Science

SeaWorld Succeeds In Delaying Orca Welfare Bill “For Further Study”

Last month, we reported on a bill introduced to the California State Legislature by Assemblymember Richard Bloom, which would end killer whale performances in the state and begin to phase out their captivity more generally. Today, Bloom’s office announced that the vote was delayed for further study. To recap: AB 2140, which is informally called…

Biology Jason G. Goldman

Buy These Seeds From Space and Make Yourself an Intergalactic Salad

It’s not quite spring yet, but it’s nice enough that you’re probably tentatively peering out the window of your garbage-lined apartment for your first glimmer of sunshine in five months. Maybe you’re even prepping your garden—in which case I invite you to consider investing in space basil. It’s exactly what it sounds like. Though $27…

Space & Spaceflight Kelsey Campbell-Dollaghan

Could Google Glass Really Help People with Parkinson’s?

While the world has been squabbling about Glassholes, doctors have quietly been testing the potential of Google Glass in medicine. Features that may seem silly to use in a cafe or on the subway have real advantages in the doctor’s office. Hand-free control? Remote diagnosis? On-demand medical records? Check check check. Now researchers are testing…

Health Sarah Zhang

Shooting Challenge: A Better Pet Photo

Most of us take too many pictures of our pets. They’re adorable, but how many are truly great photos worthy of hanging on the wall? For this week’s Shooting Challenge, try to take a more amazing pet photo. The Challenge Take a photo of any non-human animal under your or a friend’s care. The Technique…

Biology Mark Wilson

Sharknado 2 Will Sponsor Shark Conservation Research And You Can Help

The studio that brought you such beloved classics as MegaShark vs. Giant Octopus, MegaShark vs. Crocosaurus, and SharkNado, is now working on an epic sequel of Great White proportions, SharkNado II: The Second One. And if you contribute to their crowdfunded “bonus scene,” you can help shark conservation science. Here’s the deal: the studio, appropriately…

Biology Jason G. Goldman

Bad News: E-Cigs Alter Cells a Lot Like Tobacco Does

A new cancer study brings more bad news to the e-cigarette industry. Scientists exposed human bronchial cells to e-cig vapor and found that it altered the cells in a way not dissimilar to tobacco. In other words, that delicious, seemingly risk-free nicotine vapor might not be so benign, after all. Don’t worry too much, though,…

Health Adam Clark Estes

What Are the Odds That You Might See a Meteoroid While Skydiving?

You’ve seen the footage of a rock falling past a skydiver. It looks like this particular object might be a rock accidentallypackedin his parachute. So we’ve done the statistical analysis to figure out what the real chances are that a skydiver would eventually see a meteoroid. The following is some hardcore estimating and order-of-magnitude geekery…

Physics & Chemistry Mika McKinnon

The Most Beautiful Celestial Diamond Ring I Have Ever Seen

The remnant of an aging star and a strikingly bright newcomer form this amazing cosmic engagement jewelery, brought to you by the European Southern Observatory (ESO) today: Astronomers using ESO’s Very Large Telescope in Chile have captured this eye-catching image of planetary nebula Abell 33. Created when an aging star blew off its outer layers,…

Space & Spaceflight Attila Nagy

Using Camera Traps To Teach Nicaraguan Kids About Big Cat Conservation

Camera traps are just the coolest. In Nicaragua, scientist Miguel Ordeñana uses them to study carnivores, like jaguars and ocelots. And now the organization that he works with, Paso Pacifico, is teaching local kids to use them as well. Camera traps are rapidly becoming an indispensable part of the field biologist’s toolkit. For one thing,…

Biology Jason G. Goldman

Nanoparticles in Consumer Products Could Be Damaging Your DNA

Masses of products—from cosmetics to clothing—now contain nanoparticles, to kill microbes, lengthen shelf life or provide other wonderful properties. But new research from MIT and Harvard suggests they could also be damaging your DNA. Researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health’s Center for Nanotechnology and Nanotoxicology have found that that both silver and zinc…

Health Jamie Condliffe

Is It a Good Idea to Vaporize and Inhale Alcohol?

Vaporizing, and then inhaling alcohol has gained a lot of attention lately. In the 1950s it was introduced as a treatment for excessive fluid in your lungs, called pulmonary edema. It’s now gained popularity as a way to quickly become intoxicated. Proponents of this process-to-become-plastered, tout several benefits compared to drinking it. Many claim you…

Health Scott - TodayIFoundOut.com

Bacon Was the First Thing Ever Eaten on the Moon

Setting foot on the moon for the first time was perhaps one of the biggest technological, scientific and political achievements of our age. So what better way to celebrate, after exploring that new lunar landscape, than with bacon? After leaping around in low gravity, taking photographs, and mumbling about small steps and giant leaps, Neil…

Space & Spaceflight Jamie Condliffe

Can You Dance Like a T. Rex?

The Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History is adding a T. rex to their collections, and to celebrate it, they’ve had Ray Troll and The Ratfish Wranglers record a song that they’re calling “National Rex.” What they need is a dance that goes along with it – a T. Rex Two-Step, if you will.…

Biology Jason G. Goldman

Hunting Lionfish Makes Them Harder To Hunt, Surprising Nobody

How many different ways are there to say that culling invasive or unwanted species is rarely the best solution to manage a disrupted ecosystem? It looks like we have to keep coming up with new ways of saying it, because our hunting behavior itself is driving invasive lionfish into hiding. Culling sharks is not going…

Biology Jason G. Goldman

First Ever Lab-Grown Muscle That Can Heal Itself in Living Creatures

Anyone who’s ever torn a muscle will be grateful for that fact that the fibers can repair themselves. But now, researchers have developed lab-grown muscle that can achieve the exact same thing. Researchers from Duke have finally developed artificial muscle that contracts powerfully and rapidly, integrates into mice quickly—and can even heal itself, both in…

Health Jamie Condliffe

This Is the First Instagram From Space

We see wonderful images from space all the time, but now you can expect them to come dripping in Hudson, Sierra or Toaster—because Instagram has finally made it into space. This is the first ever Instagram from outside the Earth’s atmosphere. Fittingly, it’s a selfie from American astronaut Steven R. Swanson, sat in the International…

Space & Spaceflight Jamie Condliffe

Cows Force Plane To Make An Emergency Landing

If it’s not birds, it’s cows. Over the weekend, 390 cows were being transported by Boeing 747. As the plane was somewhere over the Irish Sea, a fire alarm went off, and the pilot was forced to give a mayday call and make an unscheduled landing. Only there wasn’t a fire. It turns out that…

Biology Jason G. Goldman

Doctors Can Now Prescribe Bike Share Memberships In Boston

Riding a bike is as good for your brain as it is for the rest of you, though medically speaking it’s far from a prescribable cure. Except in Boston, that is, where doctors now have the power to prescribe an almost-free bike share membership to low-income patients. The program is called Prescribe-a-Bike, and it allows…

Health Kelsey Campbell-Dollaghan

The Best Dark Matter Signals Scientists Have Ever Recorded

It may look more like a young child’s art assignment than anything else, but this is in fact the best dark matter signal that scientists have ever recorded. Speaking to New Scientist, Dan Hooper from the Fermi National Laboratory gushed that “this is the most compelling signal we’ve had for dark matter particles—ever.” It is…

Space & Spaceflight Jamie Condliffe

This Is the Largest Known Galaxy in the Distant Universe

You’re looking at ACT-CL J0102-4915. To it’s stargazing buddies, though, it’s better known as El Gordo—literally, “the fat one”—because it’s the largest known galaxy cluster in the distant universe. Researchers have worked that out by measuring how much the cluster’s gravity warps images of galaxies in the distant background. The latest results show that it…

Space & Spaceflight Jamie Condliffe

SeaWorld Succeeds In Delaying Orca Welfare Bill “For Further Study”

Buy These Seeds From Space and Make Yourself an Intergalactic Salad

Could Google Glass Really Help People with Parkinson’s?

Shooting Challenge: A Better Pet Photo

Sharknado 2 Will Sponsor Shark Conservation Research And You Can Help

Bad News: E-Cigs Alter Cells a Lot Like Tobacco Does

What Are the Odds That You Might See a Meteoroid While Skydiving?

The Most Beautiful Celestial Diamond Ring I Have Ever Seen

Using Camera Traps To Teach Nicaraguan Kids About Big Cat Conservation

Nanoparticles in Consumer Products Could Be Damaging Your DNA

Is It a Good Idea to Vaporize and Inhale Alcohol?

Bacon Was the First Thing Ever Eaten on the Moon

Can You Dance Like a T. Rex?

Hunting Lionfish Makes Them Harder To Hunt, Surprising Nobody

First Ever Lab-Grown Muscle That Can Heal Itself in Living Creatures

This Is the First Instagram From Space

Cows Force Plane To Make An Emergency Landing

Doctors Can Now Prescribe Bike Share Memberships In Boston

The Best Dark Matter Signals Scientists Have Ever Recorded

This Is the Largest Known Galaxy in the Distant Universe

Sonos Roam 2 Speaker Turns the Amazon Spring Sale into a Black Friday Moment, Now at Its Lowest Price

What Do You Mean Glen Powell Is Fox McCloud in the ‘Super Mario Galaxy’ Movie

This Winter Fly Is Doing Something Scientists Didn’t Think Was Possible

Acer’s Mac Mini M4 Docking Station Drops to an All-Time Low, Supporting Up to 8TB Storage

Sony Is Hiking PS5 Prices for the Second Time in Less Than a Year

This Amazon Smart Plug Deal in the Spring Sale Makes Alexa Smart Home Setup Almost Too Easy and Cheap

Ryan Coogler’s ‘X-Files’ Reboot Has Found Its Other Big Star

Anker’s 100W Power Bank Hits Its Lowest Price of the Year on Amazon, Packing 25,000mAh and 3 Ports

Sonos Play Review: Call It a Comeback

Sonos Era 100 SL Review: The Cheapest Way Into Wired Sonos Sound

Asus ROG’s Massive Swift OLED Gaming Monitor Epitomizes Excess in the Best Way

The Ikea Varmblixt Smart Lamp Fills a Donut Hole in My Life

Nothing Headphone A vs. Headphone 1: Which Pair of ANC Wireless Headphones Wins?

Asus ROG’s Cetra Open Wireless Gaming Earbuds Might Be Better Than Wearing a Headset

Nintendo’s Talking Flower Is Annoying as Hell. I Love It

Level Lock Pro Review: As Good as a Secret Smart Lock Gets

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