As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

Science

SCIENCE: Sperm in Outer Space

by
sperm - pixabay

For the first time, err, officially, NASA will set loose human sperm in outer space. The Micro-11 mission, which made its way to space aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket’s Dragon resupply capsule, amounts to a bunch of containers of frozen human and bull sperm. Aboard the International Space Station (ISS), scientists will thaw the sperm, according to a NASA statement, and then study it to see how weightlessness affects its ability to move and prepare to fuse with an egg. “Previous experiments with sea urchin and bull sperm suggest that activating movement happens more quickly in microgravity,” NASA officials … Read more

SCIENCE: Scientists Find Young Cells in Old Brains

by
neurons - pixabay

Your brain keeps making new nerve cells, even as you get older. That’s a big deal. For decades, researchers believed that aging brains stop making new cells. But recent research has offered strong evidence to the contrary, and a new paper published today (April 5) in the journal Cell Stem Cell tries to put the notion to bed entirely. Aging brains, the researchers showed, produce just as many new cells as younger brains do. “When I went to medical school, they used to teach us that the brain stops making new cells,” said lead study author Dr. Maura Boldrini, a … Read more

U=(N/T)M*G: TOY

by

Science finds stuff in weird places all the time. The nightmare creatures in the depths of the ocean. Sand rivers on Mars. Probable diamond storms on Neptune and Uranus. Living creatures in thermal vents, as well as the freezing vacuum of space. I have to say, this one made me giggle. Time crystals have been found in those rock-growing kits for children. Yes, I know what that sounds like. A material that has proven difficult to create in a lab setting is something that kids make on the regular to learn about crystals. Wild, right? It’s also presented some real … Read more

SCIENCE: The Bubble That Will Destroy the Universe

by
Higgs Boson - Pixabay

Scientists say they know how the universe will end. It won’t be a cosmic collapse but rather a giant cosmic bubble that devours everything in its path. According to a recent paper, published on March 12 in the journal Physical Review D, the final moment for the universe will be triggered by a bizarre consequence of subatomic physics called an instanton. This instanton will create a tiny bubble that will expand at the speed of light, swallowing everything in its path. It’s only a matter of time. “At some point you will create one of these bubbles,” study lead author … Read more

SCIENCE: Artificial Chameleon Skin – Weird and Cool

by
Artificial Chameleon Skin

A team of chemists has created a substance that can change its color and stiffness, which they’re comparing to chameleon skin. The stretchy material is made up of strands of copolymers — complex, self-assembling large molecules that in this case are shaped like long dumbbells, with spherical bulges on each end. The way those copolymers react to mechanical stress allows them to vary their stiffness and color, the researchers wrote in a paper published Friday (March 30) in the journal Science. Like a chameleon, the substance doesn’t undergo any chemical changes when it changes color. Instead, those tiny bulges at … Read more

The Orgasm Bomb

by
orgasm bomb

A US government agency has released a report about an electromagnetic weapon which can force people to orgasm. The Washington State Fusion Centre (WSFC), which assists other government agencies from local to federal level in combatting terrorism, crime, cyber attacks and disasters, made the documents public as part of a Freedom of Information Act request.  The decision seems to have been accidental, considering that the files were sent to non-profit group Muckrock in a package about anti-fascist and white supremacist groups. But now the documents are in the public sphere, and they are completely terrifying. They outline techonology which … Read more

SCIENCE: Making Sculptures Out of Liquid

by
liquid sculptures

liqu A mesmerizing new video shows scientists crafting dazzling, slinky-like sculptures made completely out of liquid — and the liquid structures can hold their shape for months. Researchers created the ghostly-looking sculptures by manipulating the properties of water and oil. Anyone who has ever tried to make salad dressing knows oil and water normally don’t mix; their molecules are simply more attracted to their own kind than to each other — unless, of course, you use a substance like mustard that can bring the sides together. When you do that, you can make oil and water stick together in solution, … Read more

SCIENCE: Researchers Discover a New Organ

by
new organ

With all that’s known about human anatomy, you wouldn’t expect doctors to discover a new body part in this day and age. But now, researchers say they’ve done just that: They’ve found a network of fluid-filled spaces in tissue that hadn’t been seen before. These fluid-filled spaces were discovered in connective tissues all over the body, including below the skin’s surface; lining the digestive tract, lungs and urinary systems; and surrounding muscles, according to a new study detailing the findings, published today (March 27) in the journal Scientific Reports. Previously, researchers had thought these tissue layers were a dense “wall” … Read more

SCIENCE: Could Salt Stop Climate Change?

by
salt - pixabay

Sprinkling large amounts of salt into the atmosphere could stave off climate change, a group of researchers has proposed. They’ve suggested that, because salt is highly reflective, it could potentially reflect sunlight back into outer space, helping to cool the Earth, they wrote in a report presented at the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference in Texas on March 21. But other climate scientists aren’t so sure. This idea falls into the category of geoengineering — a deliberate, large-scale attempt to change the environment as a means to counteract climate change. By Laura Geggel – Full Story at Live Science

U=(N/T)M*G: CAT

by

Ah, another holy grail of science fiction and science has once again caught my eye and imagination in a interesting fashion. The culprit, this time, is time-travel. Sort of. Allow me to explain. It all starts with quantum physics. You know, that branch of science guilty of giving people headaches since it went mainstream with Schrödinger’s infamous half alive, half dead cat. Schrödinger thought it would be a grand idea to theorize about quantum entanglement with the great Einstein, even if it left him with a sour taste in his mouth. Well, some enterprising scientists went in another direction with … Read more