New Scientist reports on a frankly bizarre palm tree just discovered by a family picnicking in Madagascar:

“It’s a species that is so significant from all sorts of perspectives, it’s kind of embarrassing as a botanist that we didn’t find it until now,” says William Baker, head of palm research at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, in [...]

A common dragonfly as seen in an uncommon way by Wikimedia Commons user "Aka."

The Journal of Ethnopharmacology has a survey of a subculture that could turn addiction therapy on its ear – an informal alliance of people using the psychedelic drug ibogaine to break free from opiate addiction:

The clinical focus on the treatment of opioid withdrawal distinguishes the ibogaine subculture from subcultures associated with psychedelic or other illegal drugs. The reason [...]

The New York Times unveils the creation of the world’s first globally activated monkey-guided robots:

On Thursday, an alert and ready-to-work Idoya stepped onto her treadmill and began walking at a steady pace with electrodes implanted in her brain. Her walking pattern and brain signals were collected, fed into the computer and transmitted over a high-speed Internet link [...]

That’s right. AP is reporting on an announcement from the American Astronomical Society that the universe is more violent and awe-inspiring than previously thought:

The research findings from this week’s annual meeting of U.S. astronomers range from blue orphaned baby stars to menacing “rogue” black holes that roam our galaxy, devouring any planets unlucky enough to be within their [...]

Dude.

What if, like…

…like, the WHOLE UNIVERSE was just…

…like, made up, maaan? Like it was all VIRTUAL REALITY, man? (asks the latest New Scientist):

Brian Whitworth at Massey University says that it is perfectly reasonable to conjecture that “the world is an information simulation running on a three-dimensional space-time screen”. Deciding whether or not this is true is [...]

ScienceDaily has news from researchers in Los Angeles who found that a single injection with a drug that’s already used to treat rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis reverses Alzheimer’s symptoms within minutes:

The study focuses on one of these cytokines, tumor necrosis factor-alpha(TNF), a critical component of the brain’s immune system. Normally, TNF finely regulates the transmission of neural impulses [...]

This is an Environmental Protection Agency photograph from the Great Lakes Image Collection, showing green algae up close.

Phytoplankton like this makes up the base of the food chain – everything that is eaten starts here.

Popular Mechanics sheds light on an inventor’s all-new approach to getting power from the sun:

The Atlanta-based independent inventor of the Super Soaker squirt gun (a true technological milestone) says he can achieve a conversion efficiency rate that tops 60 percent with a new solid-state heat engine. It represents a breakthrough new way to turn heat into power.

Johnson, a [...]