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Not every scientific advance is heralded as a revolutionary breakthrough, because science mostly progresses incrementally. Sure, certain high-profile stories caught the lion’s share of attention this year. But there’s still plenty of nifty research going on that deserves a nod of appreciation too. Here are ten of our favorite cool science stories that you may…
Here’s Kelly Slater surfing an awesome never ending wave made from the Kelly Slater Wave Company. It’s way better than typical wave pools and even though man can’t beat mother nature, it’s probably better than some of the breaks at the local beach. The technology behind this man-made wave must be very, very cool. SPLOID…
In its ongoing effort to bring America back into the crewed spaceflight game, NASA announced today that Boeing has received a second commercial crew order to ferry astronauts to the International Space Station. This marks the third in a series of four crew orders NASA will make under the the Commercial Crew Program, a $6.8…
Juniper Networks, a US government subcontractor, has been compromised in a hack that could have exposed countless classified communications over the past three years. The hackers, who have yet to be officially identified, introduced code to create a backdoor on systems commonly used by government employees — many of whom presumably have high security clearances.…
For nearly two centuries, scientists have puzzled over how plesiosaurs—a marine reptile that lived during the time of dinosaurs—propelled themselves through the water. Using computers, scientists have simulated the plesiosaur swimming technique, and it’s remarkably similar to how penguins do it. “The plesiosaurs were a highly successful group of large predatory creatures, yet we didn’t…
In August, Japan reopened its first nuclear reactors after an almost two-year hiatus that followed the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. Now, months later, Kyushu Electric Power Co. is preparing to guard the controversial energy source against terrorist attacks, too. Asahi Shimbun reports that Kyushu Electric Power Co. will build off-site terror response centers near the…
Trader Joe’s announced a voluntary recall of their Triple Ginger Brew this week due to an unlikely reason: Bottles were literally bursting open by themselves. But why was it happening? We think we know the reason. The Problem of Fermentation Neither the FDA nor Trader Joe’s has explained what’s going on to cause the bottles…
We’re one step closer to being able to regrow a lost tooth, thanks to a new study showing it’s possible to grow multiple teeth from a single root. These teeth can then be implanted to become fully functional. Thus far it has only been tested in rats, but it could lead to a potential revolution…
During a press conference today President Obama finally set the record straight about whether the government monitors the social media posts of foreign nationals entering the United States. The short answer: Most definitely. Right now, the Department of Homeland Security hasn’t admitted to monitoring the private social media accounts of people applying for visas in…
When winter finally starts dumping snow and ice on roads, cities fight back by spreading tons of salt to melt the slippery hazard. But what if roads already had salt built right into them? They’d be able to prevent slick conditions from occurring, well before the risk of an accident. A team of researchers from…
Six months after a rocket exploded in June, SpaceX is on the verge of taking to the sky again—with a souped up Falcon 9 booster more powerful than anything the commercial spaceflight company has ever launched. On Sunday, SpaceX is tentatively scheduled to launch a new Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.…
The structure you see above has been nicknamed a “comet,” but it’s really bacteria streaking across an agar plate. Scientists have found out that superbugs, antibiotic resistant bacteria, can move, helping them spread and establish new colonies. Some bacteria have little tails. Methicilin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus does not. Some have many tiny hairs all around their…
“Tour the White House in virtual reality.” That sounds unbelievably cool, but maybe we shouldn’t be surprised that it’s really not that exciting. Just posted to YouTube, this new 360 video guides you through a tour of the White House’s holiday decorations. If you don’t have a Google Cardboard viewer, you can just drag the…
There were an alarming number of science scandals in 2015, from fabricated data to sexual harassment. Here are our picks for the worst of the worst. 1. A Grad Student Faked Data In an Important Gay Marriage Study In late 2014, a paper published in Science, titled “When contact changes minds: An experiment on transmission…
Christmas is great and the holidays are awesome but it’s still pretty funny that we all propagate the myth of Santa Claus. He’s a dude who dresses in a red jumpsuit while breaking and entering homes to steal milk and cookies and gain favor with children. Eoin Duffy made this animated holiday card showing what…
An important chapter in our exploration of the solar system concludes tomorrow, when NASA’s Cassini probe makes its final close flyby of Enceladus, an icy moon orbiting Saturn with a global ocean beneath its surface. Cassini has already collected samples to determine if Enceladus’ seawater might be habitable—but we still have some unfinished business with…
Technology is all about progress. Sometimes it’s incremental or subtle, but other times it can be colossal and even transformative. In 2015 we saw a metal and silicone cornucopia of gadgets and gizmos. There were amazing deals, sad departures, brand new product categories, and even world-changing ideas. These are the 20 best gadgets from 2015.…
What good is a perfect Ghostbusters replica costume without a ghost or other monster to bust? If you really want to run around pretending to be Egon or Ray, you need this $30 Stay Puft Marshmallow Man candle to add a whole other level of authenticity to your cosplay. In lieu of a unlicensed nuclear…
Before you buy a bunch of discounted LED lights for next year’s Christmas tree, you might want to consider putting that money towards a projector instead—one that’ll guarantee that your living room holiday decor will far outshine your neighbor’s. A Brazilian design studio called Ambos created this spectacular Christmas tree by first modeling it in…
Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales is familiar with people putting made-up bullshit online. As I mentioned, he founded Wikipedia. But this is on another level: Wales’ words got changed on a Chinese conference website to make it sound like he was pro-Chinese government surveillance. During a panel discussion at China’s World Internet Conference in Wuzhen, Wales…
