Andrei Mihai ZME Science

These mind-boggling artifacts will change the way you see China

Throughout history, Chinese culture has rivaled and many times surpassed other, more famous empires — but many of their achievements are less known, at least in “the West”. You may very well be familiar with some of their achievements (for example papermaking, compass, gunpowder, printing, and many others) but these unusual artifacts will definitely change […]

Gratitude, not 'Gimme!', makes you happier

Materialistic people are more likely to be depressed and unsatisfied, partly because they are not grateful enough for the things they have, according to a study by Baylor University researchers. Generosity and happiness have been linked many times, and most psychologists believe that generally speaking, there is a tight connection between the two. But things […]

Documents reveal that SeaWorld gives its orcas antidepressants and psychoactive drugs

As if SeaWorld didn’t have enough press with the shocking Blackfish documentary, a document released by Buzzfeed reveals that the marine park gives its whales psychoactive drugs and anti-depressants. According to the Ontario Superior Court of Justice affidavit, SeaWorld’s whale trainers give the animals benzodiazepine, which has a valium-like effect on the mammals. The document […]

High speed photography of ink diffusion in water

I’ve been covering more artistic topics lately, but I feel that every once in a while, it’s a good break from all the hard science. As always, we’d love to hear if you like it or not! Feel free to contact us for any positive or negative appreciations. Also, if you’d like to share your […]

8.2 magnitude earthquake strikes Chile

An 8.2-magnitude earthquake hit near the coast of Chile last night, triggering multiple strong aftershocks and a 6-foot (3 meter) tsunami. There have been at least five confirmed casualties, with the victims being crushed or suffering from heart attacks. “The fact is, we will know the extent of the damage as time goes by and […]

Rising Japanese scientist faked heralded stem cell research, lab says

Her short career was absolutely remarkable – before she was 20, Haruko Obokata was accepted into the science department at Tokyo’s Waseda University, but that was only the beginning. Then she studied at Harvard University in what was supposed to be a half-year program, but advisers were so impressed with her research, they asked her stay longer. […]

Eating seven or more portions of fruit and vegetables a day reduces your risk of death by 42 percent

Everybody knows (or at least should know) that eating fruits and vegetables is good for you; however, most people underestimate their beneficial effects. A new research has shown that eating seven or more portions of fruit and vegetables a day reduces your risk of death at any point in time by 42 percent compared to […]

Earth-like planets worried they may someday support human life

As we were telling you a while ago, the Kepler telescope found several potentially life-supporting planets, including a couple of which orbit the same star and have Earth-like characteristics. Kepler-62f is a rocky world just 1.4 times bigger than Earth, while Kepler-62e is 1.6 times larger than Earth. Both orbit a star called Kepler 22 […]

Scientists baffled as laws of physics still stand

It has to be the most uninteresting year in science – in the 3 months that have passed, absolutely nothing has broken the laws of physics, concludes a paper published in the Proceedings of the National Institute of Science (PNIS). “No faster than light travel, no cloning of extinct animals, all we’ve had is normal, […]

Middle school student shows the US government could save $400 million by switching fonts

How important are details, when it comes to saving money? Any accountant will tell you: really important. A middle school student in Pittsburg thought the same thing – he discovered that the government could save $400 million dollars just by change the typeface it uses. Inspired by a school project on saving ink, he calculated […]

UN court rules against Japan whaling

In what may be a historic decision, the UN’s top court has ordered Japan to stop its annual whale hunt in the Antarctic. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) rejected Tokyo’s arguments that whaling has scientific purposes, in a case which many believe will shape the future of the giant mammals. “Japan shall revoke any […]

Aging successfully reversed in mice - human trials to start next

As incredible as it may sound, scientists have successfully reversed the aging process in mice, according to a new study published in Cell. Reversing aging, a real possibility? Many of the chronic diseases that exist in older adults constitute a highly significant social and economic burden to the community; if you think about it, eliminating […]

Series of earthquakes strike Yellowstone

Seismologists working at the University of Utah reported an earthquake occurring at 06:34 AM on March 30, 2014 (MDT). The epicenter of the magnitude 4.8 shock was located 4 miles north-northeast of Norris Geyser Basin in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. A supervolcano This was not a singular event, but was a part of a series […]

Smarter than we give them credit: crows understand water displacement at the level of a child

New Caledonian crows understand ow to displace water to receive a reward, with the causal understanding level of a 5-7 year-old child, according to results published March 26, 2014, in the open access journal PLOS ONE. Just a few days ago, we were presenting a study which showed that goats are smarter than previously believed, […]

Asteroids can have rings, too

When it comes to rings, we usually think about gas giants – Jupiter and Saturn have spoiled us that way. But astronauts have showed that asteroids can have rings too – at just 250 kilometres across, Chariklo is the smallest known body which has rings. Previously, only gas giants in our solar system have been […]

A drug to rule them all: fighting all cancers with one drug

When it comes to fighting cancer, it’s crucial to know what kind of cancer you’re dealing with – different diseases often require different approaches. However, when mice with human tumors received doses of anti-CD47, cancer cells shrank and ultimately disappeared, regardless of their nature; and we’re talking about human breast, ovary, colon, bladder, brain, liver, […]

Prehistoric shrimps traded claws for nets, filtering food like modern whales

Cambrian fossil is earliest example of large swimming filter-feeder. An evolutionary explosion Half a billion years ago, the world was extremely different. We’re in the Cambrian, the first geological period of the Paleozoic Era, which lasted from about 541 to 485 million years ago. Life is diversifying at an incredibly fast rate, into what we […]

Stitches to become a thing of the past? Doctors to use polymer nanofibers to promote healing

Throughout the world, tens of millions of people get stitches every year, and researchers have been looking for better options for quite a while. Now, a team of Maryland researchers proposed applying sticky, biodegradable mats of polymer nanofibers onto surgical incisions to seal them and promote healing. This is not a new idea, but the […]

Book Review: Tragic Spirits, by Manduhai Buyandelger

After the collapse of the USSR in 1990, Mongolia, long time a satellite of the Soviet Union, regained its independence, but found itself aimlessly lost. This period brought devastating changes to the country, as it almost forcefully went through liberalization of trade and privatization of publicly owned assets, which led to impoverishment for most of […]

When it comes to global warming "the polar bear is us"

The already iconic global warming images with polar bears sadly floating on small chunks of ice have acted as a double edge sword – on one hand they were impacting visual representations of global warming, showing the extent of damage which has already been done, but on the other hand, they created the idea that […]

IceTee shirt keeps you cool with gel packs

Nowadays, clothing can use some extremely advanced technology to regulate body temperature – and more often than not, this leads to exorbitant prices. The IceTee takes a more low-tech and cheap approach with strategically-placed pockets for holding gel packs to help keep you cool. Made from dry-fit moisture wicking fabric, the IceTee is an athletic […]

Using famous paintings to study Earth's past atmosphere

When it comes to studying the Earth’s atmosphere and pollution, paintings are not really where you usually go to gather information. But team of Greek and German researchers suggest that colors of sunsets painted by famous artists can offer clues about our planet’s past atmosphere. They mainly focused on paintings that depicted ash and gas […]

Waste-cooking solar toilet unveiled in India

An innovative project which addresses both environmental and health concerns has been revealed in Delhi, India. It’s estimated that 2.5 billion people in the world (almost 1 in 3 people) lack proper sanitation – something unimaginable in the developed world. With that thought in mind, a team at the University of Colorado Boulder has designed […]

Meet General Sherman

General Sherman is a giant sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum) located in the Giant Forest of Sequoia National Park in California. It is, by volume, the largest single stem tree on Earth. It has a height of 83.8 metres (275 ft), a diameter of 7.7 metres (25 ft), an estimated bole volume of 1,487 cubic metres (52,513 […]

Using a million suns to shed light on a fossilized plant

Scientists have used one of the brightest light sources in the Universe that we know of to expose the biochemical structure of a 50 million-year-old fossil plant to stunning visual effect. The mixed team of paleontologists, geochemists and physicists bombarded the fossils with extremely bright X-rays and showed that the chemical makeup of the plant […]

Goats are far more clever than previously believed, study shows

New research from Queen Mary University of London shows goats quickly learn how to solve complicated puzzles and can remember the solution for at least 10 months, which might explain their remarkable ability to adapt to harsh environments. Basically, scientists trained a group of goats to retrieve food from a box using a sequence of […]

Research shows less makeup makes you more attractive

What do you think the opposite sex wants in a partner? Stone-hard abs, broad shoulders? Skinny girls, nice makeup? If you’re thinking something along these lines, then you’re almost certainly mistaking. Research has already shown that we’re pretty bad at understanding what the opposite sex finds attractive in us. These misunderstandings are more than a […]

Study shows BP oil spill to blame for heart defects in fish

Last December, scientists showed that dolphins in Louisiana were suffering from abnormal lung diseases and low birthrates in the wake of the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill that released more than 636 million liters of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico in 2010. Now, another study illustrates that potentially lethal heart defects in two […]

Electric device can increase or decrease learning speed

For most college students, caffeine fueled sessions are part of a routine. But what if there was a way to accelerate learning when needed? What if a real, scientific “thinking cap” were developed? According to a new study conducted by Vanderbilt psychologists, that may not be that far away. Robert Reinhart, a Ph.D. candidate, and […]

Bugs have already developed resistance to GMO corn, study shows

According to a study published Monday, the Western Corn Rootworm (actually a beetle larvae) has already developed a resistance to not one but two strains of generically modified corn; this happened mostly thanks to the over-reliance and improper implementation of the crops by farmers. Genetically modified organisms (GMOs), for all the bad rep they get, […]

Island Nation of Palau declares 100% marine sanctuary, bans all commercial fishing in an area roughly the size of France

Palau’s President Tommy Remengesau Jr. has declared the Pacific nation will become a marine sanctuary – where absolutely no commercial fishing will take place. Palau is an island country located in the western Pacific Ocean with a population of only 21.000 people which is spread across 250 islands. However, they have a 200 nautical mile […]

Watch a livestream from the International Space Station - 24/7

If you’ve been living in a cave or just don’t care about science at all, then you don’t know what the International Space Station is, and I’ll explain here. The ISS is a a habitable artificial satellite in low Earth orbit. It’s been launched in 1998, and since then, it has been continuously operating. Astronauts […]

Scientists question the link between fatty acids and heart disease

It’s common sense, right? If you eat foods rich in fatty acids, you’re gonna have some heart problems. Not so fast – scientists say. New research finds that the current level of evidence does not support guidelines restricting saturated fatty acid consumption. Challenging the norm An international research team led by the University of Cambridge analyzed […]

Sea anemone is genetically half animal, half plant

Sea anemones are remarkable creatures. They are a group of water-dwelling, predatory animals, but if you look at them, they look like plants more than animals. Now, a team of evolutionary biologists from the University of Vienna has discovered that sea anemones display a remarkable genome, featuring a complexity of regulatory elements similar to that of fruit […]

Scientists develop non-toxic paint that never fades, by mimicking bird feathers

A team of Harvard engineers has developed a way of producing color that could produce paint that never fades, and displays that never go dark. How color works If you’ve never wondered how color works, it’s a pretty nifty thing. The color we usually see, like on paints and trees works by absorbing certain wavelengths […]

How food can manipulate your mind

What would you prefer: your favorite home-cooked meal, or a bag of deep fried chips? If you’re sure you’d pick the former, well, then, think again! A team of researchers has shown that if they can get people to pay more attention to a particular type of junk food, they will begin to prefer it – […]

Isaac Asimov Predicts in 1964 What the World Will Look Like Today — in 2014

If you’re like me and you really love reading Sci-Fi novels and stories, then you definitely know who Isaac Asimov is – but if that’s not really the case, then let me give you a bit of background: he is one of the most prolific writers of all time, having written or edited more than […]

Obama Wants to Eliminate Tax Break on Oil Companies, Invest in Renewable Energy

It’s tax season again, and hopefully, the Obama Administration will succeed in their plan of eliminating $4 billion in annual federal tax incentives for the oil and natural gas industry. Furthermore, they want to put a big chunk of that money in alternative fuel research and development. But does this initiative stand a chance of […]

Stress undermines empathic abilities in men but increases them in women, research claims

When males get more stressed, they tend to become more self centered, losing some of the ability to distinguish their own emotions and intentions from those of other people. For women the exact opposite is true. However, for you people who only read the first line and skim the rest: Women without stress were on […]

'Waves' detected on Titan moon’s lakes - Scientists detect waves on another world for the first time

We are detecting waves on a world 1,272,000,000 km away from Earth. An interesting world The signature of isolated ripples was observed in a sea called Punga Mare on the surface of Saturn’s moon Titan; but before you get overly excited, you should know that these seas are not filled with water, but with hydrocarbons […]

Inhaled Cannabis Mitigates Parkinson’s Disease Symptoms

Inhaling cannabis (medical marijuana) provides symptomatic relief in patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD), according to observational trial data published in the March/April edition of the journal Clinical Neuropharmacology. This new study shows tremor, rigidity, sleep and pain improvements in patients using medical marijuana. Researchers at the Tel-Aviv University, Department of Neurology gathered 22 volunteers for […]

Meet the 80-year-old Iranian who hasn't washed in 60 years

Amou Haji, 80, believes that “cleanliness brings him sickness.” For that reason, he hasn’t bathed in the past 60 years, and he’s unofficially called the “dirtiest man in the world”. He lives in isolation in Dejgah village, in the Southern Iranian province of Fars. The man hates contact with water, and even the suggestion of […]

100 years past: remembering the Passenger Pigeon

It’s been over a hundred years since one of the most emblematic animal species in human history went extinct. Passenger pigeons numbered in the billions (literally), and yet humanity managed to bring them all down; on September 1st, 1914, scientists duly noted the disappearance of the species. It came as a shock (and a warning) […]

Moss brought back to life after 1,500 years frozen in ice

Researchers have shown that after being frozen over 1,500 years in Antarctic ice, moss can come back to life and continue to grow. For the first time, this vital part of the polar ecosystem has demonstrated its ability to survive after being frozen for over such an incredibly long time. Well, to be perfectly fair, […]

Stem Cells Possess Mechanical Memory, Study Shows

Human stem cells can remember what surface researchers have grown them on. This mechanical memory in fact influences the fate of these stem cells, such as whether they start differentiating into bone or fat cells. Basically, they remember if they were on a hard or soft surface, and this influences their future. This remarkable fact […]

Chemists give Natural Gas an "upgrade"

The Natural Gas production is booming throughout the world – especially in the U.S. This boom, while it remains profitable in the short run and environmentally costly in the long run, is still a heated matter of debate, but this article isn’t about that. This is about the major opportunity that chemists now have to […]

Developing antimony nanocrystals for better batteries

Researchers from ETH Zurich and Empa have for the first time succeeded in creating uniform antimony nanocrystals. These nanocrystals are able to store a large number of both lithium and sodium ions, operating at a very high rate – in normal English, this means that they can potentially be used as alternative anode materials in […]

Graphene Technology Could Give Us Predator Vision Contact Lenses

As a kid, looking at the Predator movies gave me goosebumps; it wasn’t the physical superiority of the Predator, but the technological advantages. I mean, he has all that shooting stuff, and teleportation and camouflage, and the vision… it was all too much! But the way science is crazily developing, we’re already starting to experiment […]

Watch How Many Flights Fly Through Europe on a Typical Summer Day

This fantastic animation was created by NATS (a provider of air traffic control services in the UK), showcasing all air traffic in Europe on a typical summer day. The visualization was created from real flight data (UK radar data from 21 June 2013 and European flight plan information from 28 July 2013). European airspace is […]

Self cleaning handles could make public transportation more hygienic

Many people are worried that touching the poles or the stability handles or straps on buses and trains can expose you to a myriad of germs. Surprisingly enough, there hasn’t really been a lot of research on this issue, but I have to concede that there is at least some room for concern here. But […]

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