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Some 20.000 years ago, mammoths and other giant fauna roamed the Earth. So too did this giant virus – the only difference is that this virus, Pithovirus sibericum, is still around and doing fine. Large enough to be seen under a light microscope, Pithovirus sibericum is not the first megavirus to be found, but at […]
There’s been a lot of talk about obesity and what it really is, especially after the American Medical Association recently declared it a disease. Personally, I don’t agree with this idea. I’m no doctor, but it’s pretty clear that you can be obese without being sick in any way – so it’s pretty hard to […]
A freak accident left Jason Barnes without his left arm below the elbow – a disheartening matter by all means, made worse when considering he also used to be a drummer. The young man did not despair, however, and as an Atlanta Institute of Music and Media student he sought to fill in his missing arm as best […]
Considering population growth and increased life expectancy, experts estimate that by 2050 some 115 million people will be afflicted by Alzheimer’s disease – a prevailing neurodegenerative disease that needs no introduction. There’s no cure to Alzheimer’s, but there are treatments that help mild symptoms or prolong sanity before the point of no return is reached. All […]
It was only around the mid 1980s that the world finally recognized the dangers posed by the build-up of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) in the atmosphere. A big hole in the ozone layer revealed at the time by a team of scientists from the British Antarctic Survey showed what these sort of chemicals withering through the atmosphere could do. […]
New analyses of NASA airborne radar data collected in 2012 reveal the radar detected indications of a huge sinkhole before it collapsed and forced evacuations near Bayou Corne, La. that year. Researchers believe that they can use this type of data, usually routine gathered, to foresee at least some of the sinkholes. I’ve written a […]
In a new study conducted by researchers at the U.S. Geological Survey, researchers showed that the human-induced magnitude 5.0 earthquake near Prague, Oklahoma in November 2011 further caused a larger M5.7 earthquake less than a day later. We’re talking about two human induced earthquakes with magnitudes of 5 and above, in less than a day, […]
A magnitude 6.9 earthquake off the coast of Northern California struck Sunday night, on the 9th of March. It was the largest on the West Coast since the 7.2 Baja California quake in 2010 and it was followed by a series of at least 13 aftershocks, the largest of which had magnitude of 4.6, according […]
The largest clinical study ever conducted to date of patients with advanced leukemia found that an incredible 88% of patients entered remission after being treated with genetically modified versions of their own immune cells. It’s like the medicine of tomorrow – today; and it’s super effective. “These extraordinary results demonstrate that cell therapy is a […]
It’s a little out of this world – a psychology graduate student at the University of Ottawa says she can voluntarily enter an out-of-body experience. While scientists are generally skeptical when it comes to this kind of claims, they were thrilled by the possibility to scan her brain during the experience – and the results […]
It may be the birth of a new supermaterial – not long ago, spider silk materials were considered science fiction. Despite being a bio-material and basically a protein, spider silk has some amazing properties: it is by weight five times stronger than steel and three times tougher than Kevlar. Just so we’re clear, strength is […]
African elephants make a specific alarm call to warn others of human-related dangers according to a new study of wild elephants in Kenya. Researchers from the Oxford University Save the Elephants, and Disney’s Animal Kingdom carried out a series of audio experiments. In these experiments, recordings of the voices of the Samburu,a native tribe from […]
After growing up to adulthood blinded from birth, a man now has taken a peculiar hobby: photography. Were it not for the efforts of a group of researchers who have devised a system that converts images into sequences of sound, this new found pastime had been impossible. Hobbies or not, the technology is particular impressive […]
It’s been well established that smoking substantially affects health for more than a century (a bit less than that in official gov records), yet its long term effects on future generations may be more dangerous than anyone might have guessed. The perils of second hand smoke have been proven for a while, but scientists will have […]
In most of the world, winter long ground to a halt to make way for more harmonious seasons. Still, these are still tense times for your health, as one day can be sunny, the other murky and cold. A lot of people get snuffed and catch a cold. While you’re tucked inside your sheets, blowing […]
A wonder pill that prolongs life and cuts the risks of developing deadly diseases. Scientists have been looking for such a drug for a long time. Research in this direction shows that enhancing the expression of a certain gene called SIRT1 (sirtuin 1) may fare good results in this respect. Recently, researchers at the National Institute […]
During the harvest last year, many farmers from Jordan and Mozambique reported that their plants looked nothing like what they’ve been harvesting for decades, instead turning into something like this: Scientists first discovered that this fungus was wreaking havoc in Southeast Asia in the early 1990s. Since then, the pathogen, known as the Tropical Race 4 […]
Following Russia’s invasion of Crimea, the world political scene has been suddenly turned upside down. Many were surprised by this move, and harsh words and threats from the west were thrown down Putin’s alley. Talks of economic sanctions for Russia, in hope its military presence in Ukraine might be withdrawn, have been publically made. ZME […]
Hydraulic fracking has grown to unimaginable hights in the past few years, growing by some 20% a year, and reaching a total market cap of $37 billion today. Recent tumbling prices for natural-gas have slightly detered exploration, but North America at least, which accounted for 87 percent of the fracking market last year, shows no […]
In society, there’s a general idea that women are more cooperative than men. But in academia, at the very least, that’s not the case. According to a recent study published in Current Biology women in academia are simply less likely to cooperate than men. The findings are based on an analysis of the publications from […]
It sounds like the synopsis for an apocalyptic movie: scientists uncover a dormant 30,000 years old virus trapped frozen deep in the Siberian permafrost, after it thawed however the researchers were astonished to find the virus was still active and began to infect. The bad news: it’s not a movie plot, this is for real […]
Exploiting both the latest in 3D printing and stretchable electronics, scientists at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Washington University in St. Louis have devised a new electronic membrane that could replace pacemakers. The membrane is designed to ‘cloth’ the heart and constantly delver electrical shocks to maintain a constant heart beat rate, avoiding arrhythmia and minimizing […]
In attempt to mitigate the adverse effects of global warming, one of the key measures considered by policy makers is the introduction of a carbon regulation in hopes that alternative, cleaner energy sources may be supported. In the event of a hypothetical carbon tax, households in the lowest income group would pay as a percent of […]
You may not find many interesting things to see when glaring into a chicken’s eye, but after closely studying its retina researchers at Washington University have come across a most fascinating discovery. It seems chicken eyes bear a never before seen state of matter in biology, an arrangement of particles that is both ordered and […]
For the first time, researchers have taken a look at the life that thrives in one of the deepest spots in the ocean. They investigated the New Hebrides trench, located just West of Vanuatu, and revealed that cusk eels and crustaceans teem more than 7,000m (23,000ft) down. They used cameras fitted on an unmanned lander […]
A long time ago I wrote a piece on the developments made by a group at University of California, Berkeley that managed to restore light perception to blind mice without using invasive procedures like surgery. A chemical was used and just as easy as putting some eye drops, the researchers enabled mice to sense light when […]
Even the most untrained, layperson neuroscientist has the correct sense to recognize memories are realized by the brain, that the brain resides in the head, and so it follows removing the head displaces the memories ostensibly to wherever the head now resides. Now introducing the planarian (c. Elegans), a standard organismic model in behavioral and […]
Sometimes it’s best to make use of what’s already available and “designed”. There’s no need to reinvent the wheel when nature has been gracious enough to offer the fruits of billions of years worth of evolution – to those who have the ears and reason to discover, of course. For instance, a team of researchers […]
Researchers have developed a three dimensional atlas which shows the concentrations of iron dissolved in the world’s oceans. This monumental achievement can be very valuable for scientists, but also for policy-makers. Why is mapping iron in the oceans such a big deal ? Well for starters, iron plays a crucial role in the oceanic carbon […]
The Stonehenge is one of the most impressive and mysterious constructions left behind by our ancestors. Now, scientists have found the exact source of Stonehenge’s smaller bluestones: over 200 km away from Stonehenge. The stones’ composition revealed that they came from a relatively nearby outcrop about 1.8 miles (3 kilometers) away from the site originally. […]
The common saying “think before you speak” is often used after a person spoke something inappropriate. It implies that the person in question has not given enough thought to the consequences of his spoken words. Obviously we can’t speak without thinking, though, so naturally the question arises: how do we plan out our utterances? Researchers […]
Ultra strong, a fantastic electrical conductor, and even suitable for better beer storage, graphene is dazzling the w0rld with its potential applications. Now, it seems there’s another use to add for the growing list of applications for the atom thick hexagon carbon structure. Scientists at Queen Mary University of London and the Cambridge Graphene Centre found that […]
Typically in physics, your calculations and such are as precise as your use of constants. Meaning, if you have a skewed value for your constant, this will obviously affect all the computations where this constant is used. Today, all the important physical constants are rather precisely known, whether we’re talking about the speed of light […]
An international team of scientists believe they have across the “microbial Pompeii” after they found preserved bacteria and microscopic particles of food on the surface of teeth more than 1,000 years old. The findings were made after the dental calculus or plaque that covered the ancient teeth was analyzed. Some very important discoveries were made in the process: ancient […]
Using two different dating technique, geologists have come across what they believe to be the oldest piece of Earth discovered thus far. The zircon crystal, found on a sheep ranch in Western Australia , was confirmed to be 4.4 billion years old and offers tantalizing clues and insights on how our planet must have looked like in […]
Reliable, well supplied and with years and years of manufacturing experience behind it, copper is the most widespread material used for delivering electrical charge. Some applications warrant more efficient materials, though, and researchers at Rice recently showed that carbon nanotubes spun into fiber can carry four times as much electrical charge than copper cables of […]
When researchers wanted to conduct DNA analysis on the remains of a Stone Age child, Native American tribes met the idea with opposition. However, after a period of discussing and explaining, despite general resistance, representatives of tribes in the US recently gave their blessing for the DNA analysis. The results were fruitful, as the boy’s […]
Sometimes, I come across stories or various research that make me wonder “why the heck hasn’t anyone else thought of this before?” We should be grateful, nevertheless, that researchers from University of Texas at Dallas have found a way to manufacture artificial muscle that is up to 100 times stronger than the flimsy tissue that […]
What nature seems to perform effortlessly with photosynthesis has proven to be an immense hurdle for scientists trying to mimic it with so called artificial leafs. In recent years, important breakthroughs have been made with this scope in mind, yet the artificial leaf is so inefficient at the moment that it’s absolutely not worth pursuing […]
Researchers at University of Michigan, Ann Arbor have recently reached some arguable findings, after an analysis of statistical data showed that there’s an uncanny link between the people who show up at the hospital for cat bites related wounds and depression. Also, most people who had been both diagnosed with depression at some point in their […]
Physical workouts, be it simple home fitness, represent a golden standard for living a healthy life. Researchers at Emory University recently proved another key benefit to exercising, one especially useful to the elderly, after they found that even taking a few short walks a day can vastly curb macular degeneration – the leading cause for loss […]
We’ve wrote before on studies discussing some of the effects of gaming might have on real life behaviour. In a most interesting study, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign found that even the avatar you choose greatly influences behaviour later on when interacting with real people. The researchers recruited 194 undergraduates to participate in two supposedly unrelated studies. […]
David Ley, PhD, a clinical psychologist in practice in Albuquerque, NM, made an extensive review study of the current scientific literature discussing the idea of ‘porn addiction’. His summary is that, first of all, there’s no such thing as porn addiction, based on the currently published literature since the behavior described in this work can […]
Bees are one of the most intelligent insects, and their resourcefulness is well recognized. Despite bee populations as a whole are facing die-offs all around the world, most likely due to pesticides, a number of bee species show amazing adaptability. For instance, in Canadian urban environments biologists and animal behaviorists have surprised many hives which […]
The genome sequence of the Ice Age skeletal remains of a 1-year-old boy gave scientists tantalizing proof that the first settlers in North American originated in Asia, and not from Europe as some theories might suggest. The boy belong to a group of people known as the Clovis, the direct ancestors of modern day North […]
Some 252 million years ago, 96 percent of marine species and 70 percent of life on land became extinct following a yet unconfirmed series of cataclysmic events. Around this time, billions and billions of organisms were killed and life on Earth faced its most dire moments. This is known as the end-Permian extinction, and many theories […]
With Google Glass, the search engine giant wants to bring social networking and personal video editing a step further, by offering the means to record, edit, augment reality and share your point of view in real time. It’s very interesting, and I’m guessing Glass is where Dr. Yasue Mitsukura of Keio University, Japan got the […]
A new stretchable and transparent electrical conductor has been created at last, one that could finally allow entirely foldable tech to be made. Finding a material that meets all three conditions was thought impossible until recently, although there are plenty of materials that meet two of the three. We know of materials, for instances, that are […]
In popular view, the scientists is a white, skinny male, clothed in a white lab coat, wearing glasses. Of course, in reality it’s not always the case, but there’s no question that a certain gender, race and social upbringing dominates positions in science. Are females and minorities discriminated or is the lack of a balanced […]
Right on the English coast, near Happisburgh, scientists discovered what so far are the earliest footprints discovered thus far in Europe, dated 800,000 years old. Some five human ancestors left these historical footprints in mud on the bank of an ancient river estuary. Perfect timing and the geological circumstances of the time allowed the prints […]
