Cosmic Radiation Reveals Devastating Affects on the Brain—What Plans Will This Change for NASA?

Medicine & Technology May 02, 2015

When it comes to life on Earth, we’re one of the most fragile species there is. But thanks to the rather perfect confluence of circumstances and cosmic events, we’re mostly shielded from the dangers of space. Strong ultraviolet rays are kept out, our vital oxygen and water are kept in, and life continues blissfully. But what happens when we leave our own little planet in search of others? What protection do we have then?

Evading Your Age—Can You Beat Microsoft’s Programmers?

May 01, 2015

When it comes to the age of the internet, often the way we speak and interact on the interweb can cause us to become associated with those of an older or younger age group, based on linguistics, posting behavior and even what our friends say about us on our public page. But when it comes to the hard fact, and the face behind the screen it’s often difficult to conceal our true ages, even when we’d like to shave a few off.

May Will Be a Big Month for Sky Gazers

May 01, 2015

May is shaping up to be one of the best months of 2015 for sky gazers and amateur astronomers across the world with planet watching and meteor showers just some of the highlights of what will be available to see in the night sky.

Can Dinosaur Skulls Tell Us Just What They Ate and How?

Apr 29, 2015

With recent archaeological findings proving that researchers may not know as much about prehistoric life as they once thought, researchers with the American Museum of Natural History are taking another look at interpreting the diets of long-extinct animals, and what they’re finding points to finding the source of a prehistoric diet. Though teeth shape has been used for decades as a primary indicator as to the dietary habits of a fossilized subject, in a new study published today in the journal PLOS ONE, researchers are now saying that skull shape and ancestral lineages, both before and after extinction events, may serve as a proxy for what these animals truly once ate.

Could Excess Carbon Dioxide Be Coming From The Trees? New Forest Models Predict CO2

Apr 28, 2015

For several years now researchers have come to find a perplexing missing amount of carbon dioxide in their data. Models have repeatedly missed the mark, and though researchers don’t exactly know where all of the carbon emissions are coming from and where they are going, many assumed that the answer had to lie in the ‘sink’ of the world’s oceans. But now researchers at the Imperial College London are finding that perhaps the rise in atmospheric carbon dioxide has something to do with forests—or rather, what humans leave behind.

Protestors On Mauna Kea Aren't Alone—Cyberterrorists Attack TMT Site on Sunday

Apr 27, 2015

It seems locals aren't the only ones upset about the construction of one of the world's largest telescopes near the summit of Mauna Kea, which is already home to not one but 13 large telescopes. The Thirty Meter Telescope will be one of the largest in the world when completed, but today, those opposed to the project received help from cyber protesters as they hacked the Thirty Meter Telescope website bringing it down for about two hours.

Earthquake in Nepal Levels Building Killing Hundreds

Apr 25, 2015

A powerful earthquake struck in Nepal on Saturday near its capital, Katmandu, flattening many sections of the city's historic center trapping dozens of people in a 200-foot watchtower that crumbled into a pile rubble.

Largest Known Structure in the Known Universe Turns Out To Be a Supervoid

Apr 21, 2015

Astronomers have discovered the largest known structure in the universe, but it may not be what you think it is. The biggest structure ever identified in the universe is a gigantic hole in the universe known as the supervoid.

Survival of the Cutest? Uncharismatic Endangered Species Receive Unequal Funding

Apr 20, 2015

It seems when it comes to saving endangered species, there is a giant inequality in the investment of resources with species that aren't considered as cute or "charismatic" receiving more funding compared to species that simply aren't.

Vampire Squids Reveal Far More Secrets Below—How These Deep-Sea Dwellers Are Changing The Biology Game

Apr 20, 2015

It’s no real big secret that researchers still don’t know much about what lies deep within the ocean’s unreachable depths. And thus it is ever evident that marine ecologists also do not known a lot about life at the lower depths. But with a new study published this week in the journal Current Biology, researchers now reveal that even the creatures they have found and studied in detail may house some strange secrets of the vast oceans, as well.

Curiosity Observing While On the Move

Apr 20, 2015

NASA's Curiosity Mars rover is on the move this month, but it continues to make observations as it traverses the Red Planet's terrain. On April 16, the mission passed 10 kilometers (6.214 miles) of total driving including 310 meters (one-fifth of a mile) so far this month.

Liquid Biopsy May Ease Cancer Tests

Apr 20, 2015

Researchers in labs across the country are now testing a new way of performing biopsies on cancer patients that has the potential to truly transform the way physicians screen for cancer. The new test, called the liquid biopsy, is a new blood test that shows promise in detecting snippets of cancer DNA in a patient's blood.

With a Snapshot Researchers Reveal That Bouvier’s Red Colobus Monkeys Survived Extinction

Apr 20, 2015

With the death of three endangered sperm whales last week, the news this week surrounding conservation efforts has been rather bleak. But with the snap of a flash and a near-perfect picture moment, researchers in the Congo’s newest national park are turning the tide. And the announcement of a long-lost species comes with even better news—it appears that there’s a baby on-board too for the field researchers’ record-breaking findings.

Breast Cancer Predicted to Rise by 50 Percent

Apr 20, 2015

Researchers at the National Cancer Institute reported on Monday that they believe that the number of breast cancers suffered by American women will increase by about 50 percent by 2030.

Laser Proposed to Blast Away Space Junk

Apr 18, 2015

The exploration to space has been paved with litter as missions after mission and satellite after satellite has left much of Earth's orbit as nothing more than a glorified garbage dump. Now, scientists have proposed a new way to deal with the trash problem - blast it.