Bees Take a Break During Total Solar Eclipse
On August 21st, 2017 a total solar eclipse traveled a north-west to south-east path across the United States. Some even called the event the “Great American Eclipse”. A number of researchers from various scientific disciplines used the occasion to conduct experiments. Researchers at the University of Missouri, led by Candace Galen, Ph.D., a professor of […]
South Pole Station Gears Up for Busy ‘Nightlife’
Dusk gives way to night. The first stars and planets have come out, and all that remains of the sun’s memory is a thin band of blue sky on the horizon. SOUTH POLE JOURNALRefael Klein blogs about his year working and living at the South Pole. Read his earlier posts here. With the skies darkening, experiments at the […]
First Flight of NASA’s New Space Launch System Will Carry 13 CubeSats
NASA says the planned 2018 inaugural flight of its new and powerful rocket, the Space Launch System (SLS), will test the performance of the SLS and Orion spacecraft as an integrated system before it can be used to send humans into space. This initial flight, called Exploration Mission-1 or EM-1, will also carry 13 CubeSats […]
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 […]
Science Scanner: Bacteria Go Dormant Until Antibiotics Wear Off, Spacecraft Dives by Saturn’s Ring, and Antartica’s Disappearing Penguins
NASA Launches Mission to Study Atmospheric C02 NASA’s successfully launched its Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 (OCO-2) from California’s Vandenberg Air Force Base Wednesday morning. OCO-2’s mission, which is expected to last at least two years, will study atmospheric carbon dioxide, which scientists say is not only an important element of Earth’s carbon-cycle, but also the primary […]
Caffeine Might Improve Long-term Memory
Caffeine not only gives us a daily jump start, but new research suggests it also can enhance long-term memory. According to the US Food and Drug Administration, nearly 90 percent of people worldwide consume about 200 milligrams of caffeine each day. That’s equivalent to about one strong cup of coffee a day. Writing in “Nature […]
NIH Urged to Retire Lab Chimps
An advisory group has called on the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to retire most of the nearly 700 chimps it owns or supports. NIH’s Council of Councils also recommended the medical research agency drastically cut back on the various medical studies involving the use of chimpanzees, while making certain those chimps that are still being studied are kept in […]