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Will Tesla's Gigafactory be the largest man-made structure on Earth?

Tesla’s newest up-and-coming building could be larger than previously thought – much larger. At a presentation about the Tahoe Reno Industrial Center, Dean Haymore, from Story County Commission, mentioned that Tesla bought an extra 1,200 acres next to the ongoing construction, and will buy 350 more. While this hasn’t yet been confirmed by Elon Musk, this […]

Welcome back to the family, Pluto!

Before you get overly excited, no, Pluto hasn't been once again accepted as a planet - it's still officially a dwarf planet (though in our hearts, you'll always be a planet, Pluto!). However, this emblematic picture of the solar system from my childhood is now complete, as seen in this great family portrait produced by Ben Gross, a research fellow at the Chemical Heritage Foundation. Basically, we have at least the one good image of all the worlds in our solar system.

Juvenile Great White Shark Gets Stranded on the Sand, Rescued by Beachgoers

We’re more used to whales washing up ashore, but sharks also do it sometimes. This juvenile shark was apparently trying to hunt some seagulls and ventured out of the water too much for its own good. However, after struggles and apparent dehydration, the shark was saved by beachgoers. Initially, we see the two meter shark […]

1000 Year Old Viking Sword Dug up by Archaeologists

Norwegian Archaeologists have unearthed a unique Viking grave dated 1040 AD. Within the grave they found coins, a battle ax with a shaft coated in brass and a magnificent sword with intriguing silver and golden decorations. The sword almost certainly belonged to a wealthy man in the late Viking Era, quite possibly one that fought in […]

50 Million Year Old Sperm Found by Accident in Antarctica

Scientists have stumbled on some incredibly old sperm in the wall of a fossilized cocoon in Antarctica. The remains of the long, thin cells represent the oldest animal sperm known to man - 50 million years old.

New Horizons Phones Back After Pluto Flyby

New Horizons's trip to Pluto came and went - it was met with extreme enthusiasm at NASA headquarters and praised by astronauts throughout the world - but New Horizon's mission is far from over. The shuttle is adequately powered to sent back valuable data until the 2030s; for now, it simply "phoned" back home to say it's OK after zooming past Pluto.

Gene therapy restores hearing in deaf mice, paving the way for human treatment

Mice with genetic hearing loss could sense and respond to noises after receiving working copies of their faulty genes, researchers report. Because the mice’s mutated genes closely correspond to those responsible for some hereditary human deafness, the scientists hope the results will inform future human therapies.

The Netherlands Plan to Pave their Roads with Recycled Plastic

We sometimes get the feeling that the Netherlands is like a Think Tank for countries – they just come up with some of the most creative ideas ever. Now, they’ve tackled a very important part of the infrastructure: road paving. They want to use recycled plastic, and they want to do it soon – in […]

Australian Biologists Discover Volcano Cluster by Mistake

A chance discovery revealed an impressive cluster of extinct volcanoes 150 miles off the coast of Sydney, three miles below the water surface. The four volcanoes, which are now calderas, may reveal why Australia and New Zealand separated between 40 and 80 million years ago. Don’t you just hate it when you go searching for lobsters […]

New Horizons and Pluto: Everything You Wanted to Know

Speeding at 14 km per second, NASA’s New Horizons shuttle went past Pluto, hurdling towards the edge of the Solar System. But regardless of what happens, New Horizons’ flyby of the dwarf planet will remained firmly anchored in the history of space exploration. “We have completed the initial reconnaissance of the Solar System, an endeavour started under […]

Climate change will raise sea levels by 20 feet - and this is no surprise

The media is abuzz with disturbing headlines, warning us that even reduced levels of global warming will cause massive sea level rise, up to 20 feet (6 meters). Unfortunately, that’s true. But what’s almost as worrying is that everyone is treating this as news, when in fact, we’ve known for quite a while that this […]

This sexually transmitted virus castrates crickets, but encourages sexual activity

Meet one of slickest and twisted virus nature has to offer. Called  IIV-6/CrIV , researchers at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia  discovered the virus effectively castrates crickets, while promoting sexual activity at the same time like an aphrodisiac so it can spread. It’s an incredibly effective strategy for the virus, but can we learn anything from it? […]

Pentaquark particle discovered by CERN scientists

After taking a short break in activity to be upgraded, the biggest atom smasher currently in use, CERN's Large Hadron Collider came back in business, and it did so with a bang. Using it, researchers have discovered yet another new kind of particle dubbed "pentaquarks" -that amounts to a new form of matter.

Australian Prime Minister Wants to Block $10 Billion Investment in Wind Energy

Tony Abbott, the Australian PM has been warned he is putting international investment at risk after ordering the $10 billion Clean Energy Finance Corporation not to finance new wind power. Abbott, who is a firm support of the waning coal industry has escalated his war on renewable energy, attempting to block massive investments. Wind power is […]

Bumblebees in Europe and North America bumble away from the equator as habitats shrink due to climate change

In the most comprehensive study ever conducted of the impacts of climate change on critical pollinators, scientists have discovered that global warming is rapidly shrinking the area where these bees are found in both North America and Europe.

Thursday, Denmark produced 140% of its energy needs from wind

Most days are windy in Denmark, but Thursday was unusually so – it was so windy that the country got its entire energy needs and more solely from wind turbines. During the afternoon it was already reported the Nordic nation’s wind turbines were producing 116 per cent of Denmark’s electricity needs, and the figure rose to […]

Pluto has a heart - NASA reveals spectacular images of the dwarf planet

Pluto, the Solar System's most well known planet wanna-be is having its week in the spotlight: NASA's New Horizons probe is offering an unprecedented look at the dwarf planet, and already revealing some interesting features.

Exxon had evidence of climate change since 1981 - funded deniers for 27 years

An email recently unearthed by one of the their own scientists casts the blame on ExxonMobil, the world's largest oil company in the world, as they had data pertaining to climate change as early as 1981 - seven years before it became public issue. They chose to fund deniers of the problem for the next 27 years.

Mesopotamian urban crisis after the fall of the Akkadian Empire mirrors modern Syrian one

Archaeologists used innovative techniques to gain new insights about the third-millennium urban crisis in Mesopotamia some 4,000 years ago. This marked the fall of the Akkadian Empire – the very first empire in the world. The researchers also drew a comparison to modern-day Syria where current events in the wake of climate change and a violent […]

Killer AI? Let’s Solve the Smaller Problems First

Tesla Motors’ Elon Musk has said that our civilization is dangerously close to encountering AI problems within a “five-year timeframe, 10 years at most.” He made the comment on the website Edge.org shortly before deleting it. His point was that, sometime soon, we may actually create a form of artificial intelligence that decides to rise […]

Frogs use drains to boost their mating call

If you’ve learned during the biology classes in school that the animals are going to adapt no matter the circumstances, your teacher did a great job. Turns out that frogs aren’t the exception to the rule, quite the contrary. New studies show that tree frogs seem to be using city drains in order to amplify the […]

New painkillers could be made out of the venom of a killer snail

Cone snails have one of the most dangerous venom in the animal kingdom. This complex venomous soup is made up of thousands of chemicals used both to hunt prey and ward off predators. The venom is enough to kill a human in a matter of minutes. Now, these lethal chemicals could be used to create a new class of painkiller for chronic pain and cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy, according to University of Queensland researchers. The same team also used a genetic and proteomic to find out how the cone snails developed its venom. Apparently, the animals initially used their chemical weaponry as a defense mechanism and later on adapted it into an attack.

An ancient monkey skull hints to how primate brains might have evolved

Duke University researchers made micro CT scans of the skull of ancient monkey and found its brain, though tiny by modern standards, was far more complex than previously thought. The fossils, discovered in Kenya in 1997, belong to a monkey ancestor who lived some 15 million years ago.

Elon Musk Offers Ten Million Dollars to Keep AI Under Control

Elon Musk, the mastermind behind Tesla Motors, SpaceX and Hyperloop, will offer $10 million in grants to fund 37 research projects dedicated to keeping artificial intelligence “beneficial” and “under control”. With the mind blowing explosion of computing and the ever-growing interest in AI, we’re growing closer to the point where we have to ask ourselves whether we’ll […]

Suidobashi Heavy Industries accepts US's Megabot Inc challenge for a giant robot duel

Earlier this month, Megabots Inc issued a video challenge on Youtube to Suidobashi Heavy Industries, to pit the company's' biggest, baddest robots against each other in a duel of giant robots. And grab the popcorn, put the beer on ice and get your geek on, because Japanese robot manufacturer has accepted the challenge from its US competitor, Efe news agency reported.

Life on comets? Not so fast, astronomers say!

Yesterday, we presented an article in which we detailed the claims of two astronomers, Director of the Buckingham Centre for Astrobiology professor Chandra Wickramasinghe and his colleague Dr Max Wallis from the University of Cardiff; they proposed that Rosetta’s lander Philae may have actually landed on an inhabited comet – as the black slime on the […]

Warming oceans could destroy corals in the Pacific and Atlantic, researchers warn

Coral populations are crucial to the health of oceanic environments, but corals are also extremely vulnerable to changing conditions. Researchers warn that warming waters and ocean acidification lead to coral bleaching which can cause massive damage across both the Atlantic and the Pacific.

Millions of supermassive black holes are hiding under thick blankets of dust and gas

Our Universe may be riddled with millions of supermassive black holes, a new study reports. The reason why we haven’t yet discovered them is because they are shrouded in thick clouds of dust and gas, and because we weren’t looking with the right telescope. Using NASA’s Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) satellite observatory, astronomers from Durham […]

What an underground nuclear explosion looks like

One this day, 53 years ago, the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory detonated a thermonuclear device 194 meters below the Nevada desert. Why? Well, the government at the time thought blowing up a nuclear bomb underground sounded like a good idea if you want to excavate a mine. It's a lot quicker than drilling with a lot machines. After all, mines are made using thousands of tonnes of dynamite. Why not take a shortcut and nuke the damn thing. The problem, of course is radiation. But how can you have people work in a mine if it's contaminated with radiation, right? The logic escapes me as well.

Sweeping hormones make stock brokers take riskier decisions

It's not just teenagers who let hormones get the best of them, stock brokers do it all the time, according to a new study. Only, in this case, the consequences might be far worse than a family meltdown: we're talking about global markets crashes.

No more ketchup stuck on the bottle - new technology slides onto the shelves

The days of wasting condiments, toothpaste and other products that stubbornly stick to the sides of the bottle or package are coming to an end thanks to a new coating  developed by MIT researchers. The LiquiGlide spinoff has signed a deal with Orkla (a Norwegian company) that will allow them to use the new coating […]

Is there really a mathematical formula that predicts happy relationships?

In a recent TED talk, Hannah Fry outlines a mathematical formula that predicts long-lasting relationships. In her recent book, The Mathematics of Love, she discusses the findings of psychologist John Gottman who studied hundreds of couples over many years to find out what sets apart the happy couples from the miserable. Gottman than enlisted the help of a mathematician who correlated all the data the psychologists gathered and came up with an empirical formula that seems to predict if a couple will be happy together.

No laughing matter: scientists study the effects of laughing gas

Nitrous oxide, commonly known as laughing gas, is a simple chemical composed of two nitrogen atoms and one oxygen atom (N2O). Despite being used as an anesthetic since the 1800s, the effects it has on the brain are not well understood. In a new study published in this week in Clinical Neurophysiology, MIT researchers reveal some key brainwave changes caused by the gas.

You can now calculate your Renewable Energy potential with this mobile App

A simple smartphone app combines the most reliable data and maps on global renewable energy potential, so you can get a better idea what's the right kind of equipment you need or if the investment is warranted in the first place. And it's all for free, too.

What is the Portuguese Man of War

We'll take a look at the Man of War and see what you should do to stay safe on the beach.

Lucky shot: Photographer catches space station racing past the moon

Dylan O’Donnell, an amateur photographer, took one of the luckiest shots ever: the International Space Station past the moon. Any astro buff would be envious.

Philae could be sitting on a comet filled with alien life and not even know it

Comet lander Philae may be sitting on top of microbial life and not even know it – even worse, it has no way of figuring out if it actually is. According to two researchers, the comet’s characteristics (as well as computer simulations) might indicate that the surface may be teeming with microbes. The Rosetta spacecraft was […]

Jesus lizard ancestor skimmed the tropical waters of Wyoming, 48 million years ago

Paleontologists have discovered what looks like the earliest member of the Corytophanidae (also known as casquehead or helmeted lizards) judging from fossils collected in Wyoming. The ancient species is also the earliest ancestor of the modern basilisk, or better known as the Jesus Lizard because of its ability to skim the surface of water over short distances.

Adidas unveils new sneakers made from recycled ocean trash

Adidas new shoes are trash – literally. The German company has announced the creation of a new type of shoes made from recycled garbage pulled out of the ocean; the sustainable prototype has the upper part made entirely of yarns and filaments reclaimed from illegal deep-sea gillnets and other ocean waste, while the bottom part is […]

New Horizons Shuttle Starts Preparing for Pluto Encounter

We've kept you up to date with New Horizon's progress, and the pictures it took of Pluto; now, after 10 years and 3 billion miles, the shuttle will pass close to Pluto - only 7,800 miles away from it.

Germany to shut down several coal plants to lower CO2 emissions

Germany is taking some serious strides in its attempt to reduce carbon emissions by 40 percent until 2020: the European country announced that it will shut down several coal-fired plants and move towards more sustainable energy sources. “Coal-fired plants with a capacity of 2.7 gigawatts will be shut down,” said the government sources, who declined to […]

Eating green leafy vegetables keeps your brain strong

Something as simple as eating more leafy veggies could significantly slow down cognitive decline and keep your brain healthier for a longer period of time. A new study found that nutrients and vitamins found in plants such as spinach, kale, collards and mustard greens help keep your mental abilities sharp.

Blue eyes linked to higher levels of alcohol dependence

According to an unusual study conducted by University of Vermont researchers, people with blue eyes may be more likely to become alcoholics – and researchers are trying to figure out why. Human eye color is a pretty strange thing – it’s an inherited trait influenced by more than one gene. These genes cause small changes […]

Ocean-going spiders use their legs to windsurf on the water

Spiders are more adaptable than we give them credit for, and they can make pretty good sailors – a new study has found that some spiders can use strands of silk to windsurf on the ocean surface. It’s been reported for centuries, even Charles Darwin noticed it: “ballooning” spiders flutter from the air into the sails […]

Koch-Backed Group Calls for no More National Parks

Remember the Koch brothers? They're industrialists and businesspeople who own the second largest privately owned company in the United States (with 2013 revenues of $115 billion); their main business is in manufacturing, refining, and distribution of petroleum.

American Museum of Natural History Releases Vintage Drawings of Seashells

The American Museum of Natural History has released a set of postcards you can buy when you visit them – The Seashell Collector. I thought the set looks quite brilliant, and it’s definitely worth sharing, along with some basic information Seashells The word seashell is often used to mean only the shell of a marine mollusk […]

So, you think you can crack actual medical mysteries? Here's where you can try it

A startup will allow voluntary internet detectives to study unusual medical cases and attempt to solve them. Millions of people suffer from rare or complex medical conditions for which they have received no diagnosis, but where a handful of doctors have failed, the collective force of the internet can do it – we can do it. […]

A Danish Festival Will Recycle Participants' Urine to Make New Beer

Call it Beercycling – gallons of beer-urine will be used to fertilize barley, which will ultimately become beer, and then urine again. It’s the perfect cycle. Denmark’s Roskilde festival is the largest music festival in Scandinavia and one of the largest in the world. Roskilde Festival 2013 had more than 180 performing bands and gathered around 130,000 festivalgoers, […]

Lego is investing millions to ditch petroleum-based plastic

The Danish-based Lego is one of the big companies in the world that's actually making large scale efforts to lower its carbon footprint and run more sustainable business. They don't seem to be doing it out of a fake corporate responsibility ethos either. Lego is actually innovating. I mean, when a company says it wants to ditch the raw material its business is based on for something that's more expensive and which might not even exist yet, you know they actually mean it.

Everyone might one day wear this electronic temporary tattoo that monitors your vital signs

For the past couple of years, John Rogers, a materials science professor at the University of Illinois, has been working on his pet-project: the Biostamp. True to its name, the device is basically a tiny electronic stamp, no larger than a quarter, that sticks to the skin and can be worn seamlessly. The whole time, the Biostamp collects on a variety of vital signs, depending on the embedded sensor, and is powered wirelessly via your mobile phone. It can analyze chemicals in your sweat; blood pressure; UV radiation and much more. Basically, it's transforming the way patients are monitored. In fact, it's changing the way people, sick or not, monitor their health. Imagine wearing a Biostamp all the time and receiving a notification on your mobile phone to visit your doctor ASAP because your blood pressure has been too high in the last couple of days.

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