Sunblock Could Harm Sea Animals, Seals/Sea Lions Once Spread TB, Link Between Colds/Infections and Strokes in Children, Life Found Deep Beneath Antarctic Ice
Sunblock Good For You – May Be Bad For Marine Animals For many people, especially in the northern hemisphere, summer time is also vacation time, and one of the most popular destinations is the beach. One of the most important rituals for beachgoers is slathering on gobs of sunblock on their bodies. But what people […]
Power of a Black Hole, Metallic Glass, Bacteria Becoming More Antiseptic Resistant, How Geckos Stick to Ceiling
Astronomers Witness Power of Supermassive Black Hole Astronomers, using NASA’s space-based Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array or NuSTAR said they were able to capture what they described as a very rare astronomical event in the area that surrounds Markarian 335, a supermassive black hole that’s located about 324 million light-years from Earth. The astronomers noticed that […]
Woodpeckers Provide Scientists with Clues on Brain Injury Prevention
Sounding like a miniature jackhammer in overdrive, a quiet morning’s peace is suddenly interrupted by bursts of loud, rapid tapping. It doesn’t take long, however, to realize that the intense and precise tapping is actually the sound of a woodpecker using his beak to search for his breakfast – usually insects or tree sap – […]
Rosetta Rendezvous With Comet, Measuring Happiness with Math, Lowered Testosterone Levels Civilized Us, Bettering our Brains with Electromagentic Stimulation
ESA’s Rosetta Rendezvous with its Target Comet Today, the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Rosetta spacecraft became the first to rendezvous and orbit a comet. Rosetta, launched back in March, 2004, spent over a decade traveling in space to pursue its target, Comet 67P/Churyumov/Gerasimenko. Both the Rosetta and its target comet are about 405 million kilometers […]
Developing Countries Inundated with E-waste; Google Street View of Distant Galaxies; Setting Sun Gives Bats Direction
Where Does the World’s E-Waste Go? When you replace a PC, tablet, mobile or any kind of electronic device, do you ever wonder what happens to your old equipment? A new study finds that about 25 percent of all e-waste discarded by developed countries ends up in seven developing nations, posing severe health risks to people […]
Science Scanner: Curiosity’s Mars Selfie, Jurassic Caterpillar & an X-ray of Dark Matter?
Odd X-ray Signal Might be Sign of Dark Matter Strange X-ray emissions from galaxy clusters– hundreds of galaxies connected to each other by gravity–are providing clues about mysterious dark matter. Dark matter–if it really does exist–is thought to be invisible, doesn’t produce or attract light, and makes up a majority, 84.5 percent, of the matter […]
Robotic Arm Has Split-Second Timing
Swiss scientists have developed a robotic arm that can catch items thrown at it with split-second accuracy. Researchers say the new invention, described in IEEE Transactions on Robotics, catches various sized objects within 5/100 of a second. The mechanized arm has three joints, a complex and sophisticated hand with four fingers, and measures about 1.5 […]
Survey Reveals American’s Attitudes About Science and Technology
Americans like scientists. They’re really interested in learning all about the latest scientific breakthroughs too. But, unfortunately, it appears that a number of them can also use some tutoring to learn and better understand science. This bit of insight into the American public’s perception and understanding of science was determined by a survey of more […]
Rainy-day Drivers Become Precipitation Gauges
German scientists plan to use moving vehicles to measure precipitation on rainy days, after noticing that drivers control the speed of their windshield wipers according to the intensity of rainfall—faster for heavy rain and slower for light rain or drizzle. Writing in Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, the University of Hanover scientists say they will […]
Scientists Make Progress on Artificial Limbs That Can Feel
Chicago researchers have made significant progress developing prosthetic limbs that can feel and touch. Writing in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the researchers say they’ve established a foundation to develop touch-sensitive prosthetic limbs. This research could lead to a direct interface with the brain that could someday allow those who have lost […]