New York tech start-up develops DNA amplifier the size of a paper clip
Nov 21, 2005 |
4.2 / 5 (41) |
0
Crime labs and operating rooms that use deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) testing to prosecute criminals and heal patients could get the job done cheaper and with less equipment if a New York company's first-generation ...
Look ma, no hands!
Nov 01, 2005 |
4.5 / 5 (40) |
0
A few years ago scientists managed to wire a monkey’s brain to a robotic arm. The monkey learned to manipulate the arm simply by thinking. This year, John Donoghue at Brown University has managed to do the same ...
Machines making other machines: new twist on self-replication
Oct 03, 2005 |
1 / 5 (2) |
0
How can we best build self-replicating machines? The past few decades have witnessed self-replicating virtual automata, ranging from the benign Game of Life by Conway to malicious computer viruses. Self-replicating physical ...
Before 'Lucy,' there was 'Ardi': Oldest hominid skeleton provides new evidence for human evolution (w/ Video)
Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils
Oct 01, 2009 |
4.7 / 5 (35) |
1
In a special issue of Science, an international team of scientists has for the first time thoroughly described Ardipithecus ramidus, a hominid species that lived 4.4 million years ago in what is now Ethiop ...
Winning While Losing: New Strategy Solves 'Two-Envelope' Paradox
Aug 18, 2009 |
3.6 / 5 (34) |
42
(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers from Australia have taken a step toward resolving a seemingly simple yet unsolved paradox known as the "two-envelope" problem. They’ve worked out a new strategy that can enable ...
Why Things Become Unpopular
Other Sciences / Social Sciences
Jun 04, 2009 |
3.5 / 5 (29) |
13
(PhysOrg.com) -- "Why is everybody suddenly wearing those new sandals and listening to that new band? It's so trendy!" A recent study has investigated this sentiment in order to understand why some cultural ...
New Pattern Found in Prime Numbers
May 08, 2009 |
4.5 / 5 (82) |
41
(PhysOrg.com) -- Prime numbers have intrigued curious thinkers for centuries. On one hand, prime numbers seem to be randomly distributed among the natural numbers with no other law than that of chance. But ...
Why Men Rank Higher than Women at Chess (It's Not Biological)
Jan 12, 2009 |
2.9 / 5 (21) |
27
(PhysOrg.com) -- In the recorded history of chess, world champions have always been male, not female. Further, there is currently only one woman in the top 100 chess players in the world. Because chess is ...
Study Shows How We Evolved Different Personalities
Nov 13, 2008 |
3.9 / 5 (46) |
13
(PhysOrg.com) -- Although members of the same species share more than 99 percent of their genetic makeup, individuals often have small differences, such as in their appearance, susceptibility to disease, and ...
Tribal war drove human evolution of aggression
Sep 09, 2008 |
3.7 / 5 (64) |
51
Wars are costly in terms of lives and resources – so why have we fought them throughout human history? In modern times, states may fight wars for a number of complex reasons. But in the past, most tribal wars were fought ...
Online Dating: Where Technology and Evolution Collide
Jun 26, 2008 |
3.6 / 5 (30) |
10
When searching for a soul mate, you might think that the more options, the better. But the rise of technology – notably, the Internet – has thrown a wedge in that perception.
Researchers stumped by drug addiction paradox
Apr 16, 2008 |
4.4 / 5 (110) |
29
From chocolate and caffeine to nicotine and cocaine, many of our most addictive foods and drugs come from plant toxins. Considering that plants originally developed these toxins to deter herbivorous predators, ...
The Best Way to Board a Plane
Feb 14, 2008 |
4.6 / 5 (125) |
18
Most airlines board passengers the same way, first filling the seats in the back of the plane, and then moving to the front. After a recent experience boarding a plane in this manner, Fermilab physicist Jason ...
Model of Easter Island Collapse Might Reveal Message for Today
Feb 11, 2008 |
4.3 / 5 (87) |
4
When a thriving civilization suddenly collapses, it’s often a mystery – and an ominous one, at that. For Easter Island circa 1000-1400 AD, experts believe it was a case of humans overexploiting their natural ...
How We Localize Surround Sound
Jan 09, 2008 |
4.3 / 5 (32) |
2
You're walking down a busy street, with cars and buses driving past and bits of conversations reaching your ears, when you hear someone call your name. You turn about 60 degrees to your left and look up to ...
