Medicine & TechnologyIn spite of the harsh climate, freezing many regions of Tibet’s upper plateaus in the mountains of Asia, researchers have uncovered a rich anthropological history of the past amidst frozen objects of the past. And what they reveal is that even in the far off past, the surmounting odds against survival in the region known as the “Roof of the World” created many interesting challenges for ancient man.
For those Americans who have spent some time in the south of France, or gazing at the crystal azure waters at Mediterranean shores, they know that European nations are far more into vineyards and nights out on the town than any metropolis this side of the Atlantic. But while wine and aperitivos may run free in every European meal, the U.S. on the contrary is a place of sugary sweets, where binge drinking on a holiday weekend is far more common than a daily glass of sangria. And while binge drinking in the long run is far more detrimental to one’s health, researchers now say that excess drinking and rates of alcoholism may be curbed by a new set of taxes.
For early man, surviving and conquering niche environments, like that of the Tibetan Plateau of Asia, was a difficult task that required the perfect combination of conditions. Tribes needed to learn how to work together, to traverse harsh terrain, to find/build shelter, and above all they had to learn how to feed themselves year-round. And while the surmounting odds of surviving the domain known as the “Roof of the World” were stacked against them, with extreme altitudes, relentless winds, frigid temperatures and low-oxygen conditions complicating the living conditions they had in their new home, researchers now say that early men were able to conquer this uninhabited ecosystem thanks to a cold-hardy crop used to make beer – barley.
It’s been a strange story from the beginning, but now it’s taken an even more tragic turn for the worse. Nearly two weeks ago reporters in Minnesota revealed that a large 7-foot-tall moose, native to the habitat of Northwoods, travelled hundreds of miles to the farmlands of Sleepy Eye, Minnesota and found a temporary new home in Verna and Leonard Wendiner’s backyard.
And at these strange cusps where “nine-enders” (those who have an age ending in a nine) step into the next set of ten, researchers now say that individuals may mark the milestones with a slew of good choices looking towards their future – and maybe just a bad choice or two too.
Nearly 50 years ago, the world was in a similar climate as it is today. International affairs were rocky at best, and former enemies on the global stage took to space as they would a battlefield. Nations like the U.S. and Soviet Russia engaged in a war of attrition, one that luckily never led to actual battle; but rather led to a space race the United States won first.
There’s an art in the science of CERN’s Large Hadron Collider. It’s not simply a method for smashing atoms together, but rather it’s a uniquely painstaking process that can reveal some of the smallest hidden secrets our world has to offer. And while the particles that CERN researchers are studying may be smaller than the smallest atom, by bringing to light quantifiably distinct particles only often thought of in physical theory courses, the discovery of every new particle is a large step forward for the advancements of mankind’s science.
Decades later, and a Russian space mission may just kick off yet another space race much closer to home. With news of fallen missiles creating craters in northern Siberia, and secret space missions being launched from the Russian side of the world, sky gazers have kept their eyes peeled in recent months for anything peculiar up in the sky. But now six months after researchers say that a Russian object was put into orbit around the Earth, astronomers fear that Russia’s spacecraft may be conducting a test run for anti-satellite warfare.
For ten years, the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Rosetta Mission has been on a path towards Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in hopes of finding answers to the origins of our solar system. And when the Rosetta Mission’s Philae Lander landed Nov. 12, researchers thought they’d find their answers. But with a myriad of errors and strange complications added to the mixture, the Philae Lander had a tough, short time to collect all of its data.
Yet, even in spite of all the difficulties thrown into the mix, researchers at the ESA announced today that an analysis of Philae’s data reveals “organic” molecules on Comet 67P, much like those found here on Earth.
Earlier this past summer when a mysterious giant crater was discovered in northern Siberia’s Yamal Peninsula, many believed the phenomenon to be far too strange to be a natural occurrence. Ironically named “Yamal” which means “the end of the world”, much skepticism surrounded early news of the phenomenon. And when images hit the web a myriad of theories abounded, leading viewers to throw reason to the wind claiming that the crater was either a man-made hoax, a site for a meteorite crash, or even the workings of an alien UFO.
While the U.S. and the E.U may lead the pack in many sectors of technological advancements, and the concept of smart cities, it’s China’s supercomputers that continue to reign supreme. Commemorating the opening day of the SC14 Supercomputing Show in New Orleans, Monday Nov. 17, a team of researchers from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, the University of Tennessee and German tech company Prometeus issued the 2014 list of the top 500 most powerful computing systems in the world. And though the race was close this year, China’s massive Tianhe-2 supercomputer topped the list at No.1, for the fourth time in a row.
For those who have ventured to Siberia in their lifetime, you know that there is a mysterious air about the desolate arctic tundra plains. But earlier this summer when a giant sinkhole was discovered in northern Siberia’s Yamal Peninsula, researchers realized just how strange it may be.
It’s a $1.62 billion mission who’s fighting against the clock. For more than a decade now, researchers have been hoping that the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Rosetta Mission would give them a better understand and an unseen view of what lies beneath the surface of a comet. And now that they’re there, they fear that time is not on their side.
Behavioral studies of our close relatives the chimpanzee often reveal origins of what we believe to be distinctly “human” interactions. Grooming behavior, child rearing and even gang formation have all been identified in chimpanzee populations, but in a recent study conducted in Tanzania, researchers from Arizona State University say that they may have found the origins or far more disturbing behavior—bullying and male-on-female violence.