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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.
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 […]
To scale, the Earth's crust is thinner than an apple's skin.
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.
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.
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.
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.
In 2009, photographer Jimmy Nelson set out on a journey to document the ‘world’s last indigenous cultures’. He took a series of photographs featuring 31 of the world’s most ancient tribes. The project, entitled Before They Pass Away, culminated with an elegant hardcover book (available in three versions) featuring stories of his encounters and nearly 500 […]
3D printing is just as cool as it is useful – as designed John Edmark. These spinning sculptures only become animated when you look at them through a stroboscopic light, or with a camera with a very short shutter speed (1/4000 sec). “If change is the only constant in nature, it is written in the language of […]
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. […]
For decades, astronomers have believed that meteorites are the building blocks of our solar system - the lego blocks for planets. But a new study from scientists at MIT and Purdue University suggests that this may not be the case after all - and we've given meteorites too much credit.
Most kids believe that human and animal characteristics are innate - that is, looks, personality and language are intrinsic, inherited, and not something which can change over time. However, learning a second language can help them learn that some characteristics are acquired than inherited, enabling them to see the world in a different way.
Three public parks will cover an Autobahn (highway) that passes through the city of Hamburg, in Germany. The 8,000-mile road network runs through Hamburg’s city center, dividing the city into an eastern and western half and creating a lot of disturbing noise. The problem will be solve through the addition of the green spaces. The highway […]
China’s has reached a new milestone in its space program – its latest spacecraft service module has entered orbit around the moon, after being successfully tested on Earth a few months ago. Chinese media reports that the service module of a test lunar orbiter has successfully began orbiting the Moon. The goal of this mission is to […]
Having a smart strategy doesn't require a brain, a new study has shown. Researchers found an insect-eating plant from Borneo which can outsmart ants and temporarily turn off its trap to attract more prey.
The people in charge of funding for NASA and environmental research, Republican senators Ted Cruz and James Inhofe, have a record of not understanding science and making pseudoscientific affirmations. While I won't discuss the politics here (we never do), the fact that such important matters fall onto the shoulders of people known to be pretty much adversaries of science cannot be left unchecked.
America's young scientists are constantly losing the battle to receive more funding. They're losing research dollars, leaving research altogether and creating a brain drain which puts a big question mark regarding the future of science.
While this study may seem hilariously obvious at first, it was actually necessary. When Mormon religion meets homosexuality, the results are often so mind blowing and saddening that you just need studies like this to explain how things really are. In a society which believes that homosexuality is something treatable just like alcoholism, you need a study to tell people that if a gay man marries a woman, divorce is very likely.
Children nutrition in schools in the US has a big problem - not only are the kids not eating enough fruits and vegetables (which leads to health issues later on in life), but a study has shown that kids waste millions of dollars every day by throwing away the fruits and veggies. Now, a new study has found that a no-cost trick could greatly improve that: just have recess before lunch - not after.
Volcanoes are some of the hottest features on the face of the Earth - here we detail the types of volcanoes.
These maps will help you put the present state of affairs in the world into perspective.
Researchers have found that just by analyzing your Facebook Likes, a computer can judge your personality better than even your close friends. They went even further than that, and calculated how many Likes the algorithm has to analyze to figure your personality traits.
The "one size fits all" approach to diabetics treatment may cause significant problems for older patients also suffering from other conditions. Attempting to aggressively control blood sugar with insulin and sulfonylurea drugs could lead to over-treatment and hypoglycemia (low blood sugar), Yale researchers report.
Buttereflies are pretty awesome insects - the pupal transformation into a butterfly through metamorphosis is one of the most spectacular processes in the biological world. For one month, until February 16, Drexler University will exhibit a spectacular sample: a butterfly suffering from bilateral gynandromorphism - in other words, a butterfly that is half male, half female.
A new study may have finally found where Earth’s water came from. There are currently two competing theories, with one claiming that our planet generated its own water geologically, while the other suggests that water was brought by icy comets or asteroids from outside. A new study concluded that most of the water we see […]
Keeping insects at bay is more than eliminating a simple nuisance - in many some parts of the world, it's vital. Malaria, an infectious mosquito-borne disease kilss over 500,000 people every year, and the disease could be kept under control if the mosquito population was kept under control; this is where this study steps in.
The three main types of geological rocks are described. They are...
The Arctic tundra is one of the harshest environments on the face of the planet... but you wouldn't tell that by looking at the photography of Ivan Kislov. In his pictures, the tundra is teeming with wildlife, represented in all its splendour.
The administration of New York City mayor Bill De Blasio announced today that styrofoam will be banned in the city starting in July this year, in an attempt to "green up" the city.
A female orangutan born in the wild has learned to use her tongue to whistle and produce vowel sounds just like a human - suggesting that all giant apes are able to do so. Although orangutans are known to create diverse vocalisations, what Tilda can do is unique.
Shinichi Mochizuki of Kyoto University, Japan claims he has proven the ABC conjecture, one of the longest standing mysteries of mathematics. However, even though his 500-page paper was published in 2012, no one has managed to understand it. Mochizuki says his fellow mathematicians are failing to get to grips with his work.
After four decades without any published scientific information on LSD, a new study has reopened the door for the psychedelic drug. Psychiatrists in Santa Cruz, California published results from the first controlled medical trial of LSD in over 40 years, highlighting potential medical benefits.
The long sought resting place of Genghis Khan might be finally discovered, using space based technology. The grave of the great conqueror may be found by crowdsourcing satellite data.
It's a game changer - scientists have discovered a new class of antibiotics which can kill an array of germs by blocking their capacity to build their cell walls, making it extremely difficult for bacteria to evolve resistance. It's the first such discovery in the past three decades, and comes as a much needed breath of air in the fight against superbugs.
The bright, rainbow-colored thermal pools of Yellowstone park may owe their spectacular color to tourist pollution, a new study suggests. Using mathematical models, the study showed the initial colors of the ponds – the ones they had before tourists started polluting them. Morning Glory Pool is a hot spring in the Upper Geyser Basin of […]
On 9 December 2014 an oil spill occurred at the Sela river of Sundarbans, Bangladesh, a UNESCO World Heritage site. An oil tanker named Southern Star VII, carrying 350,000 litres of oil was sunk in the river after it had been hit by a cargo vessel. Neither the state owned oil company (Padma Oil Company) nor the […]
A few days ago we were telling you about a study which quantified the amount of plastic in the Earth’s waters – 5.25 trillion pieces which weigh an estimated 269,000 tonnes. But another study found that tens of thousands of plastic (or even more) are actually lying on the bottom of the ocean floor, trapped in […]
Some animals have extraordinary sensorial abilities; there have been scientific works documenting dogs which react to an earthquake 5 minutes before the waves reached the surface, but this is perhaps even more spectacular – some birds can sense an earthquake from 900 km away (560 miles). It seems that have avoided a devastating storm by fleeing […]
We know that ancient populations really liked olive oil, and it’s not that uncommon to find oil-filled pots from Ancient Greece. However, archaeologists were really excited to find that pressed olive oil goes as back as 8,000 years ago. Researchers found residues of the Mediterranean-diet staple on ancient clay pots dating back to the 6th millennium B.C. […]
When science meets art, some seriously coolness happens – and the perfect example for this is BioScapes, an annual competition ran by Olympus. BioScapes hosts some of the most spectacular images of life seen through a microscope, as exemplified below. “Each fall, four individuals widely respected in the fields of microscopy and imaging are invited […]
In March 2014, the US and Mexican governments decided to release a flow of water down the Colorado River, in an experimental attempt called “Minute 319”. The river has experienced record droughts in 2014, but surprisingly, this initiative reversed a 13-year decline in the greenness along the delta. The Colorado River stretches along 1,450-miles (2,330 km), encompassing seven […]
Many are already preparing for Christmas – some shopping for presents, some Christmas lights… the usual. But as you’re gearing up for the winter holidays, NASA is watching you. Well, they’re not really watching you, it’s more that they are monitoring light emissions from big cities – and they report that during the holiday season, patterns in […]
Do you fancy diamonds? If the answer is ‘yes’, then you’ll absolutely love this rock extracted from a Russian mine. The rock is littered with over 30,000 diamonds, something which is extremely rare and may yield valuable information about how diamonds form in natural conditions. What’s unlucky for gem sellers was very fortunate for researchers […]
I usually don’t pay much attention to the “Person of the Year”, but this one is really special. Euronews, the largest European news channel has named “The Rosetta Team” as their “Person of the Year”. Why it matters It’s almost always politician, economists or humanitarians that take the laurels – and for good reason. The […]
Many TV shows (like Dr. Oz and The Doctors) claim to give solid medical advice, based on scientific evidence. But a new study has found that about half of all recommendations given on those TV shows are actually bogus, with either no scientific evidence to back them up, or even worse – being contradicted by […]
Unfortunately, Derby the husky cross wasn’t born like other dogs. While her back paws are normal and well developed, a deformity caused him to be born with small and very twisted forelegs. He couldn’t walk at all. But Derby caught a break when she was adopted by Tara Anderson, who works for a 3D printing company called […]
As modern medicine can be quite paradoxical sometimes, checking into a hospital can actually boost your chances of an infection; and if you’re thinking that this only happens in poorer, underdeveloped countries – you’re wrong. No matter where you check in at a hospital, you are vulnerable to infections which have nothing to do with […]
These cute furry rodents almost went extinct in the 19th century, but conservation efforts have proven successful and right now, the world has a solid beaver population. But a new study conducted by Canadian researchers found that this increase in population also has some unforeseen consequences: beaver damming generates climate-changing methane emissions. First of all, it has […]
It has been known for quite some time that male praying mantises can get their heads ripped off while copulating with females. But a new study has shown that deceptive females can trick the males and eat them even without copulation; basically, they lure them in pretending to be full of eggs and eat them when […]
The German cities of Dortmund and Luedenscheid have decided to rename streets named after the former BAYER chief executive Carl Duisberg. Similar initiatives are also underway in Frankfurt, Wuppertal, Krefeld and Leverkusen. This carries a special weight as Wuppertal is the birth place of Carl Duisberg, Leverkusen is the home of BAYER‘s headquarters. Carl Duisberg is […]
