Science on ZME Science

CERN is back in business with the first collisions

The researchers and engineers operating the Large Hadron Collider have smashed together for the first time protons, in what is considered a huge step forward by pretty much everybody working at the huge physics experiment. The particles were accelerated on Monday, through the LHC’s 27 km and then ‘drove’ into each other, in an attempt […]

17650 Species that have never seen sunlight

The researchers from the Census of Marine Wildlife have accomplished a truly amazing task; they have inventoried a fantastic abundance of marine species, more specifically deep sea species that live below the point where sunlight can penetrate the water, creatures that live more than 5 km below sea level, in a cold and dark environment. […]

First Universal Two-Qubit quantum processor created

Physicists from NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology) have demonstrated what they claim to be the first universal programmable quantum information processor that will be able to run any program allowed by quantum mechanics (the set of principles that describe the atomic and subatomic matter). They managed to accomplish this using two quantum bits […]

The main types of quartz -- in beautiful pictures

Quartz is a hard mineral consisting of silicon and oxygen. It’s one of the most common minerals in the Earth’s crust There are several different types of quartz, including amethyst, citrine, milky quartz, rose quartz, or agate. –yes, all of those are essentially quartz, and they’re all beautiful. Let’s have a look at them. “Plain” […]

Meet the world's most powerful X-Ray laser

The first experiments with this laser (Linac Coherent Light Source) have been given the green light at the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. The illuminating of objects and processing speed will take place at an unprecedented scale, promising groundbreaking research in physics, chemistry, biology and numerous other fields. “No one has ever had […]

Rift in African desert will become ocean

In 2005, a huge 35 mile rift broke the Ethiopian desert apart and immediately led to geological claims that a new ocean was appearing there because two parts of the African continent were being pulled apart. However, the claims were quickly dismissed as being too controversial. However, a new study published in the latest issue […]

Social media require 'Community Relations 2.0'

Imagine an average day in your life; the odds are, it’ll include either logging onto facebook, tweeting, browsing some pics on flickr and videos on youtube, or some of these combined. The blazing speed at which social media is developing is catching many off guard and forcing numerous persons and firms (even corporations) to adapt. […]

A Colourful Cosmic Jewel Box

Star clusters are among the pretties things you can see, when it comes to astrophysical observations. Recently, ESO provided some amazing pictures of one of the most beautiful nestles ever to be seen, located deep in the constellation of Crux. The cluster is named Kappa Crucis Cluster and has been nicknamed ‘the jewel box’ (by […]

Israel, in danger of being hit by tsunamis

Dr. Beverly Goodman of the Leon H. Charney School of Marine Sciences at the University of Haifa was doing some research on the ancient port and shipwrecks of the place, when she stumbled upon information that led her to this conclusion. “There is a likely chance of tsunami waves reaching the shores of Israel. Tsunami […]

Missing flying reptile link found

An international team of researchers from the University of Leicester (UK), and the Geological Institute, Beijing (China) managed to identify a new type of a flying reptile that can prove to be a crucial step in understanding evolution, or at least a big part of it. Pterosauria was the general name given for flying or […]

First (mainly) vegetarian spider found

Out of the 40.000 or more species of spiders found up to date, every single one of them is a predator, capturing their prey using a complicated web, hunting them directly, or using other creative methods; all except one, that is. Bagheera kiplingi (odd choice for a veggie spider) is the first species that primarily […]

3D structure of humans finally decoded

It’s quite obvious that genetics is the most important step in our evolution that we have to take and although the molecular structure of DNA has been discovered more than half a century ago, its three dimensional structure remained a mystery. However, recently a team led by researchers from Harvard University, the Broad Institute of […]

7 new luminescent mushroom species discovered

Man I tell you, you can never have enough mushrooms… it’s really hard to put my finger on it, but for some reason they’re just really awesome; and glow in the dark mushrooms, that’s even more awesome. Not one, but seven of these new species were discovered, increasing the number of luminescent fungi from 64 […]

Life had a big rebound following marine mass extinction event

In 1980, Luis Alvarez and his team shocked the whole world when they announced their theory that an asteroid impact that took place 65 millions years ago was responsible for the extinction of the dinosaurs and much of that time’s living organisms. Despite the fact that they delivered substantial evidence, there are still some minor […]

Hubble shows 2 galaxies that are just losing it

Ram pressure is the pressure exerted on a body when it passes through a fluid medium; this causes a drag force that is exerted on the body. The same pressure occurs when a galaxy (body) is moving through an intergalactic gas (fluid), and in this case, the ram pressure can sweep a significant part of […]

Immortality - just 20 years away

Raymond Kurzweil is one of the most prolific inventors and futurists; he’s the one who developed text to speech synthesis and a synthesizer that develops and even creates poetry, among others. He has also predicted new technologies that would appear and some directions that our society would take, and he got it right. Now, the […]

Electricity from trees

You're not going to power too many devices with electricity from trees. But it is a very interesting phenomenon.

Devil's Claw brings new hope for arthritis

Deep in one of the warmest places on the planet, in the Kalahari desert, there lies the ‘Devil’s Claw’, a plant that may hold the key to effective treatment to arthritis, tendonitis and numerous related illnesses that affect millions and millions each year. Despite being a ‘desert plant’ the Devil’s Claw doesn’t thrive in extreme […]

Mermaid sightings in Israel lead to 1.000.000$ reward

Locals, fishermen and tourists in the Israelian town of Kiryat Yam have been reporting repeated sightings of what they believe to be a mermaid, the mythological creature most often describe as half female, half fish. Shlomo Cohen is one of the first who reported such a sighting. Here’s what he had to say: “I was […]

New insight on water's strange properties

The paradox of water is that everybody knows it, but no one really understands it. It’s the most fascinating substance we have come across so far, and it still has many secrets for us. For example, the molecular structure of water still eludes scientists, and as a result, water still has many properties which we […]

The deadliest creature in the world

So, microorganisms and other humans aside, what do you think is the deadliest creature in animal kingdom? A snake, perhaps a lion or bear, a scorpion perhaps? Neah, not even close. The deadliest creature in the world is actually called a sea wasp. Specialists use the term ‘deadliest’ when they refer to venomous creatures, that […]

From Earth to Mars in 39 days?

It sounds like something pinned off a SciFi novel, but it seems like new developments in space exploration technology might make an Earth to Mars journey last as less as 39 days. The distance between Mars and Earth varies because of the different Sun revolution periods (365.25 days for Earth, and 686 days for Mars), […]

Ants - more rational than humans

Researchers from Arizona State University and Princeton University conducted a study that goes to show that our ‘multimodal, egg-headed, tool-using, bipedal, opposing-thumbed‘ selves come way behind ants when it comes to ration. That doesn’t actually mean that we are dumber than ants, but rather that we sometimes make irrational decisions, especially when faced with very […]

39 unbelievable underwater pictures that will blow your mind

First of all, I don’t know for sure if any of these are shopped or tampered in any way; underwater photography is really peculiar and has its own ways of manipulating light and perspective. But let’s not worry about that for the moment. Let’s just sit back, relax, and enjoy our planet’s wonderful waters. […]

Invisibility cloak to give buildings protection against earthquakes

The surface waves. Not the Love wave you want to be in.Researchers from the University of Liverpool conducted a study that shows it is possible to create what they have called an ‘invisibility cloak’ that would in fact protect buildings from earthquakes. This would come just in time, as a major earthquake threat seems more […]

NASA to Adopt "Space Internet" by 2011

Mike Massimino hit the news in May as the first to “Tweet” in space. He began “tweeting” under the name “Astro Mike” while training for the STS-125 mission to repair the Hubble Space Telescope. Soon nearly 250,000 people were following his Twitter feed. The reality is that Massimino probably wasn’t really “tweeting” at all, at […]

Storms May Delay Endeavour Launch

Stormy weather conditions may delay the launch of space shuttle Endeavour, currently scheduled for liftoff on Saturday, July 11. This comes on the heels of two delays last month caused by a hydrogen gas leak. A similar problem delayed the launch of space shuttle Discovery in March. The 16-day mission will feature a number of […]

How global warming made Scotland's sheep shrink

Each of us can easily feel the effects of global warming especially now when we practically melt in our homes. However, it seems that there are some more… peculiar effects. Scientists have discovered that a wild species of sheep from the island of St. Kilda has begun to reduce their size as a result of […]

Meet the magnetic superatoms

Virginia Commonwealth University managed to discover what they have called a ‘magnetic superatom‘, a stable cluster of atoms that can ‘impersonate’ various elements from the periodic table, that could be put to use in numerous fields, especially for biomedical purposes and to create molecular devices for the next generation of computer memory.A team from the […]

New chemical element in the Periodic Table!

Were you one of those students who used to complain about all those chemical elements you had to study at school? Well, I guess this particular piece of news will not exactly make you celebrate. It seems that chemistry has yet a lot more to offer as the element 112 has just been recognised by […]

Komodo dragons are venomous

The Komodo dragon is definitely one of the most impressive and dangerous creatures to roam the Earth. Reaching 3 metres and more than 70 kilos and delivering one of the most fatal bites in the reptilian world, it’s no wonder that it inspired so many legends and fears. However, it does not all end here: […]

Volcano eruption could have caused global extinction

A previously unknown volcanic eruption was uncovered by scientists at the University of Leeds. It’s believed that this massive eruption took place 260 million years ago in South West China and released half a million cubic kilometers of lava covering a land mass the size of Great Britain and destroying marine life everywhere throughout the […]

Top 10 new animals of 2008

Every year, the International Institute for Species Exploration at Arizona State University and an international committee of taxonomists announce the top 10 new species described in the past year, and this year was a good one. We have among others the bacteria that lives in hairspray, the oldest known vertebrate (fossilized), an insect 56 cm […]

Neanderthals were fearless and calculated hunters

Even among some scientific circles, Neanderthals are considered to be the ‘stupid’ cousins of the modern humans (although some claim that’s the hobbit). However, new research shows they were able to hunt really large animals which required more than power to be taken down, pointing that neanderthals were far from stupid (as hobbits were too, […]

Salamaders show that being different means staying alive

Remember when we were kids and everyone picked on the ones who looked peculiar in a way or another starting from their hair color and ending with their height? Well, whether you were a “victim” or a “predator” find out that there is a reason why some individuals of a species look at least a […]

World's first genome transplant - a step forward towards creating synthetic life forms

Once the first transplant was conducted the entire history stated to change and since then science has broken a lot of barriers. Now scientists are preparing to create synthetic life forms (don’t think about badass creatures half robots half reptiles, it’s all about bacteria) in order to stop our dependence on fuels (so in a […]

Marine researchers back with news from underwater volcanic eruption

The researchers who have just returned from the underwater volcano eruption report that the volcano is still active and it has grown considerably in size in these past three years. It supports a unique ecosystem thrives despite the constant eruptions. “This research allows us, for the first time, to study undersea volcanoes in detail and […]

Fossil magnetism proves mass extinction theory

The mass extinction theory is… a theory, because there are still some blanks left in to fill by scientists; of course, there are those who try to fight it and find other theories and those that try to back it up and fill in the missing pieces of the puzzle. Now, the latter camp recorded […]

Could humans have learned from Hobbits?

There has been a lot of debate around the whole ‘hobbit issue‘ and I’ve been watching that pretty closely. It was especially interesting to see how creationists adapted to the situation. The thing is every answer raises even more questions. Recently, researchers discovered thousands of small, sharp-edged objects made from volcanic tuff or chert in […]

Friday Round-up

Because of insufficient time and man power (if you want to help, just look at the banner in the right), we can’t tackle all the topics; but there’s so much going on in the world right now, something just had to be done. So I’m going to start this weekly round-up, in which I’ll just […]

How house ants pick their dream home

Seeing all the available houses in the neighborhood and then choosing is not necessarily the best option, at least if you’re an ant. These house-hunting rock ants manage to make a decision together even without going through the options they have. In this recent study conducted by Dr Elva Robinson and colleagues from the Bristol […]

Cleaning products give birth to deadly antibiotics-resistant bugs

Disinfectants, all kinds of shampoos, fabric softeners…we love them , we use them and then they go down the drain. Nothing bad about cleanliness, isn’t it? Unfortunately, our foamy friends can prove to be a timebomb as they can create invisible monsters: bugs that are not affected by antibiotics. Researchers from England have discovered this […]

The mysterios green glow of the sea decoded

In the past the sea was considered a truly miraculous place especially as many phenomena seemed to have no logical explanation. Sea creatures have also troubled the sailors as they were like nothing else they had ever seen. Now science proved that most of our fears are not justified, but also that miracles can have […]

Are chicks natural-born mathematicians?

Don’t imagine a yellow, puffy golden chick doing complicated equations (as awesome as that would be) as it would be far from the truth. However, the scientific fact is very interesting in itself as the little birds are able to do some adding and subtracting, in an animal version, of course. The experiment used on […]

Crabs can feel pain and remember the experience, study shows

Probably the first thing to come to your mind when you hear about crabs is “tasty”. However, a study comes to show that these sea creatures are far more complex than previously thought; it seems that the little guys can feel pain and more than that, keep a memory of it. This means that the […]

Scientists to recreate the perfume worn by pharaoh Hatshepsut

An exquisite fragrance has always been considered to be a status symbol especially because of the difficulties encountered in order to create a good one. However, this is far from being a characteristic of our times; in ancient Egypt, this was taken to an entirely higher level: wearing a certain perfume was the sign of […]

NASA researchers help explain why life is left-handed

Scientists that analyzed meteorite dust made some discoveries that gave them clues about the ever standing mystery of how life works at its most basic, molecular level. This question has puzzled researchers for quite a while now and definitive answers are yet to be found. “We found more support for the idea that biological molecules, […]

Fossils of sea "monster" make T-Rex seem cute & fluffy

Well, that’s a bit of a stretch, but according to scientists, this giant fossil sea creature known currently just as “Predator X” had a bite that makes T-Rex seem “feeble”. This 15 meter long dinosaur had a crushing 33,000 lbs (15 tonnes) per square inch bite force. “With a skull that’s more than 10 feet […]

Green visitor to pass through the solar system

Unfortunately for some, the green visitor is not an alien coming to greet us but something else, even though it also comes from far, far away. On the 24th of February the comet Lulin will pass within 61 million kilometers of Earth, thus being able to be seen with the naked eye from some locations. […]

Prehistoric snake shows what the word "gigantic" was created for

And when I say that snake was big that’s how it was- really BIG. It had the length of a regular school bus and weighed about as much as your family car. Fortunately for us though, this prehistoric “dragon” lived long time ago, about 6 million years after another teethed nightmare became extinct- the T-Rex. […]

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