Science

Explore the Inside of a Fruit Fly Brain in Stunning 3D

Brains are really complicated, even for the smallest of critters. If you’re a scientist who studies brains, then you might try to use some common words so that other scientists will know what you’re trying to communicate. People who study vertebrates generally agree on their terminology, which makes mammal and bird brains a bit easier…

The Largest Yellow Star Ever Could Almost Devour the Whole Solar System

A team of astronomers peering through Chile’s Very Large Telescope just realized that HR 5171 A, a massive star in the Centaurus constellation, is actually twice as big as previously thought. They already thought it was pretty big—but it’s actually the biggest yellow star they’ve ever seen. How big is biggest? This star is 1300…

What Can Crows and Ravens Teach People About Resisting Temptation?

By now you probably know about Walter Mischel’s famous 1972 marshmallow task, which used the tasty snacks to measure impulse control in children. What you might not know is why marshmallows can help us better understand what it means to be human. A new study, in which crows and ravens were subjected to a version…

Listening to the Secret Sounds of the Large Hadron Collider

From the Golden Gate Bridge to an ancient Japanese bell, the physical structures around us are humming with secret sound. Artist Bill Fontana has made a career of capturing these haunting and complex soundscapes. As an artist at residence at CERN, he’s mostly recently been listening in on the world’s largest particle collider. Last week,…

These Stunning Satellite Images of Cities Were Really Made With Data

Satellite images of cities at night look wonderful—until you zoom in and realize that they’re a big, blurry mess. These gorgeous city images, made by Marc Khachfe, solve that problem—because they’re actually computer generated from OpenStreetMap data. Using the open source mapping data, Khachfe is able to create a simulated map of the light you’d…

Why Proper Sterlization Procedures Are Used During Lethal Injections

Besides the fact that manufacturers sterilize the needles (so no real extra effort is needed), other sterilization procedures are also used in these executions for good reason. You see, a stay of execution may happen at the last minute. If this happens, but then the condemned later dies from infection, a wrongful death suit could…

Take A Ride on a Steampunk Whale

If you think we use whales for our own ends now, just wait for the day when they’ll function as transportation. DeviantArt user Leashe writes, “Whales are one of my favorite animals and I love seeing them in fantasy settings. Like in armored tours, or as cetacean transport barges.” https://gizmodo.com/new-law-could-end-killer-whale-shows-in-california-1539023357 [Deviant Art via Reddit]

How Implants and Prosthetic Limbs Get Recycled and Reused

Every year, millions of pacemakers, metal hips, and prosthetics outlast the bodies they’re designed for. But these medical devices could very well go on to have a second-life—in cars, wind turbines, and even another person. The implants are, after all, full of valuable metals like titanium or cobalt alloy. Cremation makes the metals easily recoverable,…

Lemur Takes An Awesome Selfie

Ellen DeGeneres may have taken the world’s most viral selfie, but a 12-year-old male ring-tailed lemur named Bekily may have taken the world’s most adorable ones. ZSL London Zoo reports that the lemur grabbed the camera from one of his keepers, Tegan McPhail. “As I was snapping away, he grabbed the camera lens and pulled…

How Much Coffee Is Too Much?

Whether it’s served in a demitasse mug or a venti mochachino bucket, coffee is an essential, eye-opening morning ritual for many of us. But at what point does throwing back another vente doing you more harm than good? As you probably know, coffee’s main health concern—its caffeine content—is also why you drink so much of…

What Is the Resolution of the Human Eye?

The new iPhone camera is 8-megapixels. Meanwhile, Canon is reportedly testing a new DSLR with 75-megapixels. But how many megapixels is the human eye? That is, how many megapixels would an image the size of your field of vision need to be to look normal? Well, as Vsauce explains in its latest video, the better…

This Beautiful Blur of Color Is a Space Rainbow Over Venus

This isn’t some sort of alien test card beamed from Venus, but a rainbow-like optical phenomenon known as a glory in the atmosphere of our nearest planetary neighbour. In fact, it’s the first time a glory has ever been imaged on another planet, and it was snapped by the European Space Agency’s Venus Express. ESA…

What Can President Coolidge Teach Us About Sex?

In 1955, researcher Frank A. Beach first used the term “Coolidge Effect” in a publication to a describe a biological phenomenon in which males become interested in sex when introduced to new partners, even after refusing sex from familiar (but still receptive) partners. The origin for the moniker comes from an old joke: “It seems…

Why Elephants Can Recognize Human Voices

Perhaps elephants are known for their memory because their very survival in our human-dominated world depends on it. This may be why elephants can recognize individual people by our voices. Humans are the most significant threat to elephants after lions, but not all humans pose the same threats. New research published today in Proceedings of…

Meet the telescope behind the Pac-Man photos

According to the memes circling around this weekend, Mecha Pac-Man has a fondness for lunar cheese and starlight, gaping wide to gobble them both. In reality, the telescope behind the Pac-Man photograph is Auxiliary Telescope 2, an essential component of the most productive ground-based telescope on the planet. Auxiliary Telescope 2 has been making the…

New Test Predicts Alzheimer’s at Least Three Years in Advance

A new blood test developed by scientists from Georgetown University in Washington DC is capable of predicting onset of Alzheimer’s with 96 percent certainty three years in advance—and that figure could soon stretch to decades. The researchers report their new test in Nature Medicine, explaining that it identifies 10 chemicals in the blood which are…

The Pale Blue’n’Red Dot Shows Where Plant Life Is Thriving

Forget the Pale Blue Dot: let’s throw some red in there, too. This false color image shows plant growth across the planet in red where usually you’d expect some green. Captured by NASA’s Mercury Surface, Space Environment, Geochemistry, and Ranging (MESSENGER) spacecraft, the image was captured using the Mercury Dual Imaging System’s wide-angle camera. NASA…

Sunday Space Links

Quick-links to space-news around the web: Far-out space suits of past, present and future. NYT review of Particle Fever, the documentary covering the search for the HiggsBoson XS-1 update, the military spaceplane with flight-testing scheduled for 2017 Finding water vapour in the atmosphere of hot Jupiter exoplanet Tau Boötis b NASA is doing a twin-test,…

Even Boring Exercise Is Awesome on the International Space Station

New Law Could End Killer Whale Shows in California

New legislation being proposed in California would begin to phase out the keeping of killer whales (Orcinus orca) in captive environments in the state. Democratic Assemblymember Richard Bloom of the state’s fiftieth district announced the bill this morning at a press conference on the Santa Monica Pier. The bill, AB 2140, is informally called the…