Cancel

gear Push settings

bars

homehome Home chatchat Notifications


Say Cheese: NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory Takes Its 100 millionth photo!

It's a remarkable day for NASA and space observations: the Solar Dynamics Observatory has taken its 100,000,000th photo! The mission, which has been in continuous operation since 2010 has greatly contributed to our understanding of the Sun and the Sun-Earth relationship.

Poorer parents are just as involved as rich parents, despite ideological thinking

There's a popular belief that poorer parents are largely worse at parenting that those better-off, since they lack the necessary resources to engage as often in what are considered good parenting practices. University of Bristol researchers topple this thinking after they found that there was no evidence to indicate there was such a difference. Basically, poorer parents were as likely to have helped with homework, attended parents' evenings, and played sports or games with their children in the previous week, according to the study which surveyed 1,665 UK households.

A third of Americans think antibiotics cure the flu

A lot of Americans seem to be confused about what are antibiotics and what they're good for. According to a YouGov survey (full results), a third of American correspondents replied that antibiotics can cure the flu, while a third also thought that vaccines can give you the flu. It goes without saying that this is false. The findings suggest an over prevalence of thought that antibiotics are "good for everything", an abuse that might cost public health dearly.

Our Galaxy Might Be a Huge Wormhole

Based on latest evidence and calculations, our entire galaxy, the Milky Way, might be a a huge wormhole, stable and navigable. Astrophysicists combined the equations from general relativity with a distribution of dark matter to reach this conclusion

By 98 to 1, U.S. Senate passes amendment saying climate change is real

It's hilarious and sad at the same time: the US Senate had to vote whether or not climate change is real, and not a hoax. Thankfully, the vast majority of the Senators agreed with science, and by 98 to 1, they voted that climate change is indeed real.

A Walk During Lunch Hours Boosts Mood and Reduces Stress

If you find it hard to focus, you're feeling a lack of enthusiasm or simply are stressed, a walk during lunch hours might do wonders for you. A new study has found that just with a walk, you could fight all those issues.

Asteroids Had Long Lasting Magnetic Field, Potentially Harboring and Protecting Life

The magnetic field of asteroids lasted for a surprisingly long time, a new research has found. According to it, it may have lasted for millions and millions of years – long enough to potentially protect life forms hitching through the solar system. Asteroids and Life Asteroids are considered to be minor planets, with the larger […]

You're more likely to quit smoking and work out if your partner does the same

Changing bad habits into good ones can be quite a challenge, but having a partner that does the same goes a long way. A new study has found that if your partner works out and quits smoking, then you are much more likely to do the same thing.

Nutritional labels today lead to decisions indistinguishable from chance - there's something better, though

Every food product is mandated in most of the world to list its nutritional values - how much proteins, lipids, sugars and so on - yet most people, even nutrition conscious shoppers, have a hard time interpreting the labels to make a healthy decision.

Sewage Sludge Contains Millions of Dollars in Gold

There are millions of dollars in gold and other metals in the sewage sludge in major cities. A new study has found that in a city with 1 million inhabitats, there’s as much as $13 million worth of valuable metals, including gold and silver.

This is what the underneath of an iceberg looks like

We often say that you only see 10% of the iceberg, the rest being underwater. US photographer Alex Cornell actually got the chance to see that - during a trip to Antarctica, he managed to take pictures of an extremely rare phenomenon: a flipped iceberg.

Vaccine skeptical parents tend to cluster and threaten communities

More than 21 million hospitalizations and 732,000 deaths among children born in the last 20 years have been spared by vaccination preventive action, but despite this more and more parents choose to shun vaccines, not only for them, but for their children as well. The consequences are evident, but it's not the lives of themselves and their children that parents who refuse vaccines risk. It's that of those around them, in their communities as well.

That Viral Video with Guitar Strings? That's Bogus. Here's what Guitar Strings are Really Doing

Recently, a video published on Vine by Logan Gendizzle went viral. The video claims to show what the guitar strings look like up close while the author is playing Weezer’s “Say it Ain’t So”. The result is pretty spectacular, it got tons of shares and likes... and it's fake. The good news is that reality is even cooler.

Moderate Alcohol Consumption Could Actually Help Your Heart

A new study conducted by Harvard scientists concluded that moderate consumption of alcohol (moderate!) can lead to lower risk of heart failure. The study, which was conducted on over 14,000 men and women aged 45-64 found that a small drink every day is associated with a 20 percent lower risk of men developing heart failure and […]

Google Invests $1 billion in SpaceX for Global Internet

SpaceX, the company responsible for shipping cargo on and off the International Space Station, which wants to implement global access to the internet with a swarm of satellites, has confirmed a $1 billion investment from Google and Fidelity.

First new-born organ transplant in the UK saves two lives

In a first for the UK, doctors have transplanted the kidneys and liver cells of a newborn baby girl to two recipients. The procedure, a milestone in neonatal care, is set to become more common once the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health will release its new set of guidelines this year. Elsewhere, newborn […]

Laser-etching pattern turns any metal into a super-hydrophobic surface

A new generation of water-repellent products could be just ahead after researchers at University of Rochester demonstrated an amazing laser technique that etches tiny micro and nano grooves into a metal surface making it super-hydrophobic.

X-Ray Technique Reveals Charred Scrolls From Vesuvius Eruption

Using a new X-Ray technique, archaeologists may be able to read the words from the charred, rolled up scrolls that survived the Vesuvius eruption that wiped out the Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum nearly 2000 years ago. This could open up a new window to the past, revealing much information about the way the Romans lived and is a spectacular technological achievement in itself.

Good News: Tiger Numbers in India up From 1,400 to 2,226 in 7 Years

After a continuous decline in numbers, tigers are finally getting some good news. Indian authorities have announced that the number of tigers has increased by 50% in 7 years, from 1,400 to 2,226.

Chimps 'tell' each other where the best fruit trees are found and how big these are

Chimps, our favorite primate cousins, communicate with each other through a complex gesture language, partially decoded by scientists. Depending on the situation and the gesture, chimps tell each other things like “Stop that,” “Climb on me,” or “Move away.” Now, an exciting new study found that chimps also communicate through vocalization. Researchers found that the primates would "speak" to their peers and relay what their favorite fruits are and where the best trees can be found.

Pope Francis to release Climate Change Encyclical urging action against climate change

Pope Francis, well on his way on becoming the most popular and moderate pope in recent history, is preparing to publish an encyclical on ecology and climate change, urging the world to stop turning their backs on nature. The document is expected to be released in time to be read before the next round of U.N. climate treaty talks in Paris at the end of the year. Of course, Pope Francis' rather frequent commentaries concerning climate change, toppled by his much anticipated encyclical, has angered climate change skeptics. Critics have been quick to voice that the pope is using religion to front a radical environmental agenda.

Three 'super-Earth' exoplanets seen orbiting nearby star - one in Habitable Zone

Even crippled, NASA’s Kepler telescope makes awesome findings: using data acquired previously, the telescope discovered three planets just a little bigger than Earth orbiting a star relatively close to our solar system. Kepler is a space observatory launched by NASA to discover Earth-like planets orbiting other stars launched back in 2009. Kepler’s main mission was to […]

Sea Snails Paralyze Their Prey With Unique Type of Insulin

What do you do if you need to catch your own food... but you're just not fast enough? That's the problem cone snails had to face, and the solution they came up with is pretty amazing: they kill fish by lowering their sugar levels with a unique type of insulin, researchers found

Alcohol Ads Lead to Underage Drinking

Well, who would have thought - alcohol ads make people drink more ?! A new study has shown that alcohol advertising on television contributes to both underage drinking and binge drinking. According to the research, higher "familiarity" with booze ads "was associated with the subsequent onset of drinking across a range of outcomes of varying severity among adolescents and young adults".

The development of babies' brains relies directly on fat from the mother's bottom and thighs

We like big butts and I know why: because it helps babies develop their brains properly. Researchers have found that especially during breastfeeding, the development of babies’ brains relies on fat supplies stripped directly from the mother’s thighs and bottom.

Want a cheap home? Just 3D print it - from mud

Inspired from mud daubers (a species of wasp), designer Massimo Moretti managed to develop a new 3D printing technology for creating cheap houses. Working with architects, he developed bio-architecture which may go a long way towards fighting the housing crisis in some parts of the world.

This device could let deaf people “hear” via their tongues

Out of all the solutions which could help deaf people here, this is definitely one of the most creative things I've seen. Researchers from the US have developed an electric mouthpiece that can transmit sounds to people - through their tongues.

In the fight against obesity, pizza is a prime enemy

Nutritionists have identified pizza as a major contributor to obesity among young children and adolescents, and caution parents to be extremely careful considering the prevalence of the food stuff. One of the world's favorite snack is very rich in saturated fat, sodium and calories and, in the US, one in five children eat pizza on any given day. Fast food pizza is considerably more rich in calories than cafeteria pizza.

BP's fine for the Deepwater Horizon oil spill will be lower than expected

A federal judge decided this week that British Petroleum will pay a maximum of $13.7 billion for its 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill, saying that the oil spill was not as extensive as United States officials claimed. The sum is several billions lower than all parties involved were expecting - except for BP, of course.

Pipeline breach in Montana spews 50,000 gallons of oil into Yellowstone river

A pipeline breach spewed more than 50,000 gallons of oil into the Yellowstone river, according to Montana officials who claim that they're not aware of any threats to public safety as a result of the spill. According to the Bridger Pipeline Company, the spill occurred about 10am on Saturday near Glendive, Montana, estimates placing the amount of oil leaked between 300 to 1,200 barrels.

Germany more than doubled its offshore wind power capacity in 2014

In 2014, Germany installed 543 offshore wind turbines, reaching a capacity of 2.35 gigawatts (GW), getting closer to their plans of having 6.5 GW of wind energy infrastructure installed and connected by 2020.

Expanding Brain Samples to Better See Them

Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have found a way to enlarge and map brain samples. This inexpensive technique will now allow scientists to get a much closer look at the human brian and perhaps figure out some of its long standing secrets.

Cities grow and thrive much in the same way galaxies do in space

Human social behavior is strikingly governed by laws that describe how the masses congregate or interact one another. Yet, despite the empirical evidence, scientists know very little what stems these mass behaviors. An individual is highly unpredictable, but masses are not (in this respect, Isaac Asimov's Foundation takes it to the extreme with his fictional psychohistory).

Scientists Observe Giant Burst of Radio Waves

Scientists have observed a massive burst of radio waves, helping them narrow down the potential sources of these huge bursts of energy. These events, also called blitzars, last about a millisecond but give off as much energy as the sun does in a million years. These are quite possibly the most interesting and shocking sources of […]

Not one, but two yet to be confirmed Earth-sized planets could orbit in the outer solar system

Nibiru followers might have cause to rejoice, as Spanish astronomers report a novel hypothesis that suggests two Earth-sized planets might be hiding out in the outskirts of our solar system. Thousands of years after the first planets besides our own were discovered by ancient Babylonian astronomers, it seems like determining the number of planets in our solar is far from being settled, despite Pluto's unfortunate destitution.

When robots break the law: bot buys ecstasy pills and fake Hungarian passport online

No, it's not Asimov's Three Laws but the Common Law that a robot designed for art infringed. Devised by !MEDIENGRUPPE BITNIK, the Random Darknet Shopper is an automated online shopper that's programmed to randomly buy items on the Deep Web. With a limited budget worth $100 in Bitcoin for every purchase, the bot went on a spree where it bought a number of items ranging from Chinese blue jeans, Nike shoes or Moldavian cigarettes.

Rice grain-sized laser helps build the first quantum computer

Princeton researchers demonstrated a novel type of microwave laser - called a maser - so small that's the size of a grain of rice. The laser is powered by individual electrons that tunnel through artificial atoms known as quantum dots.

Vaccination starts with pregnancy, for everyone's good health

The most important message mommies are missing is that pregnant women and their babies need vaccines to stay healthy, according to Saad Omer, a researcher the Royal Society for Public Health.

It's official: 2014 hottest year on record - all without the help of El Niño

At the beginning of the year, ZME Science reported 2014 was the 18th straight year to have surpassed average 20th-century US temperatures and the warmest year yet, according to the Japanese meteorological agency. Now, both NOAA and NASA have confirmed 2014 to be the warmest on record, despite there was no El Niño event.

Smart shoe devices generate power from walking

German researchers have designed shoe devices which harvest power as you walk. The technology could be used to power wearable electronic sensors without the need for batteries.

Crystal-Rich Rock 'Mojave' is Next Mars Drill Target

Curiosity is preparing for its second drill on Mars - its eyeing a rock which may have a salty story to tell. The rock may be a former lake bed, from which all the water has evaporated.

Link found between circumcision and autism

A recent study has shown that no matter the culture, circumcised boys have a significantly larger chance of developing autism spectrum disorder (ASD). According to the Danish researchers who conducted the study, the risk is especially larger for infantile autism, before the age of 5.

Ocean life facing major extinction

In a groundbreaking analysis based on data extracted from hundreds of studies, scientists concluded that humans are on the verge of causing unprecedented and irreparable damage to the ocean environments. The patterns are clear, and extremely worrying, researchers say - but we still have time to act.

Milk intake dropped by 41% when chocolate milk removed from school program

The statistics of children drinking milk at school may be skimmed by the fact that many kids actually only drink chocolate milk. A new study has found that when chocolate milk is removed from the menu, total milk consumption drops by 41%.

New Study Suddenly Makes Billions of Exoplanets Habitable

Astronomers hunting for habitable Earth-like planets now believe that the best place to look is not around stars like our Sun, but rather around smaller, cooler stars—orange and red dwarfs. These are by far the most abundant stars in our galaxy, and all of them have at least one exoplanet.

Republican voters shift their stance against Climate Change, yet those in Congress lag behind

Republican voters, not to mention those in power, are notorious for their refutal of man-made climate change, yet according to a report issued by the Yale Project on Climate Change Communication many of them have shifted and believe it to be real. As more and more republican voters become convinced of the reality of man-made global warming and its effects on the climate, it's only common sense that those elected will come to terms as well.

Solar sector added jobs 20 times faster than the US average in 2014

According to a report issued by the  Solar Foundation, jobs in the solar industry were added at a rate 20 times that of the national average. In absolute numbers, 31,000 solar jobs were added in the U.S. between November 2013 and November 2014, bringing the total number of employees to 173,807, 87 percent more than five years ago. […]

Overwhelming majority of college students prefer paper books to digital copies

Despite ebooks and their corresponding electronic reading devices have become extremely popular, surprisingly most young adults and children prefer reading in print than digitally. Moreover, this trend seems to be on the rise after a momentary preference for ebook readers.

Songbirds inspire next generation hearing aid, faithful to the human ear

Hearing loss can be devastating: you lose friends, become ever trapped inside your head and alienated from society. Yet, only one in five Americans choose to use a hearing aid. Some ignore their problem, others can’t afford treatment or installing a hearing aid, but really a lot of people choose not to wear a hearing […]

Dutch Company Harvests Electricity From Living Plants, Powering Street Lights, Cell Phones and Wi-fi

Forget potato clocks – this is the real deal. Plant-e, a start-up company in the Netherlands created promising new technology which harvest electricity from plants. So far this month, more than 300 LED lights were illuminated by the Dutch company, in a promising proof-of-concept. They also demonstrated that they could power up cell phones and Wi-Fis. […]
1 … 356 357 358 359 360 … 417