Other on ZME Science

Scientists confess to sneaking Bob Dylan references in their work for 17 Years

It all started 17 years ago, when Karolinska Institute researchers John Lundberg and Eddie Weitzberg just couldn’t resist the temptation. Their first Dylan-esque title read: “Nitric Oxide and inflammation: The answer is blowing in the wind“. But this was just the beginning; in no time, they were competing to see who can include the most Dylan references […]

Breathtaking digital images probe human anatomy like never before

Often called a “Digital Age Leonardo da Vinci”, Alexander Tsiaras is a digital innovator, technologist and artist. You might know him from his work that showcases beautiful digital images of the human body, made using cutting edge imaging software along with artsy tweaks. Guided by a passion for the human form and insides, Tsiaras founded the TheVisualMD, an […]

Dissecting the colossal squid - this is only the second specimen ever found

Smaller, yet heavier then their legendary brethren, the giant squid, the colossal squid is an elusive animal that lives deep in the Antarctic waters. Scientists have known of their existence since the 1920s, judging from scraps found inside whales and sucker imprints on whale skin. It wasn’t until 2007 that the first complete specimen was found, […]

Chinese plan to reconstruct city with urban farms, soaring towers and massive skyways

China has drawn most of its modern technology from the West, but now, as the balance of power is starting to shift, China will have to innovate and start developing its own ideas. In a recent contest, the city of Shenzhen went looking for creative proposals for a financial district which would include three skyscrapers, several cultural buildings, […]

Hundreds of "Green Eggs" Wash up on Sydney Beach

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 […]

Astronomy Photographer of Year: 2014 winning entries

Every year the Royal Observatory Greenwich, in partnership with BBC Sky at Night Magazine and Flickr, invites astrophotographers from all over the world to share their best work that captures the contest’s values: spectacular beauty of the night sky and the natural wonders of our universe. Below, you can find all the winning entries for […]

How the Milky Way will be gobbled up by the neighboring Andromeda Galaxy

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 […]

NASA Puts Files For 3D Printable Model of Hurricane Julio Online

The immense growth of the 3D printing industry is simply mind blowing – I just love how people are starting to apply the technology to more and more innovative areas (just a few examples: cranium replacement, 3D printed skin, tattoos, fossils, entire rooms). Now, it’s time for nature to be 3D printed: after Doug McCune 3D […]

#FossilFriday: Man documents how he reconstructs dinosaurs from fossils

Imgur user anthroteus documented, step by step (with pictures, of course) how he reconstructs dinosaurs from fossils. Here’s his process, as described on Imgur: We make life reconstructions of dinosaurs. If you see an awesome dino in a museum, it was probably us (the crappy ones are definitely someone else). We get photos like this […]

Fantastic Fungi: Mind Blowing Mushroom Diversity Photographed by Steve Axford

These truly wonderful photographs were taken by Steve Axford. Let’s leave Steve describe himself: I live in the Northern Rivers area of NSW and I am doing essentially what I like. What I like is photography and exploring the world. The world, for me, is dominated by living things and the planet we live on . […]

The Perfect Wake-up Call: This Clock Wakes You up with a Tea or Coffee Cup

Ernest Hemingway woke at dawn. Benjamin Franklin sat naked each morning. Beethoven counted sixty coffee beans. Everyone has their own morning rituals, but for some, waking up is more of an ordeal than a ritual. British creative designer Josh Renouf came up with an elegant solution to that problem. He has created a concept alarm […]

Watch: The Inside of a Huge Wasp Colony

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 […]

Rare Deep Sea Creature Caught on Camera

Exploration Vessel (E/V) Nautilus is a 64-meter research vessel currently operated by dr. Robert Ballard, the discovered of Titanic’s shipwreck. Now, Hercules’ camera spotted an extremely elusive deep sea creature — a siphonophore. The siphonophore an order of the Hydrozoa, a class of marine animals belonging to the phylum Cnidaria, which also includes jellyfish. Although a […]

Felix Salazar's amazing pictures of aquarium corals

Felix Salazar is a very talented photographer currently working in Los Angeles — doubling as a guitarist and composer. Among his favorite themes are corals, like these ones he photographed in salt water aquariums. The shocking variety of color almost makes it look like they’re enhanced in Photoshop, but Salazar ensures that his pictures are 100% real, […]

Watch liquid metal morph into shapes. How long until the T-1000?

In the cult blockbuster Terminator 2 we’re introduced to a new series of killing bots – the T-1000. More than just “cybernetic organism, living tissue over metal endoskeleton”, the T-1000 could turn into liquid metal then morph into any shape, be it another person or an oversized man-spike. It also made the T-1000 freaking hard […]

BP fined $17.6 billion following 2010's "reckless" oil spill

A federal judge has called major oil company BP (British Petroleum) “reckless”, and Transocean and Halliburton “negligent” following the major oil spill of 2010. The US District Judge Carl Barbier has ruled that BP’s “gross negligence” was the main culprit for the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, which is considered to be the biggest marine disaster in […]

Hilarious stories from the doctors of reddit

In a lifetime of seeing thousands of patients, a doctor will hear all sorts of crazy stories and bizarre cases. A recent thread on reddit asked doctors from the community to share some of their wackiest stories and boy were there some. Here are just a few of them: Aaaaand some bonus stories without captioned images: […]

Amazing art made out of living cells

Cellular biology can be breathtakingly exciting. Just imaging peering through the absolute tiniest forms of life – a whole different universe in itself! Many times, in this cellular universe, you witness chaos, but here’s where Brazilian multidisciplinary artist Vik Muniz and self-described “bacteria enthusiast” Tal Danino come in. The two paired and launched an ambitious […]

Pro-fracking newspaper ad banned by Advertising Standards Authority

The Advertising Standards Authority banned an ad which promoted fracking in the UK – this ad is really something else. It starts: “Dear Citizens of the United Kingdom, do you know that your country is blessed with an incredible gift?” OK, that’s fine, the UK has been blessed with lots of amazing gifts – but […]

AstroPictures of the day: Mind blowing pictures taken by Reid Wiseman from the ISS.

The people onboard the International Space Station have been spoiling us with a lot of amazing pictures – and this one is no exception. Here, we see Africa embracing its northern neighbor, the Mediterranean sea. Reid Wiseman (which you can also follow on Twitter) often posts mind blowing pictures, like the ones above and below. […]

Ultra-white beetle could inspire next generation of paper and paints

The physical properties of the ultra-white scales on certain species of beetle could inspire researchers to make better, whiter paper, plastics or paint, using far less material. The Cyphochilus beetle, native to South-East Asia, is whiter than paper or even milk teeth. The whiteness of its body is caused by a thin layer of a highly […]

FossilFriday: giant, fossilized dino footprints in Portugal

Pedreira do Galinha (literally “The chicken’s quarry”, but more on that later) is one of the most important paleontological sites in Portugal and one of the most amazing places that I had the opportunity to visit. So, what is this magical (from a paleontological point of view) place? Well, here lie the fossilized footprints of […]

Antarctica from Pole to coast, captured in stunning detail

A mosaic of more than 3,150 high-resolution satellite images creates the best continent-wide view since 1997. The result is the one you see below: The over three thousand pictures were taken in the Southern Hemisphere’s autumn of 2008, and tiled together into a coast-to-coast view of the entire continent with its coastal waters. The result is […]

GeoPicture of the week: Cumulonimbus Cloud over Africa

This stunning picture by NASA shows a Cumulonimbus above Africa, and an accurate description of the cloud and how it forms.

Student faces up to 8 years of jail for sharing scientist thesis on the web

In 2011, Diego Gómez Hoyos posted someone’s thesis about amphibian taxonomy on scribd while still an undergrad, hoping that by sharing the work he would help other fellow biology students. Come 2013, Hoyos was sued by the owner of the work and now faces copyright charges that, if found guilty, could have him jailed for […]

Stunning paper art drawn with lasers

Eric Standley is an usual artist who makes some of the most dazzling Islamic and Gothic inspired art out there. However, hile the old masters used chisel and hammer, Standley uses lasers. Eric’s work consists of successive layers of intricately cut paper sheets, which when assembled together turn into a piece that is a marvel to behold. The […]

Eight planets and a dwarf in one

This magnificent painting by Steve Gildea combines the planets of our solar system in one beautiful planetary mosaic. It’s a celebration of the geological diversity our solar system possess, illustrating each planet’s surface in the order they orbit the sun, starting from the battered Mercury to lonely Pluto. Speaking of which, Pluto is of course […]

15 years of research shows kids in Gaza are suffering from PTSD

A study conducted by researchers from Leicester University shows how an entire generation of children in Gaza is traumatized by PTSD and anxiety. “Why is it always the innocents who suffer most, when you high lords play your game of thrones?” – Varys, A Game of Thrones War is almost never about soldiers fighting soldiers. […]

In Denmark, a zoo will keep animals outside and humans captive

One can argue that zoos have no place in a civilized society; cheap entertainment with little educational value at the expense and suffering of countless animals. But let’s face it – they’re not going away any soon. So instead of abolishing them altogether how about radically transforming them? Bjarke Ingels is set on doing just that. […]

'Risking' your life for the love of physics [a fantastic video lecture]

Some people become in love with physics because they’re secretly in love with the truth. Physics never lies, if you care to think in absolute terms, so there must be a great deal of comfort. The reason modern civilization works they it does today is because of our faith in physics and other sciences. If […]

The winners of the National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest

They received almost 20.000 entries and had to select the very best ones – but ultimately, a photograph of a dramatic storm cloud taken by Marko Korošec of Sezana, Slovenia won it all.Korošec has won an eight-day National Geographic Expedition to Alaska’s Inside Passage for two aboard the National Geographic Sea Lion or the National […]

Activists in Brazil are endangered

Some 40 activists are killed every year in Brazil alone. The government is weak and corrupt, rarely capable of providing protection and enforcing its environmental laws. The big companies and local militias are powerful and ruthless.

These architectural wonders were built by robots

University of Stuttgart’s Institute for Computational Design (ICD) is a state of the art research facility that seeks to solve complex structural problems by mimicking nature. Every year, the institute demonstrates how natural biological constructions can be used to solve design problems by building a new research wing. The results are nothing short of breath taking. […]

Science is dominated by the 1%

I’m not referring to the world’s billionaire elite, but to an exclusive group of researchers that have become so prolific they are now dominating the scientific community. To be more precise, fewer than 1% of researchers publish one or more papers a year. Moreover, this elite is responsible for publishing 41% of all papers, according to recent findings published […]

Scientist interview: Culum Brown [biology/fish]

A couple of weeks ago we were telling you about a study which showed that not only do fish feel pain, but they also multi task and even have cultural traditions. We liked it so much, that we included Culum Brown, the study leader, in our list of featured researchers. He was kind enough to […]

Our little study: No, 9 out of 10 people don't see the same word

Look at this image – what’s the first word you see? According to some (unscientific) sources, 9 out of 10 people see the same word. This has been spammed all over the internet and even snuck its way into some medical and psychological cabinets, but I had a feeling it’s hogwash – and you (yes, […]

Artistic infection: hand cut paper microbes and pathogens

We’re always in contact with microbes, but we’re not always happy about it. However, I have a feeling that these hand-cut microbes are an exception. Artist Rogan Brown just completed work on his latest paper artwork titled Outbreak, a piece he describes as an exploration “of the microbiological sublime.” It took him over four months […]

Roland le Fartere - a medieval flatulist from the 12th century

Roland le Fartere (also known as Roland the Farter) was a medieval flatulist who lived in 12th century England. He served as a jester for King Henry II, and apparently, he was so good at his job that he was rewarded for his services with a manor in Suffolk and 30 acres (120,000 square meters)! […]

The Amazing art of Istvan Orosz

If you look at this drawing, it seems like a normal (maybe a bit old school) depiction of a shipwreck. But when you put a cylindrical mirror in its center, you end up with a picture of Jules Verne. Holy mother of all techniques! I have no idea how you would do a thing like […]

This sweet shrew looks like a mouse but is more related to elephants

A new mammalian species has been discovered among the ancient volcanic formation in Namibia that resembles a long-nosed mouse, but which as it turns out is more genetically related to elephants. Further analysis found that the tiny mouse-like creature is the smallest of a group of animals called elephant shrews. Named Macroscelides micus, the creature […]

#FossilFriday: Pyritized Ammonite

What we’re seeing here is an ammonite fossil. Ammonites are an extinct group of marine invertebrate animals which were basically ubiquitous throughout the Mesozoic, but went extinct after it. Finding an ammonite fossil is therefore not particularly rare, and they can be found in many places of the world. What makes it special is the fact […]

Foldscope - the origami microscope that aims to carry science in every pocket

The Foldscope is one of those innovative instruments that could potentially turn science communication and education en mass upside down. Developed by researchers from PrakashLab at Stanford University, the Foldscope is essentially a single flat sheet of paper, equipped with a lens, battery and LED, which can be folded akin to an origami to form a […]

Scientist Interviews: Marie-Eve Naud [Astrobiology]

A while ago, we were telling you about the discovery of a huge exoplanet – a gas giant, found just 155 light years away from Earth. The head researcher behind that study was Marie-Eve Naud. Her main research field is the detection and characterization of exoplanets, with a focus on astrobiology. She was kind enough to talk […]

Scientist kicked out of classical music concert for trying to crowdsurf

When theoretical chemists are potrayed in the media, it’s usually not for their musical experiences – but that’s exactly what happened to Dr David Glowacki, a Research Fellow at the Royal Society, affiliated with Stanford. Glowacki was kicked out of a classical music concert for attempting to crowd surf during a performance of Handel’s “Messiah.” Everything started […]

12 Insightful Climate Change Cartoons that put Things into Perspective

Last month, the Niels Bugge Cartoon Award asked illustrators and cartoonists from around the world to submit drawings based on a basic theme: climate. Oceans are in our hands,” they proclaimed, and participants from all around the world put forth their best interpretations (often satyrical) of the current climate situation. You can check their website to […]

Amazing underwater photoshoot, at 25 meters under the sea

ven if you’re not necessarily a big fan of photography, Benjamin Von Wong, a very popular photographer from Montreal, managed to take a really difficult underwater photoshoot with amazing results, under unfriendly, specific conditions which are far from what most photographers would even dare to approach. The crew who helped him realize such an amazing […]

Scientists interview: Rainer Krähenmann

Dr. Rainer Krähenmann is a Project Leader at the Neuropsycho-pharmacology and Brain Imaging Department of Psychiatry at the University Hospital for Psychiatry in Zürich, Switzerland. He is interested in researching the neural correlates of both altered and pathological states of consciousness. Currently, he is involved in an fMRI study investigating the functional networks of hallucinogen-induced […]

Volcano in Ethiopia is spewing out blue lava... sort of

Blue lava? Not quite It’s a volcano, but not the kind of volcano we’re used to seeing. This is called a Cerulean eruption, and the blue tint that surrounds the lava comes from flames produced when escaping sulphuric gases burn. The volcano contains large amounts of pure sulfur, which emits an icy violet color as it burns, […]

Neil deGrasse Tyson destroys climate deniers with new episode of Cosmos

For 11 episodes now, the groundbreaking Fox and National Geographic Channel series Cosmos has taken a deep look at some of science’s most thorny aspects – from creationism and evolution, to industry funded science denial, giving science teachers something new and cool to show in class on Monday mornings. This coming Sunday will be the most […]

Help NASA pick the lunar reconnaisance orbiter's best moon image

NASA wants the public (read – YOU) to pick the best moon image ever taken by the reconnaisance orbiter. They have settled the finals between 5 different pictures, and you get to vote which one wins. The winner will be the cover of a special image collection. The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) is a NASA robotic […]

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