Andrei Mihai ZME Science

Experimental Timelapse Shows What London’s Night Sky Would Look Like During A Blackout

This experimental timelapse from Nicolas Bauer shows how London’s sky would look like in the event of a total black-out. Nicholas is an experienced landscape/night sky photographer and timelapse cinematographer. It’s called “experimental timelapse” because it’s not the traditional shooting technique. “I started shooting this project back in August 2013 and have been slowly gathering footage […]

Dawn spacecraft will soon figure out what Ceres actually is

NASA’s Dawn spacecraft has set sail to Ceres – one of the most intriguing objects in our solar system. Ceres is the largest object in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, containing a third of all the mass in the asteroid belt. The unmanned Dawn spacecraft is scheduled to arrive at Ceres in early 2015, […]

Researchers convert sunlight to electricity with record 40% efficiency using commercial solar cells

Australian solar researchers have converted over 40 percent of solar light’s energy into electricity, the highest efficiency ever reported by any team for this kind of system. The key for the design is a custom filter which captures sunlight that is normally wasted by commercial solar cells on tower. “This is the highest efficiency ever reported […]

Drug candidate destroys Malaria in 48 hours

Malaria is one of the most common and dangerous diseases in the world, with the World Health Organization estimating over 200 million cases every year. There are several ways to try to treat malaria, but the results are debatable and often times not as effective as desired. Now, a team has demonstrated a new compound […]

Everything you need to know about England's 'hidden medieval city', Old Sarum

It’s one of England’s better kept secrets – Old Sarum is a hidden gem among gems, one of the most spectacular ancient sites in Europe and in the world. Old Sarum is the site of the earliest settlement of Salisbury in England. The site contains evidence of human habitation as early as 3000 BC, but only […]

A Week of Camping can Reset your Body Clock and Help you Sleep

Just one week of camping in the wild (or in any area without man-made light) can reset your body clock and return your natural sleep patterns, a new study has found. If you’re a night owl, if you’re having problems sleeping and just can’t set up a good sleep pattern – science has your problems […]

Driverless Cars set to hit the UK in 2015 in Greenwich, Bristol, Coventry and Milton Keynes

We already wrote about driverless cars hitting the streets several times (California, University of Michigan) but until now, the talk was all America. Now, cars without drivers will also hit the street in the UK, in 4 selected cities: Greenwich (south-east London), Bristol, Coventry and Milton Keynes. There will be a total of three projects, […]

Electric Mind Control: How the Electric Eel Dominates its Prey

The Electric Eel, a scaleless fish from the Amazon possesses an electroshock system very similar to a Taser. Not only can it stun its prey with the shock, but it can also make it twitch involuntarily, revealing its position. The electric eel is able to generate powerful electric shocks of up to 650 volts, which it uses […]

Unusual idioms from around the world

Every language has its own, special idioms. There are thousands of idioms and they occur frequently in all languages. There are estimated to be at least twenty-five thousand idiomatic expressions in the English language alone… but few are as interesting as these ones. Enjoy! Unfortunately, I don’t know who the original artist is – I […]

New camera for ultrafast photography shoots one hundred billion frames per second

High speed photography is no longer a new thing… but then again, it depends what you mean by high speed photography; you likely don’t mean one hundred billion frames per second (100,000,000,000 fps) – but that’s exactly what Liang Gao, Assistant Professor at Stony Brook University means. He and his team have developed the world’s fastest […]

Oldest ever engraving discovered on 500,000-year-old shell

Archaeologists have identified the oldest engraving known to mankind – a 500,000 shell scratched by a human ancestor. In 2007, Stephen Munro was a graduate student in archaeology; while he was studying some shells from Java, Indonesia, he had the shock of his life: he found that one shell had a pattern of zig-zag lines […]

MULTI - The world's first rope-free Elevator

The elevator was invented over 150 years ago, and now, we’re entering a new era in vertical transportation: the first ropeless elevator has been developed. The Germany company ThyssenKrupp developed this technology, and it looks straight out taken from a Willy Wonka movie! But this technology is not about being cool, it’s about being effective. MULTI elevator […]

First Vegan Butcher Shop in the U.S. Set to Open in Minneapolis

Butcher shops are very traditional – they’ve been around for ages, and they’re probably the best place to get quality, cheap meat. But meat consumption is also cruel and not environmentally friendly, and I’m very happy to see more and more vegetarian establishments across the world. Such is the case with this Vegan Butcher shop […]

We're heading for a chocolate crisis - cocoa shortage incoming by 2020

The world is running out of chocolate, and if we don’t take some significant action soon, we’ll be dealing with a major chocolate shortage in less then a decade. The Swiss Barry Callebaut Group, the world’s largest chocolate producer, has joined a host of industry experts in expressing concerns about “a potential cocoa shortage by 2020”. […]

New Silent Wind Tree Turbines Make Energy Production Beautiful

Among the more common arguments against wind turbines you usually have noise and ugliness. Personally, I really don’t find wind turbines ugly and studies have found that generally wind turbines are very quiet but hey – this is the general perception. For these reasons, French engineers have spent three years developing beautiful and quiet urban versions of […]

Ukrainian PM reports accident at nuclear power plant

It just seems like Ukraine can’t catch a break – Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk said on Wednesday an accident had occurred at the Zaporizhye nuclear power plant (NPP) in south-east Ukraine. What exactly is meant by “accident” is not clear; we don’t know the scale of the damage and how the situation is likely […]

Scientists find origins of sex in Scottish lake

Evidence of ancient bony fish suggests that they copulated even though many of their descendants stopped doing so. Paleontologists believe this is the first-known animal to stop reproducing by spawning and instead mate by having sex. The primitive fish (Microbrachius dicki) measured about 8cm long and is now long extinct. As it often is today, the first sexual […]

First ever footage of Black Seadevil - one of the strangest fish species

Scientists at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute in Moss Landing, California have published what is probably the first ever footage of an extremely rare species – the bizarre and scary anglerfish. The footage was taken 1900 feet ( 600 meters) below sea level. Anglerfish are strange even for the deep sea. They have big […]

CERN uncovers two new particles

Christmas came early for physicists as the CERN facility in Switzerland report the discovery of two new baryonic particles from their LHCb experiment. “Today the collaboration for the LHCb experiment at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider announced the discovery of two new particles in the baryon family. The particles, known as the Xi_b’- and Xi_b*-, were […]

Mediterranean diet keeps you genetically young

The Mediterranean diet has long been known to provide a myriad of health benefits, reducing the risk of heart disease and cancer among others; but until now, no study has shown that it also protects telomeres, one of the biomarkers of aging. As the name gives it away, the Mediterranean diet follows the nutritional patterns of […]

City ants are garbage eating, rat-fighting machines

Ants often get a lot of bad rep for being “pests” in the city, but a new study has shown that ant populations are actually very helpful in urban environments. Scientists researching the behavior of ants have found that they dispose of garbage with remarkable efficiency, keeping rats and other garbage-dependent pests at bay. “Urban green […]

Play outside, kids! Sunlight reduces chances of myopia in children

You often hear people complaining that kids don’t play outside anymore – instead just hanging in the house all day long, playing on the computer (tablet/xbox/whatever). This is a pretty big problem, because there is a myriad of advantages to playing outside; this study has added yet another advantage to that list: playing outside reduces […]

The world's first underground park, New York City is taking shape [Image Gallery]

In case you didn’t know, developers from New York are working on creating the world’s first underground park using innovative solar technology to illuminate an historic trolley terminal on the Lower East Side of New York City. The project will only be finished in 2018, but it is already starting to take shape, as you can […]

Japanese mission plans to blow asteroid and return chunks of it to Earth [UPDATE]

UPDATE: The Hayabusa 2 probe was successfully launched late Tuesday night from the Tanegashima Space Cente While just two weeks ago we were telling you about the European Rosetta mission which orbited a comet and ultimately sent a lander to the surface of the comet, now, the Japanese space agency, JAXA, is preparing to one-up Rosetta: they […]

New wearable device to alter your mood will release in 2015

Yoga, coffee and even chocolate can do wonders for your mood – it’s already a known fact. But what if technology stepped in – would you take a few electrical shots to substitute your urge for caffeine? If the answer is yes, or if you want to have more control on your mood, then good […]

Wanderers - the most inspiring and spectacular vision of space exploration I've ever seen

As a teen, I was fascinated by Sci-Fi novels – I loved reading about the future and humanity – Isaac Asimov, A. E. van Vogt and George Martin were my idols (yes lads, he was writing science fiction before Game of Thrones). After that, I started to watch a lot of movies and documentaries – […]

Nature journals make all their articles free to view

Nature, one of the biggest academic journal groups has announced that they will make all their articles free to view. While the articles will be available for anyone to read, they cannot be copied, printed or downloaded, the journal’s publisher Macmillan announced on 2 December. “Subscribers to 49 journals on nature.com will be able to share a […]

Listening to music you like makes you more altruistic

Music is almost ubiquitous in our lives – we hear it in commercials, in the car, on the radio, at the movies, when you go out, when you stay in… we’re quite a musical society nowadays. But we still don’t understand many things about how music affects our bodies and our brains; now, a new […]

Scientists find origin of 1872 American earthquake

Geologists are close to cracking the mystery of one of the biggest earthquakes in American modern history – the 1872 North Cascades event. Now, over one century later, they believe they have finally found the origin of the earthquake. An ancient mysterey Current research points to a newly discovered fault near the town of Entiat in Chelan […]

A haunting view of Chernobyl, captured by aerial drones

For a 60 Minutes report that aired earlier this month, filmmaker Danny Cooke spent a week exploring abandoned cities Chernobyl and nearby Pripyat. Pripyat was just preparing to open a new amusement park just days before the nuclear meltdown happened at Chernobyl. Now, Cooke has posted a a compilation entitled “Postcards from Pripyat, Chernobyl” — a […]

New species of dinosaur discovered lying forgotten in a museum

Dr Nick Longrich from Bath University was studying bones from two horned dinosaurs from the ceratopsian family (related to Triceratops), when he discovered that the two were actually previously unknown species. The findings highlight that dinosaurs in area were more diverse than previously thought, and they also show that sometimes, museum archives can yield surprising information. “We […]

Archaeologists Discover The World's Largest Ancient Stone Block

Look at this incredibly big rock. Take a moment, ponder its dimensions, and its weight. Oh, but if you’re looking at the one in the middle, that’s not it – look over to the right. The one to the right, not fully excavated yet, is the biggest ancient stone block, weighing an impressive 1,650 tons (that’s 3,300,000 […]

German Scientists create lab-grown spinal cords

For the first time, researchers in Germany have been able to create spinal cords in a Petri dish. To be more precise, they didn’t grow complete spinal cords, but neuroepithelial cysts, which are ellipsoid like and were about 60 μm in diameter. These cells express factors that are associated with spinal cord tissue and are in many […]

Record drought shows mind blowing change in Colorado River

Lake Powell is at historic lows, and while for kayakers it may be a great opportunity to explore channels, it raises a big alarm regarding the future of water in the area. Lake Powell is a reservoir on the Colorado River between the border of Utah and Arizona. It is the second largest man-made reservoir by maximum […]

Nutrients in chocolate improve memory in seniors

Scientists have found that cocoa flavanols, substances found in chocolate, and to a lesser extent in blueberries, red wine, parsley and black tea have a positive impact on the memory of elders. Flavonoids are a class of plant secondary metabolites. Flavonoids were referred to as Vitamin P until 1950, but the term fell out of favor. Though there […]

Organic molecules found on comet

As we were telling you already in several articles, the Rosetta probe is in orbit of a comet – the 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko comet. But to make things even more exciting, Philae, Rosetta’s lander, also made contact with the comet; among other things, the lander found carbon molecules on the comet – the basis of life on Earth. Considering […]

Interpol wants you to help catch the worst environmental criminals

Interpol is launching the first-ever Most Wanted-style list for environmental criminals. This is a milestone achievement because it shows just how serious environmental crimes have become. These crimes include poaching, ivory trafficking and illegal logging – and the list is expected to grow. Andreas Andreou, an officer with Interpol’s environmental unit said: “Until recently, environmental offenses […]

Massive study shows that Triclosan, a common antimicrobial in hygiene products can cause cancer

Triclosan is a common antimicrobial and antifungal agent found in consumer products, including soaps, detergents, toys and, surgical cleaning treatments. The effectiveness of Triclosan has been questioned many times, with studies showing that in the long run, it may actually have negative effects by creating bacterial resistance. Now, a new study on mice has found that […]

Scientists have finally climbed to the bottom of one of Siberia’s mysterious holes

Scientists have finally climbed to the bottom of one of Siberia’s mysterious holes, and they have come up with some interesting information – and some amazing pics. In case you’re not up to date, scientists started observing some mysterious craters in Siberia. The pseudoscience media had a field day – and so did conspiracy theorists. […]

40% of Wisconsin 'Frac Sand' Producers Violated Environmental Rules

Hydraulic fracking is one of the hottest topics right now – and while proposers and defenders of the method argue that everything is safe and there is no need to worry, the facts seem to only agree with them sometimes. Even if all the rules and regulations are followed, there would be some controversy; but […]

Rosetta's Philae probe landed on a comet - why this is HUGE news

OK, so we’ve been keeping you up to date with what’s been happening with the Rosetta mission, but we had to sleep eventually, and wonderful things have happened in the mean time. In case you’re not aware, here’s a short summary: Rosetta is a probe launched by the European Space Agency (the European equivalent of […]

Rosetta comet landing - watch it as it happens! [live blog]

In case you’re not aware, the European Space Agency is just now trying to send Rosetta’s lander, Philae, towards the comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko. The probe is already orbiting the comet and has revealed the most accurate topography of a comet. Watch the live stream here: Further updates: The separation went great, and the lander is on its way […]

Rosetta mission discovers the comet that "sings"

As I am writing this, the Rosetta mission’s lander, Philae, is mid way through its landing on a comet. If everything works out, this will be the first time humans have landed anything on a comet and will provide valuable information about not only the comet in particular, but also our solar system in general. […]

Rich countries giving the oil, gas and coal industres $88 bn a year in subsidies and tax cuts only for new reserves

Rich countries are effectively giving oil, gas and coal companies $88 bn a year to explore new reserves, despite clear evidence that those industries are causing global warming. From a climate change perspective, it would be best to leave those reserves in the ground and focus on renewable energy, but despite a huge growth, renewable […]

GeoPicture of the Week: Kutkhiny Baty, The Weird Valley

Deep in the Kamceatka peninsula, there lies an eerie, unique valley – Kutkhiny Baty – The Weird Valley. This is how Kutkhiny Baty looks like from a helicopter: The valley is made from whitish pumice stone. Pumice is a very light volcanic rock. Pumice is created when super-heated, highly pressurized rock is violently ejected from a volcano. The unusual […]

Watch a vinyl and stylus at 1000x magnification

If you’re a music connoisseur, then the vinyl probably has few secrets for you. But even if you’ve spent countless afternoons enjoying the delightful tunes, you haven’t probably looked at the vinyl and stylus through a microscope. Here’s a neat view of just that – a stylus going on a vinyl magnified a thousand times. […]

The Rosetta Probe Prepares for First Ever Comet Landing

Launched by the European Space Agency (ESA), the Rosetta probe is nearing a crucial part in its mission – it will soon send a lander carrying 10 instruments on a comet. It will be the first time mankind lands anything on a comet, and the study could provide valuable information about comets and our solar system […]

Scientists finds a way to halt the spread of prostate cancer with an injection

Scientists have found a way to prevent cancerous tumors in the prostate from spreading, effectively switching off the disease. Researchers from Bristol and Nottingham universities found that a single molecule plays a crucial role in the forming of new blood vessels, and the spread of tumors could be halted with a mere injection. A neoplasm (commonly […]

Scientists find antibiotic-like substance in mushroom that grows on horse dung

You just have to applaud the researcher that study mushrooms growing on horse dung to see what medicinal properties they have. Microbiologists molecular biologists at ETH Zurich and the University of Bonn have discovered a new agent in fungi that kills bacteria. The substance they found in the mushroom is called copsin. Copsin has a similar […]

Geological Forensics: 47 Million Year Old Pregnant Mare Sheds Light on Early Horses

Geologists analyzing 47 million year old remains of a mare believe they have figured out not only what brought the mare’s demise, but also how early horses looked like and behaved – they were strikingly similar to today’s horses, but much smaller. A paleontologist’s gold mine The pregnant mare suffered a sad faith – while […]

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