Month: October 2007

Found mention of this on reddit and on PhysOrg. Researchers from Bangor University dredged up a clam that appears to be 400 years old, making it the oldest living thing ever discovered.

A

With plants!

New Scientist reports on a sordid study of the pulsing, fetid origins of life as scientists plunge into an ancient plant’s hot, stinky sex life. It involves rancid odors… Read the rest “Old, stinky sex.”

New Scientist discusses a joyous discovery inside our skulls – the bits of the brain responsible for optimism:

Elizabeth Phelps at the New York University, US, and colleagues measured

Science Daily reports that AIDS might finally be on the way out:

With the latest advances in treatment, doctors have discovered that they can successfully neutralise the HIV virus. The

Reuters reports that China is taking its next step into space with the Chang’e One lunar orbiter launch this week:

The launch of the Chang’e One orbiter is set for Wednesday

Nature brings news of a potential fuel for tomorrow growing wild in Africa and India. It’s called jatropha, and it could possibly be ideal for cultivation – oil that grows on… Read the rest “Biofuel from a bush.”

The BBC has published directions for building your own history-making satellite:

In simple terms, the Sputnik satellite was a metal sphere almost 2ft (61cm) in diameter, containing a

We’re all worried about the sudden destruction of planet Earth and every living thing upon it by a sudden, cataclysmic collision with a hurtling mass of space rock. Aren’t … Read the rest “Asteroid-Zapping Space Mirrors”

You might remember reading, a few years ago, about some controversial claims made by Dr. Michael Persinger, who was researching how repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS)… Read the rest “Maps of Cosmic Bliss.”

Feeling pressed for time? A New Scientist interview reported by the Telegraph posits that we have more time than you think:

Time is no longer a simple line from the past to the future, in a four

So James Lovelock, he of the Gaia Hypothesis, has come up with a novel way to beat global warming – using little jellyfish-like creatures called “salps” to, more or less,… Read the rest “Stick *salps* in your pipe and smoke it!”