Tag Archives: science

Possible “Liquid Lake” Detected Beneath Mars’ Surface

Wired reports: The Italian Space Agency announced Wednesday that researchers have detected signs of a large, stable body of liquid water locked away beneath a mile of ice near Mars’ south pole. The observations were recorded by the Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionosphere Sounding instrument—Marsis for short. “Marsis was born to make this kind of discovery, and now …

Read More »

Cat Poop Parasite May Reduce Human Fear Of Failure

NBC News reports: A mind-controlling parasite found in cat feces may give people the courage they need to become entrepreneurs, researchers reported Tuesday. They found that people who have been infected with the Toxoplasma gondii parasite are more likely to major in business and to have started their own businesses than non-infected people. The parasite, which makes rodents unafraid of …

Read More »

German Astronaut Beams Into Kraftwerk Gig [VIDEO]

The Associated Press reports: Kraftwerk fans are used to hearing otherworldly tunes, but the German electronic music pioneers took it to another level at a gig in Stuttgart. Video posted Saturday by the European Space Agency shows German astronaut Alexander Gerst “dropping in” for a live performance from the International Space Station. Using a tablet computer with a virtual synthesizer, …

Read More »

Trump Administration Suppresses EPA Cancer Warning

Politico reports: The Trump administration is suppressing an Environmental Protection Agency report that warns that most Americans inhale enough formaldehyde vapor in the course of daily life to put them at risk of developing leukemia and other ailments, a current and a former agency official told POLITICO. The warnings are contained in a draft health assessment EPA scientists completed just …

Read More »

NASA Director In Talks To Take Space Station Private

The Washington Post reports: NASA is talking to several international companies about forming a consortium that would take over operation of the International Space Station and run it as a commercial space lab, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said in an interview. “We’re in a position now where there are people out there that can do commercial management of the International …

Read More »

NIH Reports Advance In Search For HIV Vaccine

Via press release from the National Institutes for Health: An experimental vaccine regimen based on the structure of a vulnerable site on HIV elicited antibodies in mice, guinea pigs and monkeys that neutralize dozens of HIV strains from around the world. The findings were reported today in the journal Nature Medicine by researchers at the National Institute of Allergy and …

Read More »

Arizona Seeks To Strike Evolution From Textbooks

The Arizona Republic reports: The Arizona Department of Education hopes to make changes to science standards, which will affect K-12 districts and charter schools. The changes include removing the word “evolution” in some areas and describing it as a “theory” in others. Some educators and scientists are outraged by the change. In the draft, the word “evolution” is crossed out …

Read More »

Surgeons Claim Advance Towards Head Transplants

CNBC reports: A jolt of electricity is delivered to a body with bolts attaching its head to its neck. It’s a scene straight out of a horror movie, but it is eerily close to Italian neurosurgeon Sergio Canavero [photo] and Chinese surgeon Xiaoping Ren’s plan to transplant a human head — down to the neck bolts and electricity. Canavero and …

Read More »

TODAY: Large Asteroid To Make Rare Close Pass

The Weather Channel reports: Asteroid 2010 WC9 will pass relatively close to Earth at 6:05 p.m. EST Tuesday, passing within 126,419 miles of the planet, or about half the distance from Earth to the moon, according to NASA. “Asteroids this size approach about this close about once every decade or so, on average,” Paul Chodas, manager of the Center for …

Read More »

NASA Launches Mars InSight Lander [VIDEO]

USA Today reports: With the orange flames of its engine lighting up the foggy sky for miles around, a car-sized Mars lander rocketed into space early Saturday in a first-of-its-kind launch from California on a mission to probe beneath the surface of the Red Planet. The nearly $1 billion Mars InSight probe blasted off shortly after 4 a.m. local time, …

Read More »

Gates: Trump’s Very Keen For A Universal Flu Vaccine

STAT News reports: Bill Gates was talking to President Trump in the Oval Office last month when the conversation turned to the notion of a universal flu vaccine — probably, as Gates recalled in an interview, “the longest conversation about universal flu vaccine that the president’s ever had.” “You should associate yourself with American innovation. Wouldn’t you love to have …

Read More »

CDC Warning: Throw Away All Your Romaine Lettuce

CNBC reports: Federal authorities are urging people who bought chopped romaine lettuce in the United States to throw it away because it could get them sick. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday the nationwide E. coli outbreak linked to romaine lettuce from Yuma, Ariz., has expanded to 53 cases in 16 states. The CDC warning is clear: …

Read More »

Goldman Sachs Warns Pharma Investors: Cures Don’t Provide Sustained Revenue, Chronic Illness Is Better

Yahoo Finance reports: Goldman Sachs analysts attempted to address a touchy subject for biotech companies, especially those involved in the pioneering “gene therapy” treatment: cures could be bad for business in the long run. “Is curing patients a sustainable business model?” analysts ask in an April 10 report entitled “The Genome Revolution.” “The potential to deliver ‘one shot cures’ is …

Read More »

“Luxury Space Hotel” Begins Taking Reservations

The Guardian reports: A Houston-based company said this week it plans to open the “first luxury hotel in space” by late 2021. Orion Span’s compact Aurora Station – at 35ft-by-14ft its interior will be comparable to that of a Gulfstream jet, the company said – is projected to accommodate four travelers and two crew members for 12-day stays 200 miles …

Read More »

Physicist Stephen Hawking Dies At Age 76 [VIDEO]

The BBC reports: Stephen Hawking – who died aged 76 – battled motor neurone disease to become one of the most respected and best-known scientists of his age. A man of great humour, he became a popular ambassador for science and was always careful to ensure that the general public had ready access to his work. His book A Brief …

Read More »

Today In Creepy Robots [VIDEO]

The Verge reports: We’ve seen Boston Dynamics robots open doors before, but this egress is different. Outfitted with an articulating arm and clamp similar to the one it used to wash dishes in the original video, we see the new SpotMini locate, recognize, and deftly operate a door handle, and then hold the door to let its arm-less sibling march …

Read More »

CDC: Thousands Dying Weekly From The Flu

Bloomberg reports: The amount of influenza ravaging the U.S. this year rivals levels normally seen when an altogether new virus emerges, decimating a vulnerable population that hasn’t had a chance to develop any defenses. It’s an unexpected phenomenon that public health experts are still trying to decode. The levels of influenza-like illnesses being reported now are as high as the …

Read More »

LIVE WTF VIDEO: Starman Drives Tesla In Space

CNET reports: The revolution is being televised, live from space. The below live video feed is coming direct from Elon Musk’s 2008 Tesla Roadster, which is currently somewhere high, high above us. On Tuesday afternoon, Musk’s rocket company SpaceX successfully launched Falcon Heavy, the new most powerful rocket currently in use worldwide, from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The payload …

Read More »

LIVE VIDEO: SpaceX Launches Falcon Heavy Rocket

Space.com reports: SpaceX’s giant new rocket, the Falcon Heavy, is set for its risky first test launch today (Feb. 6) from the historic Pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The launch window stretches from 1:30 to 4 p.m. EDT (1830 to 2100 GMT). SpaceX’s current Falcon 9 rocket launches cargo to the International Space Station and lofts …

Read More »

CDC Report: Flu Hospitalizations Reach Record High

CBS News reports: Federal health officials say at least 16 more children died of the flu over the past week and more states are reporting high levels of illness. In a briefing Friday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the flu outbreak is responsible for at least 53 child deaths so far this season. “Hospitalizations are now the …

Read More »