The wild poliovirus is about to go extinct. In 2015, only 74 new cases were reported or 80 percent less than in 2015. Furthermore, these cases were contained in two countries: Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Half of sunscreens might disrupt sperm function
Women who use certain sunscreens might be at risk of infertility, as scientists found 45 percent of the tested products contained chemicals that mess with the function of sperm.
Dogs labeled as ‘pit bull’ wait three times longer to be adopted
Pit bulls have a really bad rap, being thought of as an aggressive and potentially killer dog breed. These accounts are highly exaggerated, but that doesn’t stop many people to discriminate them, as well as those breeds that have the misfortune to marginally resemble pit bulls.
Robots highly likely to take over jobs that pay 20$/hour or less
It’s obvious that automation will replace a lot of jobs in the coming decades, especially the low paying ones. A new report made at the White House assessed the likelihood of robots taking over jobs and broke it down by hourly wage.
You can arrange 128 tennis balls in 10^250 ways. A seemingly impossible problem solved
That’s not one million or one billion, but roughly on unquadragintillion — a number so big it exceeds the number of particles in the Universe. So, why is this important?
How to check if a 22,338,618 digits long number is prime
A supercomputer checked if a 22,338,618 digits long number is prime in less than 3 days. Here’s how.
A pocket-sized gadget uses spectroscopy and tells you what’s inside food
One of the most exciting gadgets we’ve seen at CES this year comes from a French startup called DietSensor, which collaborated with an Israeli company called Consumer Physics. Their latest product called SCiO is a pocket-sized device that uses near-infrared spectroscopy to tell you how many carbs or calories are found inside your food.
The weirdest book in the world: Codex Seraphinianus
In 1981 Italian artist, architect and industrial designer Luigi Serafini published what has since remained in popular view as the weirdest book in history: Codex Seraphinianus.
How 2016 Presidential Candidates See Space Exploration
I know you don’t like it, but the truth is science is politicized since, ultimately, serious research depends on funding. That doesn’t mean, though, that politicians aren’t sympathetic or that they do not understand the importance of science. Some seem to do, anyway. But perhaps the most vulnerable area of science to politics, however, is space exploration. Year after year, it seems like NASA’s budget keep thinning. Although NASA is still the most resourceful space agency in the world and despite some amazing achievements (Curiosity rover on Mars or New Horizon’s flyby past Pluto, just to name a few), things could be a lot better. Arguably, if NASA kept its stellar budget during the Apollo era, we would’ve likely been on Mars by now, maybe even with a permanent outpost.
Matter and antimatter have the same properties, experiment suggests
All models of particle physics are based on the mundane assumption that matter and anti-matter are indistinguishable, but we can’t be sure. Luckily, an experiment at Brookhaven National Lab seems to confirm this basic caveat of particle physics after it found the attractive forces between antiprotons are the same as those seen in regular matter.
Hackers find a way to hijack Siri and control your phone from a distance
Combining machine learning and data analytics, Siri – the personal assistant for millions of Apple users – is a very powerful tool. Simply by voicing commands, Siri listens and obeys, whether you want to know how many calories are in your soda can or how many planes are flying above your head this very instant. But what if someone commanded Siri without your permission? A group of ethical French hackers recently showed it’s possible to hijack Siri from up to 16 feet away using hardware that can fit in a backpack and satisfy any whim.
Indian airport is the first in the world 100% powered by renewable energy
India is one of the most polluted countries in the world, but for what it’s worth local authorities acknowledge this and are trying to balance their energy mix, currently heavily reliant on fossil fuel. More than 90% of India’s energy needs are met by coal, oil and gas. In all this ocean of dirt, particles and toxic fumes, the Cochin International Airport (CIAL) shines like jewel – the first international airport in the world that is 100% served by solar energy.
This simple device helps teenage girls living in poverty cope with having a period
For girls about to have their first period in rural India, menstruation can change their lives for the worst. Unable to afford disposable pads and tampons, girls often use rags which they reuse risking all sorts of health complications due to lack of sanitation. Many also decide to drop out of school out of fear that their rags might show or leak blood. “A fear of staining their clothes and being teased or humiliated about it by their male classmates seems to be a major reason of girls themselves choosing to miss their classes,” Maria Fernandez Ruiz de Larrinaga, communications specialist at UNICEF India says.
The world is on the brink of a sixth massive extinction
The world’s next massive extinction will most likely be caused not by an asteroid impact, volcano activity or alien invasion, but by us humans. A study that looked at the past and present rates of extinction found that plants and animals are going extinct 1,000 times faster than they did before humans walked on Earth’s surface. So, is it clear
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.
One in Eight HIV-positive Americans are not aware they’re carrying the virus
A new extensive report carried out by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found approximately 1 in 8 Americans with human immunodeficiency disease (HIV) are unaware of their condition. Overall, that means 14 percent of undiagnosed cases among 1.2 million patients with HIV in the US. An undiagnosed population is the prime contributor to the spread of the disease. Clearly, there’s much room for improvement.
This baby was born with a rare condition that deformed his skull
Meet Matthew, a bright eyes, chubby cheeked baby. On the outside he looks and behaves like any regular baby his age, with one exception: an usually oblong-shaped head. At first, his parents dismissed it as a family feature, but when Matthew turned two months and visited the pediatrician for his regular check-up the doctor immediately knew something was wrong when
Scientists control the path of lightning using lasers
Thousands of lightning bolts strike the Earth’s surface roughly every couple of seconds, but despite their ubiquity this phenomena is somewhat poorly understand. Lightning is also unpredictable. While humans have been placing lightning rods for centuries to increase the probability of striking in a certain fixed point, its path can not be controlled. That may be true in nature, but in the confinement of a lab of the INRS Énergie Matériaux Télécommunications research centre (Varennes, QC, Canada), scientists have defied this common knowledge and used lasers to coax lighting to follow a predefined path.
The Moon is shrouded by a dust cloud, and a mystery still stands
The Moon doesn’t have an atmosphere, but it is surrounded by a thick dust cloud; the dust constantly falls down to the lunar surface, but new dust constantly jumps to replenish it. The pattern of dust falling back to its home “in due time … will fill in craters,” says the University of Colorado, Boulder’s Mihaly Horanyi, who led the team
Scientists find how worms brains’ feel magnetism
It’s no secret that many animals can sense the Earth’s magnetic field, but until now, researchers didn’t know exactly how they could do this – what the sensor was. Now, a team from the University of Texas at Austin has found a simple, antenna-like structure in the brain of the simple worm C. Elegans that appears to be able to detect magnetic fields.