Even Macaques Need Computer Time To Relax!The fact that non-human primates seem to like touchscreen computers as much as their human counterparts has been known for some time now - After all, the orangutans and gorillas of the Milwaukee Zoo have been 'enriching their lives' with iPads since 2011. Now, a new study asserts that exposing the animals to these devices not only makes their lives more interesting, but also, helps them relax and become friendlier....
Read news articleWristify - The Ingenious Bracelet That Helps Keep You Perfectly Toasty (Or Cool)If you live in a normal household chances are that there is constantly some bickering going on about the house being too cold or too hot. Now, thanks to an ingenious bracelet invented by the students from Cambridge-based Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), every household member can regulate his/her own body temperature and be perfectly comfortable....
Read news articleSuper Typhoon Haiyan Sweeps Across PhilippinesThe residents of Philippines are no strangers to typhoons - After all, an average of 19 storms brush by each year with at least 6 or 7 making landfall. However, super-typhoon Haiyan or Yolanda as the locals are calling it, that landed around 4 am local time on Friday, November 8th, 2013, was no ordinary storm. With estimated sustained winds of 200 mph and gusts rising as high as 235 mph, experts believe that it may have been the biggest typhoon to ever make landfall....
Read news articleSafeFlame Torch Creates Fire From WaterWhile creating a hot flame using ordinary water may seem like something out of a science fiction movie, it is not only possible, but may soon be available to all, thanks to the genius work of a team of researchers that are working in collaboration as part of the European Union-funded SafeFlame consortium....
Read news articleIncredible 'Lost World' Discovered in AustraliaHaving inhabited the earth for hundreds of thousands of years, one would think that we have explored every nook and cranny and found every possible species. Turns out that such is not the case! A team of scientists recently stumbled upon a magical 'lost world' complete with its own unique ecosystem and species....
Read news articleSochi 2014 Olympics Torch Heading To SpaceOn Thursday, November 7th, 2013, exactly a month after it began its extensive travel schedule, the Sochi Olympics torch will embark on the longest leg of its 40,000-mile relay - A trip to the International Space Station aboard the Soyuz spacecraft along with three new crew members: Russia's Mikhail Tyurin, NASA's Rick Mastracchio and Japan's Koichi Wakata....
Read news articleMusicInk Transforms Drawings Into Playable InstrumentsWhat if you could transform a sketch of your favorite musical instrument into something that actually plays music? Welcome to MusicInk, an innovative new educational toy invented to teach children about the properties of sound in a fun and interactive way....
Read news articleFancy A Balloon Ride To The Stratosphere?In 2008, Sir Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin Group of Companies shook up the travel industry by announcing plans to build a special spacecraft to take tourists for a quick jaunt to space. Now a new Arizona-based startup has joined the fray. But instead of zipping up at supersonic speeds, they envision a leisurely excursion....
Read news article11-Year-Old Florida Boy's Redesigned Sandbag Could Help Millions During Natural DisastersHaving lived in Florida all his life, 11-year-old Peyton Robertson is well aware of the havoc caused by hurricanes. At the tender age of 4 he suffered through Hurricane Wilma, one of the most intense tropical cyclones from the Atlantic and then just last year experienced the deadliest, most destructive storm of the 2012 season and the second most costliest of all US storms....
Read news articleResidents Of Norwegian Town Rjukan Finally Experience Winter SunlightFor many of us the onset of winter means shorter daylight hours and therefore less exposure to the sun, but for the 35,000 residents of Rjukan in Norway it means complete darkness. That's because the tiny town situated deep in a valley floor is surrounded by high mountains that block out the sun entirely, during the winter months....
Read news articleComing Soon To A Classroom Near You . . . RoboRoachesWith the advent of smart devices, classroom curriculum is starting to become increasingly interactive. Now neuroscience PHD student Greg Gage and his team at Backyard Brains are taking it to a new level with their robo kits that can transform any cockroach into a RoboRoach! All that is required is a smart phone, steady hands and a living insect....
Read news articleGold Grows On Trees? Sweet!While you may never find money growing on trees, there is a chance that you could strike gold - literally! The best part is that the precious metal bearing trees are not in some far out planet, but right here on earth, in the Australian Outback....
Read news articleHow The Humble Oyster May Help Save Coastal Cities And Clean Polluted WatersMention oysters and the two things that come to mind are slurping them down or wrenching them open for pearls. But now these mollusks may have a bigger role - that of protecting our waterfront cities from rising sea levels and giant storm surges like the one experienced by New York during Hurricane Sandy and helping clean our increasingly polluted waters....
Read news articleVideo Of The Week - Experience Felix Baumgartner's Epic Leap From The Edge Of SpaceOn October 14th 2012, over eight million people worldwide tuned in to YouTube to watch Austrian daredevil Felix Baumgartner leap from the edge of space - 128,000 feet (24 miles) above sea level - and break the sound barrier as he came zooming down to earth....
Read news articleTwo Rare Oarfish Discovered Off Southern California's Coast Within A WeekThey say that when it rains, it pours. That certainly seemed to be case in Southern California last week, except that it was not water falling from the skies, but ginormous rare oarfishes that appeared from deep inside the oceans....
Read news articleMeet Rex, The World's First Bionic ManWhile scientists have built many artificial organs individually, they have never before been put together to create an entire human body. Rex or as he has recently been renamed Frank (after Frankenstein), the world's first fully functional bionic man has just changed that. Now on display at the National Air And Space Museum in Washington D.C., the human clone was assembled in three short months using state-of-the-art organs that were donated by 17 manufacturers - A good thing given that the total cost came to about $1 million USD!...
Read news articleAfrican Lava Lake Naturally 'Mummifies' Birds and AnimalsWith thousands of beautiful flamingos crowding around, at first glance Lake Natron, a salt lake in Northern Tanzania looks like your typical picturesque African landscape. But look closer and you will find something eerily unusual - Perfectly preserved dead animals strewn all along its shores. And while many have likened the lake to Medusa, the monster from Greek mythology who turned anyone that looked her in the eye to stone, most experts assert that the lake itself is not deadly....
Read news articleVideo Of The Week - 3D Printing Takes Center Stage At London's Science MuseumWhen Massachusetts Institute of Technology students Jim Bredt and Tim Anderson created the first 3-D printer in 1995 by modifying an inkjet printer so that it would extrude a binding solution on to a bed of powder, instead of ink on paper, they probably had no idea of its tremendous potential....
Read news articleIs The Namib Desert 'Fairy Circles' Mystery Finally Solved?Similar to the giant crop circles that sporadically appear in different parts of the world, strange grass circles that mysteriously emerge in South Africa's Namib Desert have dumbfounded both locals and scientists for many years. Measuring between 6 - 40 feet across, each 'fairy circle' is outlined by a ring of vegetation taller, than the surrounding grassland....
Read news article'Power Flour' Aspires To Feed The World's Hungry With Insect ProteinMost people are grossed out by insects and believe them to be just a nuisance. However, a group of students from Montreal-based McGill University think of them as protein that can be used to feed millions of malnourished people worldwide, an idea so powerful that it won them the prestigious 2013 Hult Prize on September 23rd....
Read news articleWhy A Sixth-Grader's Experiment To Brew Beer In Space Is Receiving So Much AttentionTo say that 11-year old Michal Bodzianowski knows very little about beer would be an understatement. He has of course never tasted the drink and till his dad explained, had no clue what a microbrewery was. But that didn't deter the sixth-grader from suggesting that astronauts brew the drink in Space as his entry for the Spring 2013 Student Spaceflight Experiments Challenge organized by the National Science Earth And Space Education whose main goal is to inspire the next generation of America's scientists and engineers....
Read news articleThe Pinocchio Lizard Is Alive And Well - And That, Is No Lie!For decades scientists lamented about the demise of the gorgeous Pinocchio lizard. Now it turns out that the reptile, while still rare, is very much around in the cloud forests of South America, an area known for its stunning flora and fauna....
Read news articleWill 'Recycled Island' Finally Become A Reality?For many years now, Dutch architect Ramon Knoester has been harboring a dream - To recycle the plastic that is polluting our oceans and transform it into a beautiful inhabitable island. He began his work in earnest in 2010, after receiving a grant from the Netherlands government. While it has taken a few years, and he has had to make some tweaks to his original plan, it seems as though this rather impossible sounding idea may actually become a reality, in the very near future....
Read news articleAviation Navigation Has Sure Come A Long Way Since These Giant Concrete ArrowsLiving in an era when airplanes can run on autopilot with no humans at helm, it is hard to imagine that there was once a time not too long ago, when pilots in the USA had to navigate their way across cities using rudimentary aviation maps and . . . ginormous arrows!...
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