Science

Fall Science Preview: So Much Science is Headed Right for Us!

‘Tis the season for dwarf planets with an impending flood of Pluto flyby data and Dawn just about to point its spectrometer at the weird white spots on Ceres. Add in ocean floor explorations, a pair of weights in perpetual free-fall, and a rash of rocket launches and we just know this year is going…

Stephen Hawking’s New Theory on Black Holes is Fantastically Insane

Black holes have a rap for being hopeless vortexes of destruction, but what would really happen if you fell into one? According to Stephen Hawking, you might end up in another universe. That’s the celebrated physicist’s latest answer to the so-called “information paradox” — the conundrum that black holes appear to swallow matter, which, according…

The Flu Vaccine That Lasts a Lifetime is Coming

The flu vaccine: A tedious annual chore, but necessary unless you want to spend a week bed-ridden and barfy. Still, wouldn’t it be great if one jab could protect you for life? A lifetime flu vaccine isn’t impossible, and we’re making progress toward one, but we’ve still got a ways to go. As New Scientist…

The ISS Crew Collects Russian Pee for Its Water Supply

Did you know that the US and Russian sections of the International Space Station have long used separate water purification systems? It’s due to a dispute reaching back to the 80s over best water filtration practices. But, Bloomberg reports that a more pressing difference in the two sections’ processes centers around a less fun fact:…

All the Crazy Ways Life Has Evolved to Cope with Extreme Heat

Humans aren’t very good at dealing with heat — we either sweat miserably or rack up crazy AC bills. But some life forms have to live with scorching temperatures and extreme drought all the time. Here are some of the most bizarre strategies they’ve evolved for staying cool and hydrated. Hibernate In a Mucus Sac…

How Lurking Predators Changed the Size of the Mosquitofish’s Genitals

Female mosquitofish give birth to tiny babies, like the guppies you may remember from your third-grade aquarium. That means male mosquitofish don’t spawn: if they’re going to be dads, they need to use a modified fin (called a gonopodium) to inseminate their mate. And sex with a long, stiff fin demands a daunting level of…

Turtle Attacks and Nightmare Centipedes: This Wild YouTube Channel Is a Gem

The world is full of gnarly animals, but it wasn’t until the magic of the internet that we could watch them from a safe distance—thanks to high-def videos like this one, in which a snapping turtle clamps down on a dude’s arm. Thank you, YouTube. Host Coyote Peterson, who seems to really like animals and…

Hubble Captured a Cosmic Optical Illusion

The round, bright, yellow objects near the center of this Hubble image are part of a massive galaxy cluster. If you look closely, several blue galaxies seem to form a wide circle around the cluster, and they all look strangely similar. That’s because they’re actually reflections of the same galaxy. The smaller blue galaxy is…

Bats in India Have Found a New Home on Coffee Plantations

If you’ve had a cup of coffee recently, the plants it grew on may once have been home to bats and other threatened wildlife. It turns out that when coffee plantations encroach on natural forest habitat, bats are happy to live in the coffee. A Biodiversity Hotspot The Western Ghats mountain range runs along the…

The James Webb Space Telescope Looks Like Gold Plated Space Origami

When it launches in October 2018, the James Webb Space Telescope will become the largest optical telescope in space. With its 6.5 meter wide mirror, it will gather infrared light from up to 13.5 billion light years away, giving astronomers a look at the earliest moments of the universe. But the mirror is too big…

Watch Biologists Drop Flying Spiders Out of Trees for Science

Biologists have terrifying news: some spiders can fly. Of course, technically they’re just gliding, but that’s still a feat for a creature with eight legs and no wings. It’s also a big surprise for biologists. High in the rainforest canopies of Panama and Peru, a team of biologists gathered spiders from the genus Selenops. They’re…

15 Stealth Science-Lovers Hiding in Plain Sight

One Direction aren’t the only physics-loving celebrities hiding in plain sight. From PhD astrophysicist and rock star Brian May to mathematics book author and actress Danica McKellar, the list of entertainers who get giddy over the wonder of our universe is near-endless. The Perimeter Institute is back with another round of PI-bites. Last time they…

Vomit Machine Helps Researchers Study Disease, Face Totally Unnecessary

Projectile vomiting: Disgusting, yes, but also your body’s natural way of dealing with being sick. Oh, and a great way to spread your vile germs to others, according to research conducted with the lovely vomit simulator depicted above. That’s right: If you’ve got a stomach virus and you blow chunks, you’re gonna blow virus particles…

The Very First Wormhole Device — For Magnets!

Physicists have created a wormhole device that can tunnel a magnetic field through space. It sounds like Star Trek, but we won’t be zapping humans across the universe anytime soon. Still, the breakthrough could revolutionize certain magnet-based technologies, including MRIs. Wormholes are wrinkles in the fabric of space and time that can connect two different…

How Traveling to Deep Space In Cryogenic Sleep Could Actually Work

Our bodies aren’t meant for space. We require too much maintenance to speed through the stars. We need a steady supply of things absent from space — namely water, food and oxygen. We crave warmth but won’t find it in deep space, where the average temperature is -455 degrees Fahrenheit. Even if we could survive…

Scientists Confirm the Existence of Cosmic Neutrinos

A team of Antarctic scientists has just verified the existence of cosmic neutrinos — tiny, energetic particles that might hail from far reaches of the Milky Way and beyond. And these ghostly little flecks of matter could hold the key to some of the deepest mysteries of the cosmos. High-energy cosmic neutrinos are thought to…

What Would Happen If a Massive Solar Storm Hit Earth?

A severe solar storm hasn’t hit Earth since the mid-19th century, but space weather scientists are very worried about the next one.

Stunning underwater video by Jose Lachat at Aeon shows you major milestones in the life of an Australian flamboyant cuttlefish: including birth, courtship, and egg-laying before death. If you want to skip right to the sexy part, the mating dance starts at 2:19. Contact the author at [email protected].

Sign Up To Send Your Name To Mars With NASA

Want your name on a microchip bound for the Red Planet? It’s totally free, you’ll earn NASA “frequent flyer miles,” and your name will be on Mars. Here’s how to sign up. This isn’t the first time that NASA has offered to send our names into space. Last year, the microchipped names of 1.38 million…

Tesla Is that Rarest of Things — A “High-End Disruptor”

Elon Musk’s electric car company Tesla has defied expectations and succeeded — despite having an expensive, experimental product that nobody was sure even had a market. How did it happen? One analyst says it’s all about destroying the car market from the top down. Over at Forbes, business professor Jeff Dyer has a fascinating, in-depth…