Science

Modular Chameleon Satellite Can Transform to Change Missions

Once you’ve put a satellite into space, that’s normally kind if it. There’s not usually a lot of replanning once your technology is in orbit, meaning that if you want to change something like the broadcast frequency, you’re stuck. That’s the reason these transforming satellites exist. The Quantum programme is a European space project to…

Oh Good, We Have One More Year to Eat Bloomin’ Onions In Oblivion

Although you might already be aware of the 520 calories in a Orange Mocha Frappucino thanks to existing laws in your city or state, the FDA recently mandated that calorie counts are to be posted at all chains nationwide by the end of 2015. Thankfully, a new ruling has postponed the deadline until next year.…

How Male Spiders Can Feel Sex Even Without a Penis

Male spiders don’t have a penis – all their sex is digital. After ejaculating onto a tiny piece of webbing, a male sucks his sperm into a chamber at the tip of one of the short limbs on his head. Once he convinces a female to accept him, he’ll push that appendage inside her genital…

How Cities Are Adapting to More Coyotes, Cougars and Urban Wildlife

Several times this spring, coyotes made national headlines when spotted roaming the streets of New York, from Manhattan to Queens. In recent years, a host of charismatic wild species, the coyote being only the most famous, have returned to American cities in numbers not seen for generations. Yet the official response in many areas has…

Three Telescopes Worked to Create This One Amazing Image of the Sun

Thanks to the Solar Dynamics Observatory, humanity keeps a 24/7 unceasing watch on our friendly neighbourhood star. But to get a better appreciation of what’s going on on the Sun’s surface, SDO has to rope in some friends. The image above is a composite from NASA’s Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR), Japan’s Hinode spacecraft, and…

For the First Time an AI Machine Identified Galaxies All on Its Own

Researchers in the UK have developed a computer that can scan outer space and classify galaxy types on its own, without any human help. This image recognition AI could help develop robots that can “see” better on their own, possibly helping doctors spot tumors or airport security spot firearms. For example, in the image above,…

New Brain Scans Show How Dolphins Use Sound to See

Most of us consider vision and hearing to be two separate senses. But dolphins use sound to see, emitting clicks, squawks and whistles to reveal hidden objects. This is called echolocation, and a new map of dolphin brain circuitry hints at how the animals do it. In a forthcoming paper in Proceedings of the Royal…

7 Innovative Concepts are Getting Closer to Reality Thanks to NASA

NASA just funded research into releasing robot-swarms during flybys, improving life support system, laser-mapping lunar lava caves, exploring the hydrocarbon seas of Titan, converting torpedo power supplies for deep space, creating an oasis of perpetual sunshine on the moon, and characterizing electric sails. Awesome. NASA pushes boundaries between science fiction and science fact with the…

New Zealand Is Joining the Private Space Race

It might be more famous for its sheep than its spacecraft, but New Zealand is about to join the private space race. A compnay called Rocket Lab is to build a new facility near Christchurch which will launch a payload into orbit before the year is out. While Rocket Lab is now based in the…

Electric Cars Are Ever So Slightly Lighter With Dead Batteries

Drive your car until the tank’s empty, and it will probably be 100 pounds lighter (minus the 6 extra Red Bulls consumed). But drive an electric car until it’s out of juice, and on a much smaller scale, it will also have shed weight. Whether or not batteries get lighter as they lose energy is…

How We’ll Live on Mars: A Manifesto for Colonizing the Red Planet

For more than century, humans have imagined building colonies on Mars, and now settling the Red Planet is no longer a pipe dream—it’s something we might achieve in little over a decade. And many people, including the author of the new book How We’ll Live on Mars, believe our very survival as a species hinges…

Maria Fernanda Cardoso’seight-year quest to create The Museum of Copulatory Organs, an amazing art installation of invertebrate sexual anatomy, is told in comic book form by Andy Warner. Check it out at Popular Science. Contact the author at [email protected].

Watch Mars Opportunity’s 11-Year Mission in Just 8 Minutes

In 2004, NASA landed its Opportunity rover on Mars. Initially intended to run for 90 days, it’s now spent 11 years trundling around the planet—in that time covering a distance of over 26 miles. Here, you can watch its multi-year marathon in just 8 minutes. This time-lapse video is made up of a series of…

This Seaweed Is Blue and Red at the Same Time

Do not adjust your monitor. This seaweed is deep red—but happens to appear a bright shimmering blue on a sunny day because of a quirk in its surface properties. Unlike that dress this seaweed does actually appear in two different colors. When covered in water and illuminated by the sun, the deep red fronds of…

NASA Captures North Sea Algae in Full Bloom 

Every summer, the population of algae in the North Atlantic reaches a peak, with the blue-green color of the phytoplankton causing the ocean to visibly change, even from space. NASA’s aptly-named Aqua satellite captured the above image on July 1st using its Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer instrument. You can see Norway on the right, the…

3D Scans Show How Semen Controls Sexual Behavior in Female Flies

It definitely takes two when it comes to making baby flies. Scientists have known for years that fly semen can trigger ovulation and make females lay more eggs. But no one knew exactly what those proteins did to the female reproductive tract. A new study published in PNAStakes a deep look inside fruit flies to…

Waste Hours Staring at This Real-Time 3D Map of Objects Orbiting Earth

Ever wondered just how full the skies are? This real-time 3D map shows you objects currently in Earth orbit — from satellites and rocket bodies to good old space debris. It’s pretty busy up there. Update: We managed to accidentally post this story twice, sorry. You canread the first version here. Created by James Yoder,…

Here’s a Real-Time Map of All the Objects in Earth’s Orbit

Fellow space nerds, I come bringing sweet internet relief for the Monday doldrums. It’s stuffin.space, a real-time, 3D-visualized map of all objects looping around Earth, from satellites to orbital trash. The site updates itself daily using the latest satellite data from Space Track, a US Department of Defense website, which monitors satellites and space junk…

This Bacteria-Slaying Light Fixture Is Perfectly Safe For Humans

Bacteria-killing ultraviolet lights can sterilize everything from toothbrushes to bedsheets. But a new type of light fixture called the Indigo-Clean is able to wipe out those same dangerous pathogens while still being safe for patients or caregivers in a hospital. Originally developed at the University of Strathclyde Glasgow, the Indigo-Clean fixture, commercialized by Kenall Manufacturing,…

Data-Collecting Planes Are Counting Africa’s Elephants to Curb Poaching

Animals like tigers, lions, and elephants are majestic creatures we learn about when we’re kids. But unfortunately, many of those species share another trait—they live on the edge of extinction. One hundred African elephants are killed per day for ivory, but one mapping project is tracking these creatures in hopes of saving them. There hasn’t…