The Countdown To Earth Hour Has Begun!If you have always wondered what you can do to help our planet, here is your chance. On Saturday March 31st, join the millions of people that are celebrating Earth Hour. All you have to do is switch off all lights and other electrical devices for just 60 minutes from 8.30 - 9.30 pm. This minor action will go a long way in helping global warming....
Read news articlePre-Historic Titanoboa Rattles New York CommutersOn Thursday, March 22nd, sleepy commuters rushing to catch a train from New York's Grand Central Station were jolted from their reverie by a scary sight - A 2,500 pound, 48 foot long Titanoboa snake. Fortunately, it was not real, but a full-sized replica of the one that slithered on earth, 65 million years ago!...
Read news articleAstronauts Forced To Take Refuge From . . . . . Space Junk!Never has the danger of the man-made debris floating around in Space been more apparent than on Saturday March 24th, when the six residents of the International Space Station (ISS) were forced to take refuge from a piece, that was heading their way....
Read news articleGiant Paper Airplane Soars Over Arizona SkiesBuilding paper airplanes and tossing them around is great fun. However, what would be even cooler is building the world's largest one and taking it to the skies to see how long it could stay afloat. That, is exactly what a 12-year old and some engineers from Tucson's Pima Air and Space Museum did on Wednesday, March 21st....
Read news articleCan The Sahara Forest Project Turn The Desert Into An Oasis?The Sahara Desert is one of the world's largest and driest deserts. Encompassing 3,500,000 km or about 10% of the continent of Africa, the desert comprises of miles and miles of sand dunes, an environment in which very little can thrive. However, a radical new idea may soon transform it into an agricultural oasis!...
Read news articleVideo Of The Week - Felix Baumgartner's First Test Dive From Space Is A Success!Sometime this year, Austrian skydiver Felix Baumgartner plans to do what no human has done before - free fall from the edge of Space - 23 miles (120,000 ft.) above the surface of earth. On Thursday March 15th, the daredevil came one step closer to fulfilling his dream with a successful test dive, from a height of 13.6 miles (71,581 ft.)....
Read news articleTrash . . . . . In Space?Space is where our future is - Trips to the Moon, Mars and beyond. Most people would think that aside from a few meteors, asteroids, planets, comets and stars there is little else to stand in our way. But, over the last 55 years as humans have been venturing out in space they have left so many debris that scientists are now concerned that if we don't do something to clean it up, we may all be in mortal danger....
Read news articleLego Mindstorm Robots Become Lab AssistantsLEGO, an abbreviation of two Danish words LEg GOdit (play well), has come a long way since its founder Ole Kirk Kristiansen invented the first brick in his small carpenter's workshop in 1932. While the foundation still remains the original brick, the things that can be built with them now range from simple structures to fully programmable robots - Ones smart enough to help scientists perform monotonous tasks in laboratories....
Read news articleAvatar Director Prepares To Journey Into The Deepest Of SeasAlmost everyone knows that director James Cameron is the genius behind two of Hollywood's biggest blockbusters - Titanic and Avatar. What they don't know is that he is an expert diver who has filmed two underwater documentaries - Ghosts of the Abyss (about the real Titanic) and Aliens of the Deep....
Read news articleOrigami-Inspired Paper Testing Device May Save Millions Of LivesIn order to correctly diagnose certain diseases like malaria, doctors have to send blood and body fluid samples to specialized laboratories. However, while this is possible in the western world, things are not as easy in third world countries, where labs are few and far between....
Read news articleThe Biggest Solar Storm To Hit Earth In Five Years, Passes Without IncidentOn Thursday, March 8th, scientists from all over the world watched with abated breath, as a powerful solar storm hit earth. While the first day proved to be quite benign, the intensity of the solar flares increased dramatically into early Friday....
Read news articleZebras Have Their Own Bug Repellent?Eww bugs! They are so annoying! We humans are lucky that we can apply repellents to avoid nasty bites. But what's an animal to do? They have no choice but to spend their days shooing them off with their tails, unless of course they are zebras, who apparently have an automatic repellent - Their striped skin!...
Read news articleAlexander Graham Bell, The Recording Artist?Alexander Graham Bell is best known for the invention of the telephone. However, the brilliant scientist also did a number of other things Including, experiment with recording devices to capture sound....
Read news articleIndian Engineer Helps Transform Trash To ToysBuilding an educational toy or for that matter any other toy from scratch is not something most of us think about - If we need a learning toy or something to just keep us occupied, we simply head to the nearest store and purchase it. However, things are not as easy in third world countries. With families struggling to even put food on the table, buying toys even if they are educational, is the last thing on the parent's minds....
Read news articleAsia's Atlas Is A Giant Among MothsWhen we think of moths, the image of the dull-looking brown cloth moth, notorious for gnawing through our finest outfits, is usually what pops up in our minds. However, turns out that there are about 16,000 species of these insects, nearly ten times as many as their prettier cousin, the butterfly....
Read news articleUrban Farming May Finally Become A RealityAccording to the experts at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, world population will balloon to over 9.1 million people, by the year 2050. While feeding everybody is bound to be a challenge, it will be even more so, given that over 70 percent of them will be residing in urban areas. While urban farming inside specially created greenhouses has been suggested for many years, it has never been close to becoming a reality - Until now....
Read news articleA Skateboard That Navigates By Reading Your MindSkateboards has come a long way since their when they were nothing but handlebar-less scooters fitted with roller-skate wheels. Over the years, they have become more aerodynamic, been fitted with various kinds of wheels to make them faster and even, attached to . However, none of the improvements even compare to this latest creation that takes you to your destination - By reading your mind!...
Read news articleVideo Of The Week - Apollo 17 Astronauts Frolic On The Moon!While all Space missions are cool, some of the most exciting ones were conducted under the Apollo Program, between 1961 -1975. That's because the the Apollo missions went where no man had ever been before and has not been, ever since - The Moon!...
Read news articlePower Felt Converts Wasted Heat Energy Into ElectricityWhile we never think about it, heat energy is constantly being emitted - by you, your pets, your iPod, Television, car and any other gadget you fire up. What's worse is that it is all being totally wasted. Now, a research team from North Carolina's Wake University has come up with a fabric that will not only capture this energy, but also, convert it, into usable electricity....
Read news articleRobonaut 2 Makes Space History With Firm Handshake!On February 15th, just over a year after it arrived at the International Space Station, Robonaut 2 (R2) the world's first humanoid robot made history, by firmly shaking the hand of Station Commander, Dan Burbank....
Read news articleAre The World's Smallest And Largest Lizards Both Victims of Island Dwarfism?Last week, a team of German scientists announced the discovery of four new species of miniature reptiles. Found on the island of Madagascar, the lizards, which varied in length from 29 millimeters to just over an inch, are the tiniest ones found yet. Prior to this the honor belonged to dwarf gecko Sphaerodactylus ariasae which, at a total length of 1.3 inches now appears to be almost gigantic in comparison....
Read news articleCan 'Invisibility Cloaks' Protect Buildings From Earthquakes?Scientists have been intrigued with the concept of making objects and even events disappear ever since J.K. Rowling planted the seed with Harry Potter's invisibility cloak. They have had limited success in both so far, by manipulating lightwaves - bending them to make objects invisible, and making events disappear by changing their speed. Now, some mathematicians are proposing the same principle to protect buildings from earthquake damage....
Read news articleHimalayan Glaciers NOT Melting As Rapidly As Previously BelievedNews about glacier melting is largely dire. However, a new scientific report released on Thursday February 9th, finally has a glimmer of something positive. It states that while the glaciers on the Himalayan mountains are melting, they are doing so, at a much slower pace than had been previously believed....
Read news articleFifth Grader's Random Molecule Creation Hailed As Scientific DiscoveryWhen 10-year old Clara Lazan was assigned a classroom science project, neither she nor her teacher Kenneth Boehr, would have guessed that her random creation would be hailed as a scientific discovery, worthy enough to be published in a scientific journal....
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