on temperature.
A group of scientists working at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has managed to successfully transfer information from on proton to another one 100 kilometers away (60 miles). This could ultimately lead not to actual teleportation, but rather to unhackable conversations.
Take a candle, light it, turn it on its side -- we all know what will happen. The convection cell that forms around the flame keeps licking up towards the sky (or ceiling) regardless of the orientation of the fuel. But can the movement of air be overcome, can we make a fire burn horizontally? Well, the short answer is yes, yes we can -- we just have to use science.
Some researchers have made an interesting connection: if you measure the complexity of life or how big the genome is you find it increases at a rate that seems exponential. It's very similar to Moore's law, which suggests the number of transistors over the same surface area on a chip doubles almost every two years. You can extrapolate both forward and background. Eventually, if you extrapolate down enough you'll find the point of origin. In other words, it's possible to estimate when life first appeared based on life's complexity graph.
For the first time, National Geographic magazine is inviting its readers to submit their photos on the Your Shot section and decide the next cover. The winning photo, chosen by National Geographic Traveler magazine editors, will appear on the cover of the December 2015/January 2016 issue, which will feature the annual “Best of the World” list. Here are […]
Humans are walking ecosystems. Each of us carries around about 100 trillion microbes in and on our bodies, which make up our microbiome. The quality of this bacterial community has a lot to say about our health and well-being. The blend of microbes is also surprisingly unique, which says a lot about who we are […]
A new species of plant-eating dinosaur was discovered in Alaska, a variety of hadrosaur -- duck-billed dinos that roamed in herds, said Pat Druckenmiller, earth sciences curator at the University of Alaska Museum in Fairbanks. Researchers named the creature Ugrunaaluk kuukpikensis (oo-GROO'-nah-luk KOOK'-pik-en-sis), meaning "ancient grazer," chosen by scientists with assistance from speakers of Inupiaq, the language of Alaska Inupiat Eskimos.
Ian Lipkin, a virus hunter from Columbia University, along with fellow professors Thomas Briese and Amit Kapoor have designed a new system, known as VirCapSeq-VERT, that they claim can detect any known human virus in a blood sample.
Florida's farmlands are under attack by a highly destructive pest, the Oriental Fruit Fly, and authorities have quarantined some 85 square miles of land and the food grown there in an effort to contain the insect.
Computer chips today have billions of tiny transistors just a few nanometers wide (a hair is 100nm thick), all crammed up in a small surface. This huge density allows multiple complex operations to run billions of times per second. This has been going on since the '60s when Gordan Moore first predicted that the number of transistors on a given silicon chip would roughly double every two years. So far, so good - Moore is still right! But for how long? There's only so much you can scale down a computer chip. At some point, once you cross a certain threshold, you pass from the macroworld into the spooky domain of quantum physics. Past this point, quantum fluctuations might render the chips useless. Moore might still be right, though. Or he could be wrong, but in a way that profits society: computer chips could increase in computer power at a far grater pace than Moore initially predicted (if you still keep Moore's law but replace transistors with the equivalent computing power). This doesn't sound so crazy when you factor in quantum computers or, more practical, a 3D computer architecture demonstrated by a team at Stanford University which crams both CPU and memory into the same chip. This vastly reduces the "commuting time" electrons typically have to go through while traveling through conventional circuits and makes them more efficient. Such a 3D design could make a chip 1,000 faster than what we typically see today, according to the researchers.
The biggest pariah of the century, NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, had a "geek to geek" hour long talk with Neil DeGrasse Tyson, part of the StarTalk radio show. The two had an interesting discussion about lots of stuff from science, to chemistry, to space. Even 9/11. It's worth mentioning that Snowden made his presence felt through a robotic telecomm machine which he remotely controlled from Moscow, his asylum. Perhaps, the most interesting moment from the episode is their chat on encryption, a topic where Snowden is particularly an expert. It's so obvious I'm surprised I've never heard this idea before: the reason why we've yet to pickup any messages from an intelligent extraterrestrial species might be because this data is encrypted.
Trilobites were some of the most dominant creatures on the face of the planet, thriving from the mid Cambrian 521 million years ago to the start of the Mesozoic, 250 million years ago. Paleontologists have now found the earliest evidence for molting - a trilobite shedding its skin 365 million years ago.
Drones are often feared as instruments of destruction, and as John Oliver pointed out, in some parts of the world, people fear blue skies because that’s when the drones strike. But this technology isn’t only used to destroy – it can also be used to create, as demonstrated by these very efficient quadrocopters building a rope […]
Americans are sending much more trash to landfills than federal agencies estimated - twice as much, according to a new study.
Researchers from the University of Washington and the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence (AI2) have developed a computer software that scored 49% on high-school geometry SAT tests - an average score for a human, but a great one for current AIs.
Usually, we have to use all sorts of disinfectants, soaps and detergents to scrub away smudge, be it sticky, oozy or greasy. This is not only annoying during housekeeping, but also following medical procedures when instruments have to be cleaned. Researchers at University of Southampton have been working for several years on a different kind high tech solution. They developed a gun-shaped device called the StarStream equipped with a special nozzle that injects water bombarded with ultrasound waves. The mix is so powerful that virtually any kind contamination can be removed.
A team working at the Francis Crick Institute in London applied to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority for a permit that would allow them to edit genes in a human embryo. If allowed, this would lead to the very first genetically modified embryo in the UK. The scientists claim they need approval to do basic research that may " improve embryo development after in vitro fertilization (IVF) and might provide better clinical treatments for infertility,” and not for clinical research. Either way, the controversial practice is banned in all Western countries and virtually banned, although not explicitly, in the US.
A video of an ape, breaking out of its cage and attacking; the victim -- a human scientist, that picks up a small red hammer and defends himself, battering the primate ran amok. It sounds like a pretty gruesome video, bound to have animal right's activists redouble their efforts to see the heartless jailers brought to justice. But hey, wait a minute... Apes don't wear sneakers.
Syrian refugees are making headlines all over the world, but while their story is worth covering, there are millions other refugees in Asia, Central America or Africa that are in the same boat. According to the U.N., 59.5 million people were displaced due to “persecution, conflict, generalized violence, or human rights violations” in 2014 or 8.3 million more than the year before. To escape persecution, refugees take hidden routes out of their own country which are often controlled by smugglers and can be extremely dangerous to cross. Everybody was heartbroken to learn about the story of three-year-old Aylan Kurdi, who was found washed ashore in Turkey, but few know that 2,900 other people died drowned or asphyxiated on their way to a safe haven this year alone. National geographic just released five great maps that explain the global forced migration patterns
Middle Age Europe was a place ruled by superstition and mythical beliefs - at least some parts of it were. Now, researchers are trying to figure out what made some people in Poland believe there was an 'outbreak of vampires' in the 17th and 18th century.
The human inovation process is more of a slow, steady climb than a sum of great leaps, a new University of Reading study shows. Our minds tend to innovate by adding small improvements through trial and error report the scientists, who studied one of the most important cultural events in human history - the migration of the Bantu-speaking farmers in Africa some 5,000 years ago. Mark Pagel, Professor of Evolutionary Biology at the University, led the study.
A dubious pharmaceutical startup recently bought the rights to a drug that treats a parasitic infection, then raised the price 500-fold seemingly over night. The drug targets a somewhat rare condition that affects immune compromised pregnant women, but also malaria and AIDS. Ironically enough, it was developed by a much hated big pharma company, GlaxoSmithKline, in 1953 and used to cost $1 a pill only a couple years ago. It has since traded hands twice, before coming under the control of Turing Pharmaceuticals, a start-up run by a former hedge fund manager.
Eight trillion microbeads are polluting the US waters every day. As the plastic beads are very small, they breach through the water filtration systems, affecting wildlife and ultimately, humans. The main culprit for this microbead invasion is the cosmetics industry, where the particles are used as exfoliating agents and in toothpastes.
About 260 million years ago, this pre-reptile might not have looked like much. With its knobby face and about as big as a cow, Bunostegos akokanensis was actually pretty remarkable. According to a new analysis, it was actually the first creature to walk upright on all four legs, maintaining a fully erect gate.
After years of analyzing and reclassifying some 2.3 million species, a group of international researchers from eleven institutions were able to create the most advanced and up to date tree of life. This all inclusive tree is actually pieced together by compiling thousands of other, smaller trees.
The Norwegian Ministry of Culture has finalized a transition date from Frequency Modulation (FM) radio to Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB) radio. They will thus become the first country in the world to switch completely from FM radio.
A group of elderly-care nurses working at the Swedish Svartedalens elderly home participated in the first controlled trial of shorter work hours the country held for a decade now. In February, the they switched from an eight-hours to a six-hour working day for the same wage, in an effort to improve productivity and quality of life.
This Wednesday, Sen. Marco Rubio, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker were engaged in a two hour long debate on CNN. In 120 minutes, climate change was only treated for three minutes, which to me is saddening since it shows the moderators care as little about the effects of climate change on this country and the world at large as the Republican Presidential candidates.
Fourteen years ago, a leading drug maker conducted a study which concluded that Paxil, an antidepressant, was effective and safe for teenagers. But now, a major medical journal published an analysis concluded the opposite.
The world is at an extremely dangerous crossroads: if we keep using non-renewable hydrocarbons and coal the way we have, we'll be rising global temperatures to a point where the consequences are extremely dire, but in many parts of the world, renewable energy is simply not cheap enough, and people don't want to pay for it. Faced with this conundrum, we may have an unexpected ally that could solve our problems: nuclear energy.
It’s the science that makes you laugh, and then makes you think. It’s a tradition not nearly as established as the Nobel awards, and not nearly as reputable – since 1991, some of the planet’s best and most creative researchers have gathered each year to celebrate and appreciate the most ridiculous scientific discoveries which could […]
That's what I call fatal attraction: two supermassive black holes are "dancing", drawn together by each other's humongous gravitational attraction, set for a collision that will likely send ripples through the very fabric of space-time.
The Arctic is overrun with giant mosquitoes: larger, furrier versions of the mosquitoes we all know and hate. As temperatures in the Arctic continue to rise, these mosquitoes can not only brood for a longer period of time, but they can survive more, in higher numbers. According to a new study published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences this is a major problem, and one that will continue to grow as the planet gets hotter.
Regular soap is really good at killing bacteria, but most people feel that antibacterial soaps are even better. After all, they're antibacterial, right? Well, according to a thorough research, that's not true at all - regular soap works just as good as antibacterial soap.
A research team has demonstrated the effectiveness of a 3-antibiotic cocktail that kills methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, in all mice that were treated with it.
Ok ok it's not technically called that, but the California Costal Cleanup Day is definitely something you should check out this Saturday if you like finding cool stuff and wish your beach looked less....garbage-y. For 31 years now, thousands of volunteers all over the world come together, put on the strongest pair of gloves they can find, and go scour the coast, lakes, rivers and their surroundings, picking up what we throw out the rest of the year.
Scientists have discovered the longest chain of continental volcanoes in the world, stretching almost 2000 km (1200 miles) on Australia's coast. The volcanic track includes 15 volcanoes formed over 30 million years ago.
An experiment has found that domestic dogs have lost some of their problem solving abilities, and wolves currently do a much better job than them. In her paper published in the journal Biology Letters, they describe this result, and also offer a possible explanation.
Every year, the Ig Nobel Prize is awarded to ten lucky winners. To qualify, you need to publish research in a peer-reviewed journal that is considered "improbable": studies that make people laugh, but think at the same time.
A massive 8.3 magnitude Earthquake struck the northern coast of Chile on Wednesday night, killing at least five people and causing buildings to sway in the capital city of Santiago. Following the earthquake, waves of up to 4.5 meters were reported in some areas of the coast. About one million people were evacuated.
