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Researchers stumbled upon a new tool to fight cancer in a rather unexpected place; while searching for a vaccine against malaria in pregnant women, a team of Danish scientists found that, simply put, armed malaria proteins are remarkably good at killing cancer cells. They hope to have a working prototype ready for human trials within four years' time. Their discovery has been published in the scientific journal Cancer Cell.
A study assessed how sea level rise at the hand of global warming will affect coastal populations in the United States. The analysis made by Climate Central, a nonprofit news organization that analyzes and reports on climate science, found 20 million Americans’ homes might be flooded, and more than 1,500 U.S. cities and municipalities could have at least half of their residential area under water if the world emits under a 'business-as-usual' scenario. Unfortunately, there's a lot of damage that's already been done. Carbon emitted today will continue to warm the planet for hundreds of years and its effects on the climate are already locked in. Cities like Miami and New Orleans are 'already lost in the long run,' said Ben Strauss, vice president for sea level and climate impacts at Climate Central.
Earlier this week Tesla CEO Elon Musk took to twitter announcing a new software update for the Model S will come bundled with an autopilot feature for highway cruising. Previously, Tesla worked with a couple hundred early adopters, but come October 15th, everyone will be able to enjoy the spoils. The v7.0 autopilot features include auto-steering, lane change activated by the turn signal and auto-parking in parallel spaces.
The battlefield is shifting from trench soldiers to cyberspace and unmanned machines. As always, when a new technology of war is developed, a counter that levels the game isn't far behind. Business Insider reports three companies in the UK are working on a device that freezes drones in mid-air by flooding them with radio signals across all frequencies, similarly to how cell phone blockers work, or how Cooper in Interstellar captured a drone in his corn fields.
In 1847, at the tender age of 27, Ada Lovelace became the world's first programmer, more than a hundred years before the first computer was actually introduced.
With the Paris summit being just around the corner, it's time to step back and look at who the big actors are.
Just as the Moon is causing waters on Earth to go up and down (tides), so too does the Earth affect the Moon. Recently, researchers have found that our planet's gravitational pull is having a deep effect on our satellite, opening new cracks and faults on its surface.
DNA – you either know is as deoxyribonucleic acid, or that stuff that somehow makes us what we are. DNA is the body’s way of storing information about yourself: how the cells arrange in your body, how hereditary material is organized, and how you function. DNA is classically thought of as a distinctive double helix structure, […]
For the past two weeks the scientific community was stirred by news that a biologist captured a male moustached kingfisher, took the first ever picture of a male from the species, then killed the bird shortly after.
The rest of the 1% is made up of hallow tubes of nickel. So, this makes for a very rigid, but extremely lightweight material. Just look at the picture below of the lightest material in the world, called microlattice, balancing on a dandelion. You know the potential is huge.
Tourism is affecting wildlife in more than one way.
The Sulaymaniyah Museum in Iraq uncovered 20 new lines of the Epic of Gilgamesh, the nearly 3000 years old Mesopotamian poem, considered to be one of the world's first great works of literature. They belong to a passage in which Gilgamesh enters a cedar forest and slays a demigod named Humbaba, with the setting and the demigod himself described differently and in more detail, writes Ted Mills for Open Culture.
The remarkably well preserved fossil of a wing that belonged to an early Cretaceous bird suggests some of the first avian creatures could fly. The remains were unearthed from a limestone site in Spain, and exhibit features reminiscent of modern birds like intricate arrangement of muscles, tendons and ligaments. This soft tissue system is excellent for controlling position and allows rapid adjustment of the wing to navigate through the air.
With the variety of games available today varying from those designed to enhance mental fitness, solve real world problems all the way to ones meant for pure entertainment, they have diverse and profound effects on our brains. A new article published in the October 1st issue of Policy Insights from the Behavioral and Brain Sciences argues that the specific content, dynamics, and mechanics of individual games determine their effects on the brain and that the long-criticized action video games might have particularly positive benefits.
Less than two months away, 200 governments will join the U.N. Paris talks where an international agreement might be reached seeking to limit the amount of greenhouse gas emissions for each country. The goal is to eventually level emissions significantly relative to 1990 levels for developed countries and cap emissions as soon as possible for developing countries like India and China. Each country, however, wants to get the best deal and many critics are weary that we're simply heading for another Copenhagen bust like six years ago, or worst even - another Kyoto which failed miserably.
Capitalizing a more than a decade's worth of neuroscience and computer science research, an international team of 82 researchers from institutions around the world report one the most detailed digital reconstruction of a mammalian brain. The researchers simulated 30,000 neurons and almost 40 million synapses, part of a rat's brain measuring less than a third of a cubic millimeter. It's a small step that might one day help simulate the whole brain, not just of rats, but also of humans - the ultimate goal of the Human Brain Project (HBP), an ambitious project which the European Commission prioritized and awarded $1 billion in funding.
The complete genetic code book of a person who lived 4,500 years ago in Ethiopia was completed by US researchers. Although much older genomes have been sequenced, like those of 38,000 year-old Neanderthals, samples from African forefathers have proven difficult to sequence as the DNA is often destroyed by accelerated decay, driven by tropical conditions. As such, this is the first time a complete genome retrieval was performed from an ancient human in Africa. In this light, the findings are very important: they suggest even older DNA could be retrieved - maybe even millions of years back to the age of other species of the homo genus.
Are homosexuals hard wired this way or merely the product of their environment? Some argue that its both, but whether or not there's a 'gay gene' or more is up to debate. The fact that it's such a delicate subject, i.e. hard to get funding, means that progress is slow. One could argue that it wouldn't be worth researching anyway. If someone found a scientific causal-link, say some genes, that's responsible for homosexuality than it's possible to maybe reverse it. A 'cure' for homosexuality, if you will. Even this very prospect is enough to kill research out of politically correctness. At the American Society of Human Genetics (ASHG) in Baltimore, however, the audience might have been surprised to hear about the findings of a group from University of California (UC), Los Angeles that found there's reasons to believe homosexuality is rooted in epigenetics. The authors are quick to caution that their findings are far from being the final word, and hence should be taken with a grain of salt.
Among all the species with which we share the animal kingdom, pigs are the ones whose organs are best suited for transplant in human bodies -- they are approximately the same size as our organs and have similar structures, making reconnecting blood vessels much easier. Pigs tend to have large litters and reproduce quickly, making them a very large, very accessible source of "spare parts."
It's estimated that humanity will have to produce around 50% more food than we currently do to keep up with growing global demand....by 2050. It's an enormous challenge, especially as more and more countries face the effects of climate change, such as drought or toxic salinity levels. One of our best hopes is to rely more on crops that can flourish despite the vicissitudes of the environment, and plant cell biologists at the University of Oxford hope that their new breakthrough in climate-resilient agriculture will allow us to do just that.
Normally, when people say they're working on "the coolest thing ever", we raise our eyebrows in skepticism; but when SpaceX says that... we give them the benefit of a doubt. I mean, they're doing some pretty monumental things as it is, and when they are excited about something, we are excited about something.
Our planet's magnetic field is the first and ultimate shield that guards life from the elements of space, particularly radiation. It's enough to look at Mars, which also had a magnetic field but only for 500 million years, to see what could happen were it absent: what was once a "blue planet", filled with vasts oceans of liquid water, maybe even vegetation and other life forms, is now a barred red rock. This invisible, protective shield likely existed shortly after the planet formed 4.5 billion years ago, when it was still a big blob of molten rock. It was only after the super hot iron liquid core lost enough heat to freeze (more properly said, it solidified) did the field become strong enough to allow life to foster. Previous studies estimated this happened sometime between 500 million and 2 billion years ago. A more refined analysis by University of Liverpool places the timeline between 1 billion and 1.5 billion years ago.
A newly founded artificial intelligence lab, called Vicarious, wants to build the world's first, unified artificial intelligence that can match human intelligence. This is not the first time we've heard companies or universities trumpet such ambitious goals, but considering who's backing the project I can only entertain the possibility Vicarious might just do it. Entrepreneurs with great vision and a track record of backing successful companies have all hopped aboard, like Elon Musk (SpaceX, Tesla), Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook), Peter Thiel (Paypal, founder of venture capital and hedge funds worth billions), Jerry Yang (Yahoo! founder), Jeff Bezos (Amazon founder) and more.
The feel-good, floating sensation people get after a good run is analogous to smoking pot. Researchers came to the conclusion after they found mice released chemicals in the brain that bind to the same brain receptors which are triggered when one smokes the herb. The practical implications of the research are limited, but they do seem to suggest that evolution fostered running otherwise it wouldn't have been this pleasurable.
A walking fish, a jewel snake and a sneezing monkey: these are just some of the biological treasures recently discovered in the fragile Himalayan ecosystems.
It's the first time since March 2014 that the three African countries at the heart of the Ebola epidemic have not reported a new case of the outbreak.
If you've ever brushed past the tailpipe of a running car, then you know just how smoking hot it can be. And since tailpipes aren't exactly heating radiators, that's just wasted energy. Not much you can do, you might say. That's just the 2nd law of thermodynamics mocking us humans. But there are ways to turn otherwise wasted heat into something useful, like residential heating or electricity. Typically, engineers design systems that transfer the heat to water which then turns to steam and so on until you can get something useful out of it - eventually. There are other ways also which are more convenient in most situation - after all, you can't fit a steam turbine in your car. For instance, you could use thermoelectric materials that directly convert the heat into electricity.
With Virtual Reality headsets coming out right around the corner, how can the gap with experience become more immersive? A couple of technologies on the horizon and currently under development may be the key.
Quantum computing is one of the future's transitional technologies destined to transform human society, along with advanced materials like graphene and metallic glass or advances in space propulsion. Imagine what the transition from vacuum tubes to transistors did for computing, scale that a couple of folds and you might somewhat be close to what quantum computers are capable of. Operations that today's supercomputers require days even weeks to crunch, would be completed immediately by leveraging the quantum weirdness that happens below the nano scale. All of this is theoretically possible - but in practice building a working quantum computer that doesn't disintegrate information has proven to be an immense challenge. We're still far from there, but advances reported by Australian researchers hint that quantum computers aren't a pipe dream.
While surveying the island of Sulawesi right in the center of Indonesia, a group of researchers came across a previously undocumented species of rodent. It was pretty easy too, considering the animal's uncanny appearance: what would otherwise look like a normal looking rat, but with the nostrils of a hog.
Scientists have developed devices that move us one step closer towards eliminating the need for animal testing. These working miniature artificial brains would be ideal for testing drugs research, neural tissue transplants, or experiments with stem cells.
A few days ago, we were telling you about some spectacular features on Ceres, the dwarf planet / largest object in the asteroid belt. NASA's astronomers were puzzled by some white patches on Ceres' surface, which they initially presumed to be ice. Now, they believe those patches are actually salt.
The brain forms new thoughts using two adjacent brain regions that are the cornerstone of the process.
Sure, we’ve all heard of Egypt’s pyramids, but have you heard of Sudan’s pyramids? Well, you really should have – they’ve survived in the African desert for 3,000 years, and they’re absolutely spectacular, as we can all see, thanks to this National Geographic drone footage. These pyramids were built by Nubians, the rulers of the ancient […]
The International Union for Conservation of Nature assessed the state of cactus populations around the world and found almost a third of all species are endangered. The report summarizes that human activity is threatening hundreds of species with extinction. This includes illegal trading, agriculture and aquaculture, but also land-use change.
China is currently building the world's largest radio telescope, that will be capable to detect signs of life from billions of light years away. A new drone video has been released by China Central Television Station showed the latest progress of this telescope, and it's absolutely amazing.
Watches might keep time in an absolute manner, but people don't. Each person perceives time differently depending on mood, and moreover this perception changes with age. "When you are courting a nice girl an hour seems like a second. When you sit on a red-hot cinder a second seems like an hour. That's relativity," Einstein famously said. Apparently, time slows down even when white folks are concerned not to appear racially biased, according to a study published in Psychological Science.
In a monumental decision, British Petroleum (BP) was fined $20.8 billion for the 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico; this upgrades the initial deal from the $18.7 that were previously discussed and represents the largest corporate settlement in US history. This money is additional to the reported $28 billion spent on cleanup and compensation.
China has set up an ambitious goal of getting 5 million or more electric cars on the streets, and this is not just a pipe dream - the government is taking active measures to speed up the production by building more charging stations.
A novel mathematical model can weigh the mass of a pulsar - a rapidly rotating magnetized neutran star - using principles of nuclear physics, rather than gravity. Up until now, the mass of a star could only be determined in relation with other bodies, based on the gravitational pull these exerted. Now, using the new model scientists will be able to study pulsars in isolation, allowing for more precise measurements than ever before.
In the wake of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant explosion in 1987, hundreds of thousand had to move immediately without notice. Their lives changed forever. Many didn't have time to pack anything, as documented by the ghost towns around the fallout site still littered with toys, valuable items and other personal belongings. But while humans had much to suffer, the same can't be said about the wildlife. In the almost four decades since the dramatic disaster, wildlife and vegetation has simply sprung to life like never before. In some instances, there are more wildlife per square meter than in some of the busiest protected natural parks in neighboring Belarus. Turns out wildlife doesn't mind that much radiation - what they mind is humans.
Chilly peppers: hate them or love 'em. Few could have imagined the impact of Columbus' discovery of a spice in the XXVth century so pungent that it rivaled the better known black pepper native to South Asia. In only a couple of years ago, the red chilly was planted all over the globe after being brought from South and Central America. Today, it's one of the most widely used spices in the world. But is chilly actually healthy? Many studies seem to contradict one another, so the debate is far from over. Some scientists claim chilly acts against cancer and helps us stay healthy, but at the same time chilly can hurt the inside of the stomach and esophagus and can even lead to internal bleeding. All foods have their good and bad sides, though, so probably people are more interested in the net effects of ingesting a certain food, chilly or otherwise - doesn't matter. And finally, there's a study that seems to suggest that, overall, chilly is our friend. That's according to Chinese researchers who tracked the eating and health habits of 500,000 individuals and found those who ingested chilly at least two times a week had a mortality rate 10% lower than those who only seldom ate chilly or not at all. Those who ate the devilish spice six or seven days a week had an even lower risk of dying.
Despite decades worth of research, unbelievable computing power and sophisticated algorithms, one of today's best artificial intelligence can't score better than a four year old on a standard IQ test.
They say beauty lies in the eye of the beholder, but science had yet to have its final word. While there are some people that are generally considered more attractive than others, and likewise some that are seen as less attractive, the consensus is far from perfect when people in between are factored in. Each person seems to have his or her own checklist used to internally rate attractiveness depending on how the body is shaped, height, hair colour, muscles, symmetry and so on. However, what influences these factors? Are these nurtured by the environment, like who our friends are or what the media tells us what an attractive person should look like, or is it genetics? A new research that studied the preferences of twins and non-twins found that it's each person's life experience that counts the most.
For most people listening to music or playing an instrument is a great way to relax, unwind, have fun, and express themselves. But not everybody is able to perceive, appreciate or memorize music, to sing or to dance. Monica is one such person, and to her, any kind of music is just a bunch of noise that makes her head ache and feel stressed.
An asteroid impact wiped out the dominant life forms on the planet, both on land and in the oceans, some 65 million years ago. Like in all matters of life, there are winners and losers, and incidentally those who had most to profit from the demise of the dinosaurs were also the weakest: mammals. Small, battered and restricted to only a couple of ecological niches, not only were the mammals more adapted to a post-apocalyptic Earth devoid of sunshine and with little food to spare, but once everything cleared they simply took over. Now, paleontologists have come across a totally new genus of ancient mammals that used to share the planet with the dinosaurs, but managed to survive the fallout and continued its lineage for millions of years after.
This year's Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine is split into three parts, being divided between William C. Campbell and Satoshi Ōmura -- who jointly share a half "for their discoveries concerning a novel therapy against infections caused by roundworm parasites" -- and Youyou Tu "for her discoveries concerning a novel therapy against Malaria."
Material scientists at Oxford University, collaborating with experts from Karlsruhe, Munster and Exeter, have developed the world's first light-based memory banks that can store data permanently. The device is build from simple materials, in use in CDs and DVDs today, and promises to dramatically improve the speed of modern computing.
NASA's New Horizons shuttle wasn't only taking mind blowing photos of Pluto, it was also peeking at Pluto's moons, especially Charon - the largest one. The latest set of images analyzed by NASA researchers revealed quite a busy past, filled with violence and geologic activity.
Hurricane Joaquin is an active tropical cyclone that severely impacted large parts of the Bahamas and is currently threatening Bermuda, although its extremities will also pass through other areas in the Atlantic, including Britain. Now, according to NASA data, the hurricane will be experiencing a phenomenon called eyewall replacement.
