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This sexually transmitted virus castrates crickets, but encourages sexual activity

Meet one of slickest and twisted virus nature has to offer. Called  IIV-6/CrIV , researchers at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia  discovered the virus effectively castrates crickets, while promoting sexual activity at the same time like an aphrodisiac so it can spread. It’s an incredibly effective strategy for the virus, but can we learn anything from it? […]

Pentaquark particle discovered by CERN scientists

After taking a short break in activity to be upgraded, the biggest atom smasher currently in use, CERN's Large Hadron Collider came back in business, and it did so with a bang. Using it, researchers have discovered yet another new kind of particle dubbed "pentaquarks" -that amounts to a new form of matter.

Australian Prime Minister Wants to Block $10 Billion Investment in Wind Energy

Tony Abbott, the Australian PM has been warned he is putting international investment at risk after ordering the $10 billion Clean Energy Finance Corporation not to finance new wind power. Abbott, who is a firm support of the waning coal industry has escalated his war on renewable energy, attempting to block massive investments. Wind power is […]

Bumblebees in Europe and North America bumble away from the equator as habitats shrink due to climate change

In the most comprehensive study ever conducted of the impacts of climate change on critical pollinators, scientists have discovered that global warming is rapidly shrinking the area where these bees are found in both North America and Europe.

Thursday, Denmark produced 140% of its energy needs from wind

Most days are windy in Denmark, but Thursday was unusually so – it was so windy that the country got its entire energy needs and more solely from wind turbines. During the afternoon it was already reported the Nordic nation’s wind turbines were producing 116 per cent of Denmark’s electricity needs, and the figure rose to […]

Pluto has a heart - NASA reveals spectacular images of the dwarf planet

Pluto, the Solar System's most well known planet wanna-be is having its week in the spotlight: NASA's New Horizons probe is offering an unprecedented look at the dwarf planet, and already revealing some interesting features.

Exxon had evidence of climate change since 1981 - funded deniers for 27 years

An email recently unearthed by one of the their own scientists casts the blame on ExxonMobil, the world's largest oil company in the world, as they had data pertaining to climate change as early as 1981 - seven years before it became public issue. They chose to fund deniers of the problem for the next 27 years.

Mesopotamian urban crisis after the fall of the Akkadian Empire mirrors modern Syrian one

Archaeologists used innovative techniques to gain new insights about the third-millennium urban crisis in Mesopotamia some 4,000 years ago. This marked the fall of the Akkadian Empire – the very first empire in the world. The researchers also drew a comparison to modern-day Syria where current events in the wake of climate change and a violent […]

Killer AI? Let’s Solve the Smaller Problems First

Tesla Motors’ Elon Musk has said that our civilization is dangerously close to encountering AI problems within a “five-year timeframe, 10 years at most.” He made the comment on the website Edge.org shortly before deleting it. His point was that, sometime soon, we may actually create a form of artificial intelligence that decides to rise […]

Frogs use drains to boost their mating call

If you’ve learned during the biology classes in school that the animals are going to adapt no matter the circumstances, your teacher did a great job. Turns out that frogs aren’t the exception to the rule, quite the contrary. New studies show that tree frogs seem to be using city drains in order to amplify the […]

New painkillers could be made out of the venom of a killer snail

Cone snails have one of the most dangerous venom in the animal kingdom. This complex venomous soup is made up of thousands of chemicals used both to hunt prey and ward off predators. The venom is enough to kill a human in a matter of minutes. Now, these lethal chemicals could be used to create a new class of painkiller for chronic pain and cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy, according to University of Queensland researchers. The same team also used a genetic and proteomic to find out how the cone snails developed its venom. Apparently, the animals initially used their chemical weaponry as a defense mechanism and later on adapted it into an attack.

An ancient monkey skull hints to how primate brains might have evolved

Duke University researchers made micro CT scans of the skull of ancient monkey and found its brain, though tiny by modern standards, was far more complex than previously thought. The fossils, discovered in Kenya in 1997, belong to a monkey ancestor who lived some 15 million years ago.

Elon Musk Offers Ten Million Dollars to Keep AI Under Control

Elon Musk, the mastermind behind Tesla Motors, SpaceX and Hyperloop, will offer $10 million in grants to fund 37 research projects dedicated to keeping artificial intelligence “beneficial” and “under control”. With the mind blowing explosion of computing and the ever-growing interest in AI, we’re growing closer to the point where we have to ask ourselves whether we’ll […]

Suidobashi Heavy Industries accepts US's Megabot Inc challenge for a giant robot duel

Earlier this month, Megabots Inc issued a video challenge on Youtube to Suidobashi Heavy Industries, to pit the company's' biggest, baddest robots against each other in a duel of giant robots. And grab the popcorn, put the beer on ice and get your geek on, because Japanese robot manufacturer has accepted the challenge from its US competitor, Efe news agency reported.

Life on comets? Not so fast, astronomers say!

Yesterday, we presented an article in which we detailed the claims of two astronomers, Director of the Buckingham Centre for Astrobiology professor Chandra Wickramasinghe and his colleague Dr Max Wallis from the University of Cardiff; they proposed that Rosetta’s lander Philae may have actually landed on an inhabited comet – as the black slime on the […]

Warming oceans could destroy corals in the Pacific and Atlantic, researchers warn

Coral populations are crucial to the health of oceanic environments, but corals are also extremely vulnerable to changing conditions. Researchers warn that warming waters and ocean acidification lead to coral bleaching which can cause massive damage across both the Atlantic and the Pacific.

Millions of supermassive black holes are hiding under thick blankets of dust and gas

Our Universe may be riddled with millions of supermassive black holes, a new study reports. The reason why we haven’t yet discovered them is because they are shrouded in thick clouds of dust and gas, and because we weren’t looking with the right telescope. Using NASA’s Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) satellite observatory, astronomers from Durham […]

What an underground nuclear explosion looks like

One this day, 53 years ago, the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory detonated a thermonuclear device 194 meters below the Nevada desert. Why? Well, the government at the time thought blowing up a nuclear bomb underground sounded like a good idea if you want to excavate a mine. It's a lot quicker than drilling with a lot machines. After all, mines are made using thousands of tonnes of dynamite. Why not take a shortcut and nuke the damn thing. The problem, of course is radiation. But how can you have people work in a mine if it's contaminated with radiation, right? The logic escapes me as well.

Sweeping hormones make stock brokers take riskier decisions

It's not just teenagers who let hormones get the best of them, stock brokers do it all the time, according to a new study. Only, in this case, the consequences might be far worse than a family meltdown: we're talking about global markets crashes.

No more ketchup stuck on the bottle - new technology slides onto the shelves

The days of wasting condiments, toothpaste and other products that stubbornly stick to the sides of the bottle or package are coming to an end thanks to a new coating  developed by MIT researchers. The LiquiGlide spinoff has signed a deal with Orkla (a Norwegian company) that will allow them to use the new coating […]

Is there really a mathematical formula that predicts happy relationships?

In a recent TED talk, Hannah Fry outlines a mathematical formula that predicts long-lasting relationships. In her recent book, The Mathematics of Love, she discusses the findings of psychologist John Gottman who studied hundreds of couples over many years to find out what sets apart the happy couples from the miserable. Gottman than enlisted the help of a mathematician who correlated all the data the psychologists gathered and came up with an empirical formula that seems to predict if a couple will be happy together.

No laughing matter: scientists study the effects of laughing gas

Nitrous oxide, commonly known as laughing gas, is a simple chemical composed of two nitrogen atoms and one oxygen atom (N2O). Despite being used as an anesthetic since the 1800s, the effects it has on the brain are not well understood. In a new study published in this week in Clinical Neurophysiology, MIT researchers reveal some key brainwave changes caused by the gas.

You can now calculate your Renewable Energy potential with this mobile App

A simple smartphone app combines the most reliable data and maps on global renewable energy potential, so you can get a better idea what's the right kind of equipment you need or if the investment is warranted in the first place. And it's all for free, too.

What is the Portuguese Man of War

We'll take a look at the Man of War and see what you should do to stay safe on the beach.

Lucky shot: Photographer catches space station racing past the moon

Dylan O’Donnell, an amateur photographer, took one of the luckiest shots ever: the International Space Station past the moon. Any astro buff would be envious.

Philae could be sitting on a comet filled with alien life and not even know it

Comet lander Philae may be sitting on top of microbial life and not even know it – even worse, it has no way of figuring out if it actually is. According to two researchers, the comet’s characteristics (as well as computer simulations) might indicate that the surface may be teeming with microbes. The Rosetta spacecraft was […]

Jesus lizard ancestor skimmed the tropical waters of Wyoming, 48 million years ago

Paleontologists have discovered what looks like the earliest member of the Corytophanidae (also known as casquehead or helmeted lizards) judging from fossils collected in Wyoming. The ancient species is also the earliest ancestor of the modern basilisk, or better known as the Jesus Lizard because of its ability to skim the surface of water over short distances.

Adidas unveils new sneakers made from recycled ocean trash

Adidas new shoes are trash – literally. The German company has announced the creation of a new type of shoes made from recycled garbage pulled out of the ocean; the sustainable prototype has the upper part made entirely of yarns and filaments reclaimed from illegal deep-sea gillnets and other ocean waste, while the bottom part is […]

New Horizons Shuttle Starts Preparing for Pluto Encounter

We've kept you up to date with New Horizon's progress, and the pictures it took of Pluto; now, after 10 years and 3 billion miles, the shuttle will pass close to Pluto - only 7,800 miles away from it.

Germany to shut down several coal plants to lower CO2 emissions

Germany is taking some serious strides in its attempt to reduce carbon emissions by 40 percent until 2020: the European country announced that it will shut down several coal-fired plants and move towards more sustainable energy sources. “Coal-fired plants with a capacity of 2.7 gigawatts will be shut down,” said the government sources, who declined to […]

Eating green leafy vegetables keeps your brain strong

Something as simple as eating more leafy veggies could significantly slow down cognitive decline and keep your brain healthier for a longer period of time. A new study found that nutrients and vitamins found in plants such as spinach, kale, collards and mustard greens help keep your mental abilities sharp.

Blue eyes linked to higher levels of alcohol dependence

According to an unusual study conducted by University of Vermont researchers, people with blue eyes may be more likely to become alcoholics – and researchers are trying to figure out why. Human eye color is a pretty strange thing – it’s an inherited trait influenced by more than one gene. These genes cause small changes […]

Ocean-going spiders use their legs to windsurf on the water

Spiders are more adaptable than we give them credit for, and they can make pretty good sailors – a new study has found that some spiders can use strands of silk to windsurf on the ocean surface. It’s been reported for centuries, even Charles Darwin noticed it: “ballooning” spiders flutter from the air into the sails […]

Koch-Backed Group Calls for no More National Parks

Remember the Koch brothers? They're industrialists and businesspeople who own the second largest privately owned company in the United States (with 2013 revenues of $115 billion); their main business is in manufacturing, refining, and distribution of petroleum.

American Museum of Natural History Releases Vintage Drawings of Seashells

The American Museum of Natural History has released a set of postcards you can buy when you visit them – The Seashell Collector. I thought the set looks quite brilliant, and it’s definitely worth sharing, along with some basic information Seashells The word seashell is often used to mean only the shell of a marine mollusk […]

So, you think you can crack actual medical mysteries? Here's where you can try it

A startup will allow voluntary internet detectives to study unusual medical cases and attempt to solve them. Millions of people suffer from rare or complex medical conditions for which they have received no diagnosis, but where a handful of doctors have failed, the collective force of the internet can do it – we can do it. […]

A Danish Festival Will Recycle Participants' Urine to Make New Beer

Call it Beercycling – gallons of beer-urine will be used to fertilize barley, which will ultimately become beer, and then urine again. It’s the perfect cycle. Denmark’s Roskilde festival is the largest music festival in Scandinavia and one of the largest in the world. Roskilde Festival 2013 had more than 180 performing bands and gathered around 130,000 festivalgoers, […]

Lego is investing millions to ditch petroleum-based plastic

The Danish-based Lego is one of the big companies in the world that's actually making large scale efforts to lower its carbon footprint and run more sustainable business. They don't seem to be doing it out of a fake corporate responsibility ethos either. Lego is actually innovating. I mean, when a company says it wants to ditch the raw material its business is based on for something that's more expensive and which might not even exist yet, you know they actually mean it.

Everyone might one day wear this electronic temporary tattoo that monitors your vital signs

For the past couple of years, John Rogers, a materials science professor at the University of Illinois, has been working on his pet-project: the Biostamp. True to its name, the device is basically a tiny electronic stamp, no larger than a quarter, that sticks to the skin and can be worn seamlessly. The whole time, the Biostamp collects on a variety of vital signs, depending on the embedded sensor, and is powered wirelessly via your mobile phone. It can analyze chemicals in your sweat; blood pressure; UV radiation and much more. Basically, it's transforming the way patients are monitored. In fact, it's changing the way people, sick or not, monitor their health. Imagine wearing a Biostamp all the time and receiving a notification on your mobile phone to visit your doctor ASAP because your blood pressure has been too high in the last couple of days.

U.S. Wildlife Service: We Won't Protect Wild Horses

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has rejected a proposal to list North American wild horses as threatened or endangered, arguing that a horse is a horse, wild or tame, and proponents have failed to show how the behaviour of wild horses differs from that of domestic ones.   The number of North American wild stallions has […]

Spectrometer is small enough to fit in your smartphone

MIT engineers demonstrated a working spectrometer that took a huge leap in scale from a huge, bulky lab gear to a portable piece of equipment that's small enough to fit in a smartphone. Spectrometer are essential to research nowadays, employed in everything from physics, to biology, to chemistry. To design the spectrometer, the MIT team made use of tiny semiconductor nanoparticles called quantum dots. Having a portable spectrometer could prove to be extremely practical .You can use it to remotely diagnose diseases, detect pollution or food poisoning.

First person to die of the measles in a dozens years - why did it happen?

In 2000, the CDC declared measles as eradicated in the US, meaning there was no more endemic transmission. That doesn't mean though, that it can't creep out from time to time, especially in communities where heard immunity is poor because of low rates of vaccination. This is attested by a woman who unfortunately died of the virus, making it a first in twelve years. The woman was taking medications that suppressed her immune system due to other conditions, and this made it very difficult for her body to fight another infection.

Seahorses may inspire new generation of armored robots

Seemingly small and delicate, seahorses are actually much more resilient than they look. Engineers have demonstrated that the seahorses’ prism-like tails are mechanically superior to the cylindrical ones; the discovery could lead to the development of more resilient robots. There are 54 species of seahorses, and while they may be significantly different one from the other, […]

Dangers of global warming to marine life and ecosystems reiterated in new report

A team led by scientists at University of British Columbia highlights the impacts of climate change on the world's oceans and marine life. Two scenarios were analyzed. One followed the changes that would arise if the world banded together to significantly curb greenhouse gas emissions; the other summarized impacts 100 years from now if we'd go on with business as usual. The report outlines the consequences under each scenario and found immediate action is required if we're to avert at a catastrophic outcome, particularly regarding the planet's oceans.

Woolly Mammoth genome sequencing makes cloning a lot more doable

A team at University of Chicago made the most comprehensive woolly mammoth genome sequencing ever. By comparing its genome with that of its distant cousins, the Asian and African elephants, the researchers were able to determine which are the mammoth's specific genes. These were ran with libraries and repositories to identify what these do. We now know which of mammoth's gene shaped its uncanny skull and small ears, how it got hair to cover all its body or how the mammoth adapted a special fat metabolism and cold coping mechanism. To test their findings, the researchers transplanted a mammoth gene into a human cell. The kidney cell produced new proteins which were tolerant to heat or cold, as suspected showing their other genetic determinations are also likely correct.

Climate change is reversing the sex of bearded dragons, a first

Rising temperatures are fundamentally changing the way Australia's bearded lizards get their gender. Basically, the lizard's sex is not dependent on their genes as before, but on temperature. In time, the male chromosome could disappear, as more and more females are bred - the preferred sex. What this means is that if temperatures reach a critical level, then the lizards could become extinct due to lack of males. This has never happened before and it's as scary, as it is interesting.

Rosetta spacecraft finds huge sinkholes on comet's surface

Rosetta is a robotic space probe built and launched by the European Space Agency. Along with Philae, its lander module, the craft is performing a detailed study of comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko. The probe usually orbits 67P at a distance of a few hundred kilometers. Footage received from Rosetta over the last year showed a number of dust […]

Cuban scientists express environmental concerns with US influence

As the US starts to thaw its relationship with Cuba, important economy, touristic and cultural prospects start to emerge; but as these prospects emerge, so to do environmental concerns. Cuban scientists are worried that as American tourists and money start flowing into their country, the environment will be the one to suffer. “We don’t have […]

The artificial pancreas could automate insulin delivery for diabetics

In the lab, a team UC Santa Barbara demonstrated that an artificial pancreas that can automatically deliver insulin shots at a regular basis to diabetes patients. The biocompatible pancreas constantly monitors glucose levels and administers the insulin when its needed. This way there would be no need for cumbersome daily insulin injections. The researchers will soon start trials on animal models and if all goes well, clinical trials will follow shortly.

Saber-tooth cats grew their fangs faster than human fingernails

Saber-tooth cats, the bane of early humans (and pretty much every creature that co-existed with them), roamed the Earth for 42 million years before going extinct at the end of the ice age. Now, a new study has found that their trademark teeth may have evolved later in their evolutionary stage, but when they grew, they grew […]
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