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Evolution is virtually ubiquitous throughout the entire world – organisms evolve into different species, there’s nothing new and interesting about that. However, researchers found a surprising and unusual example of evolution – a three way symbiosis evolved into a four way symbiosis, when one bacteria became two different species inside an insect. Wait, let’s go through […]
Given the shale boom, the United States has now become the world’s leading natural gas producer. Because it only releases 50% as much emissions for the same equivalent amount of energy produced by oil or coal, many have herald it as a cleaner source of fossil energy, whose widespread introduction might help mitigate global warming. […]
A breakthrough finding in Armenia where thousands of ancient cutting tools were found beautifully preserved casts doubt on a currently prevailing hypothesis that these were solely invented in Africa. The tools discovered are between 325,000 and 335,000 years old. The age suggests the ancient paleolithic cultures of the time that inhabited the region independently developed the […]
Most organisms, including humans, have parasitic DNA fragments called ‘jumping genes’ that insert themselves into DNA molecules, disrupting genetic instructions in the process. This phenomenon can interfere with the good health of the individual, causing numerous conditions, including cancer. Now, a new study has documented how a protein called Sirt6 keeps these fragments (technically called retrotransposons) at […]
Astronomers have discovered water vapor in the atmosphere of a new exoplanet - a planet from outside our solar system - roughly the size of Neptune, orbiting a star 124 light-years away. This is the first time water vapor has been found on an alien planet smaller than Jupiter. The discovery is set to improve scientists' understanding of how planet forms and which planets may be best suited to support alien life.
Some bizarre spherical fossils found in China may be remnants of some of the world’s earliest animals (not unicellular organisms). A recent analysis has revealed that they are not bacteria or single celled protists, but rather algae, or even embryos from early animals. “The real value of these fossils is that we now have some direct […]
We’ve written a lot about Richard Branson’s company, Virgin Galactic. After working on the first commercial spaceport and helping NASA fly into orbit, now, they want to revolutionize commercial air flights. Namely, they want to fly people from L.A. to Tokyo in no more than one hour, through space. The shuttle concept would be pretty similar to […]
Radars picked up a “strange cloud” with a bizarre shape above the US Midwest. Upon a closer look, it was revealed that the cloud was actually monarch butterflies traveling from Canada to Mexico – an iconic migration which has been less and less visible in recent years, but may make a resurgence in 2014. Monarch butterflies […]
For the first time, scientists at Penn State University have coaxed carbon-containing molecules to form a strong tetrahedron shape, then linked each tetrahedron end to end to form a long, thin nanothread. The resulting materials is stronger than carbon nanotubes, while the thread is only a few atoms across thick, hundreds of thousands of times smaller than […]
The heart regularly speeds up or down its beating frequency to adjust to the body’s needs. Even in stable conditions (when you’re not particularly active or your active for a constant time), the amount of time between heart beats is variable. A team of doctors and engineers at Caltech’s Division of Engineering and Applied Science have now found […]
Our gut hosts an enormous population of bacteria, each species with its own niche (they feed on certain foods), which outnumbers our own cells 100-fold. Most of these bacteria are good bacteria, though. In fact, you couldn’t survive without most of them! They’re among the best decomposers, breaking down dead and organic matter otherwise impossible […]
Surfers and swimmers noticed something extremely strange on the Dee Why beach in Sydney: hundreds of strange, fluffy, egg-like …things. It’s still not clear what these tiny “eggs” are, but we can pretty much rule out alien eggs; we’re likely dealing with some sort of clamped up algae. RaeMaree Hutton, Dee Why Surf Life Saving […]
Norway will pay impoverished African country Liberia $150m (£91.4m) to entirely stop deforestation by 2020. Liberia is one of the poorest countries in the world, and its economy is extremely underdeveloped. Mix this current situation with the recent Ebola outbreak, and you get a recipe for disaster. Logging is a simple source of revenue in such […]
We were telling you yesterday about India’s Mangalyaan shuttle, which was set to enter Martian orbit. Here’s the update: everything went fine, Mangalyaan has entered the red planet’s orbit in a historic moment for Indian science. “History has been created today”, said Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. We have achieved the near impossible. I congratulate all ISRO scientists […]
A team of geologists from Iceland, Sweden and Saudi Arabia has found changes in groundwater chemicals prior to earthquakes. They emphasize that they haven’t found a precursor to earthquakes, but there seems to be a connection between these chemical changes and incoming earthquakes. There is no reliable earthquake warning system, and there almost certainly won’t […]
Tiny eight legged creatures crawl on all our faces, a new study shows. In other words, if you’re an adult – you have face mites. Face mites are parasitic/commensal creatures; when they are present in large numbers, they can cause an infestation called demodicosis. The mites are usually found in the human hair follicles, normally found in greater numbers […]
Science confirms what many already believed: taking walks in nature lowers your stress and depression rates. You’ve probably heard it several times in your life: take a deep breath, go take a walk and calm down. But according to a new study, that’s not just small talk; walks, especially nature walks can do wonders for […]
Americans trust the competency of scientists, but they don’t trust scientists themselves. In particular, the general population is weary of scientists manipulating results to obtain bigger grants or pushing forth hidden agendas. “Scientists have earned the respect of Americans but not necessarily their trust,” said lead author Susan Fiske, the Eugene Higgins Professor of Psychology […]
A new sign language that's only recently emerged in an isolated community is unlike anything linguistics have been used to.
India's Mars Orbiter Mission or MOM, for short, is gearing up to enter Mars' orbit this Wednesday, after the dormant main engine on the spacecraft was test-fired flawlessly on Monday. If the maneuver proves successful, then India will join an exclusive list of countries who have deployed Mars explorers, like the US, Russia, Japan and Europe.
Scientists have discovered a new dinosaur that possibly had the largest nose in prehistory. Ironically, it didn't have a keen sense of smell.
Costly altruism, the kind that you see expressed by people who willingly agree or seek to donate their kidneys, is a puzzling phenomenon for many scientists. Most of these people would tell you that they do it out of love, sympathy or a higher purpose. Neuroscientists, however, are more interested in finding whether there are […]
Environmental groups were outraged when Google announced in 2013 that it would fund the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a well known anti-global warming organization who’s on a mission to kill renewable energy projects and introduce climate change denial literature in schools. Now, Eric Schmidt, former CEO and current Executive Chairman of Google, says that funding […]
Ever in expansion, the universe is always acting on matter in an endless tug of transformations. Colliding matter is a natural part of the universe, but when our own Milky Way is at stake, things get personal. Scientists have known for a long time that our very own galaxy, the Milky Way, is destined to collide […]
Taking inspiration from nature, scientists at MIT have engineered a new sort of glue that acts like a powerful adhesive even in underwater conditions and can cling on to virtually any surface, be it metal or organic. The glue might prove to be useful to repair ships or seal wounds and surgical incisions. The strongest […]
Some 400,000 people participated in the New York Climate March – which has become the largest climate march in history. The march began at 11:30 am, and several government officials and celebrities participated as well (UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon, former vice president Al Gore, NY mayor Bill de Blasio, U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, U.S. Senator Bernard Sanders, U.S. […]
When it feels threatened, the hagfish produces a slime which is only 12 nanometers wide, but 15 centimeters long – 10,000,000 times longer than it is wide. It’s not clear exactly what this slime is made of (likely a sugar modification), but its purpose is to make the hagfish slippery and possibly clog the gills of a predator. […]
Despite significant steps towards a more sustainable future, China is still the world’s most polluting country – and it’s not only their sheer population that’s the cause. A new study conducted by two British researchers revealed that China emits more CO2 per capita than Europe. They also estimate that we have already released two thirds of […]
Neuroscientists at University of Buffalo have identified a sleep-promoting circuit inside the brainstem or the primitive part of the brain, whose activity appears to be both necessary and sufficient to produce deep sleep. This is only the second ‘sleep node’ in the mammalian brain that was identified to serve this function. To demonstrate the sleep […]
Inspired by the properties of the human eye, physicists have created a processor that can analyze sub-atomic particles 400 times faster than the current state of the art
New reserach suggests mammals are tuned to the crying calls of infants, even when these don't come from members of their own species.
It wouldn’t be an understatement to say we owe all the wonders of life to photosynthesis – the ability of plants and certain bacteria to convert CO2 into energy (sugars) and food. Scientists have for some time attempted to enhance photosynthesis through genetic manipulation, but it’s only recently that we’re beginning to see these efforts […]
Some relationships last a lifetime – but some last even more than that. University of Leicester archaeologists uncover a trove of relics and remains at Chapel of St Morrell in Leicestershire, including two skeletons who have been holding hands underground for the past 700 years. The archaeological excavations uncovered not only the couple, but also fragments of […]
Audi announced that it will be the first auto manufacturer to receive an autonomous driving permit from the state of California. Driverless cars are big right now – so big that the University of Michigan is building a fake city just to test them out. But what’s even more interesting is California’s law about driverless […]
Tokyo announced a new round of culls in the Southern Ocean despite the International Whaling Commission (IWC) banning them from doing that. Sadistic hunts Despite sparking international outrage due to whaling, Japan shows no signs of stopping. A UN ban didn’t stop them, and apparently, neither will and IWC one. The 65th meeting of the world’s whale conservation […]
An ancient Egyptian woman who lived 3300 years ago was found to have no less than 70 hair extensions. This incredibly elaborate hairstyle was probably made especially for her resting place. Interestingly enough, she wasn’t mummified, her body was simply wrapped in a mat, said Jolanda Bos, an archaeologist working on the Amarna Project. “Whether or […]
Though betavoltaics – battery technology that employs radiation as a means of power generation – has been around since the 1950s, developments thus far haven’t been the most promising. This may set to change after researchers at University of Missouri reported they’ve devised a nuclear-assisted battery, which works in a watery environment, that both lasts longer […]
We talk a lot about science and research, but we don’t spend enough time talking about the people who actually do the research. In case you haven’t followed our previous feature, here is where we share some of the most interesting studies from the week, and share a bit of information about the scientists who made […]
It may seem clear, but you need a study to have certainty: public transportation is cheap and “green”. A recent research concluded that effective public transit systems can provide a cost-effective solution to fighting global change at a global level. If public transits are improved throughout the entire world, the report shows that urban transportation could be cut […]
In today’s world, silicon has few materials which actually contest its status as the king of electronics. However, that may change in the not so distant future. A group of Harvard researchers have used a quantum material called correlated oxide to make better, more efficient transistors. The strategy for building better and more advanced processors is […]
In many cases, doctors prescribe antibiotics to children, but most of the time, those viruses don’t even respond to antibiotics, a study finds. When you have a cold, or a headache, there’s a good chance you might just shrug it off, or fight it with an aspirin or some Tylenol – but if your child is […]
Europa, Jupiter’s icy moon is the only body in the Solar System found to have plate tectonics (besides Earth). A new study has found several defining features, including plate subduction, broken linear features and offset likely caused by strike slip faults. An introduction to plate tectonics Plate tectonics is one of the newest big theories […]
Some wasps decided to build their colony next to the window of Youtube user Vang Tsal. Naturally, he was spooked – wasps are mean, and can be quite difficult to deal with. But instead of panicking and attempting to destroy the hive, he filmed it – and the results are spectacular: The colony now offers […]
At least in one aspect, sharks behave as world class mathematicians – although the cause may be sensibleness more than cleverness. The behavior associated to both mathematicians and sharks is called the Lévy flight. A Lévy flight is a random walk in which the step-lengths have a probability distribution that is heavy-tailed. In other words, it’s a […]
While you might find people sometimes resemble each other, if you look close enough you’ll soon find unique features and facial characteristics that sets them apart. It’s remarkable how diverse human faces are across the billions alive today and the countless billions that used to live in this world. Scientists at University of Berkeley now […]
A mixed team of scientists and engineers developed a thin, flexible 4-layer material that autonomously camouflages itself to the surroundings, constantly evaluating the optical surroundings and automatically adapting to them – much like a chameleon or an octopus does. It’s the first system of its kind; it takes it just 1-2 seconds mimic the characteristics of […]
Neuroscientists at University of Western Ontario in London, Canada found that a man who was thought to be living in a vegetative state for almost twenty years showed response when an Alfred Hitchhock movie was played in the background. The findings suggest that doctors might want to explore more methods to determine whether or not a […]
NASA astronauts will once again travel from the Earth to the International Space Station – under groundbreaking contracts announced today. The space agency announced that Boeing and SpaceX were selected to transport U.S. crews to and from the space station using their CST-100 and Crew Dragon spacecraft in 2017, finally ending their dependence on Russia. “From day […]
We might be dealing with the worst Ebola outbreak in history – even though no one would have predicted this a few years ago. Hastened by the urgency of the matter, a trial of an experimental vaccine against the Ebola virus is to begin in Oxford. Normally, it would take another couple of years of testing […]
Everyone knows that Greenland isn’t exactly green – it’s covered in snow, so it should be white. Except… it’s not white anymore. Jason Box, a member of the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland, has been studying the snow in Greenland over the summer and his observations are seriously disturbing. According to him, the snow is […]
