Michigan laser beam believed to set record for intensity
Feb 15, 2008 |
4.7 / 5 (121) |
6
If you could hold a giant magnifying glass in space and focus all the sunlight shining toward Earth onto one grain of sand, that concentrated ray would approach the intensity of a new laser beam made in a ...
Identical twins not as identical as believed
Feb 15, 2008 |
3.9 / 5 (73) |
3
Contrary to our previous beliefs, identical twins are not genetically identical. This surprising finding is presented by American, Swedish, and Dutch scientists in a study being published today in the prestigious journal ...
A 'Golden Channel' for New Physics
Feb 15, 2008 |
4.1 / 5 (60) |
5
A group of physicists has dubbed a particular particle decay, the decay of the Bs meson into a neutral kaon and neutral antikaon, as a “golden channel” for new physics, suggesting that probing and studying the decay could ...
Mars Rovers Sharpen Questions About Livable Conditions
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Feb 15, 2008 |
4.8 / 5 (32) |
3
Like salt used as a preservative, high concentrations of dissolved minerals in the wet, early-Mars environment known from discoveries by NASA's Opportunity rover may have thwarted any microbes from developing ...
Brain waves pattern themselves after rhythms of nature
Feb 15, 2008 |
4.2 / 5 (35) |
3
The same rules of physics that govern molecules as they condense from gas to liquid, or freeze from liquid to solid, also apply to the activity patterns of neurons in the human brain. University of Chicago ...
Study: Religion colors Americans' views of nanotechnology
Nanotechnology / Bio & Medicine
Feb 15, 2008 |
3.9 / 5 (30) |
15
Is nanotechnology morally acceptable? For a significant percentage of Americans, the answer is no, according to a recent survey of Americans' attitudes about the science of the very small.
Past greenhouse warming events provide clues to what the future may hold
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Feb 15, 2008 |
4.1 / 5 (25) |
4
If carbon dioxide emissions from the burning of fossil fuels continue on a "business-as-usual" trajectory, humans will have added about 5 trillion metric tons of carbon to the atmosphere by the year 2400. ...
Why does the world appear stable while our eyes move?
Biology /
Feb 15, 2008 |
4.3 / 5 (22) |
1
Whenever we shift our gaze, attention is directed to a new target. This shift in attention causes a brief compression of visual space, according to a study published February 15 in the open-access journal PLoS Computational Bi ...
Whose voice is that? Scientists discover 'voice' area in the brain of nonhuman primate
Biology /
Feb 15, 2008 |
4.4 / 5 (19) |
1
For vocal animals, recognising species-specific vocalizations is important for survival and social interactions. In humans, a ‘voice' region has been identified that is sensitive to human voices and vocalizations. As this ...
Warming waters may make Antarctica hospitable to sharks, with potentially disastrous consequences
Biology /
Feb 15, 2008 |
3.5 / 5 (24) |
6
It has been 40 million years since the waters around Antarctica have been warm enough to sustain populations of sharks and most fish, but they may return this century due to the effects of global warming. If they do, the ...
How believing can be seeing: Study shows how context dictates what we believe we see
Biology /
Feb 15, 2008 |
4.6 / 5 (17) |
0
Scientists at UCL (University College London) have found the link between what we expect to see, and what our brain tells us we actually saw. The study, published in this week’s PLoS Journal of Computational Biology, reveal ...
Metabolic syndrome linked to cold tolerance
Feb 15, 2008 |
4.8 / 5 (16) |
0
Researchers from the University of Chicago have discovered that many of the genetic variations that have enabled human populations to tolerate colder climates may also affect their susceptibility to metabolic syndrome, a ...
Probing Question: What is lost when a language dies?
Feb 15, 2008 |
4.2 / 5 (16) |
4
Oy vey! Although English dictionaries list "Oh dear!" as a rough equivalent of this Yiddish expression, Yiddishists will tell you how short that falls in conveying the phrase's varied, flexible and nuanced meanings, ranging ...
Nanotechnology Advances Brain Cancer Detection and Therapy
Nanotechnology / Bio & Medicine
Feb 15, 2008 |
3.9 / 5 (15) |
0
Brain cancer is one of the most aggressive and lethal of malignancies, made even more difficult to treat by the fact that most anticancer drugs have a hard time even getting to the tumors. Now, studies by three different ...
Stabilizing climate requires near-zero carbon emissions
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Feb 15, 2008 |
3.4 / 5 (15) |
10
Now that scientists have reached a consensus that carbon dioxide emissions from human activities are the major cause of global warming, the next question is: How can we stop it" Can we just cut back on carbon, or do we need ...
