Send Your Name To Mars!
It’s free! You can get your name on a microchip placed aboard the next Mars Rover, just by filling in this form here!
It may take a couple of tries – the server is apparently really… Read the rest “Send Your Name To Mars!”
Month: July 2009
If salamanders can do it…
Reuters recently brought up some research into how salamanders do that whole regenerating limbs thing:
… Read the rest “If salamanders can do it…”In salamanders, the blood vessels contract quickly and limit bleeding when a limb
Living large.
New Yorker valiantly tries to explain – scientifically – why it is that Americans (and the rest of the Western World) are getting so darned fat:
… Read the rest “Living large.”The elasticity of the human appetite
Loonier than Luna.
The archives of Space.com have produced an old but strikingly weird story about a strikingly weird discovery – a second moon orbiting invisibly around Earth:
… Read the rest “Loonier than Luna.”The 3-mile-wide (5-km)
Science Art: Aphis Wolf, from Webster’s New International
This is the aphis wolf, or aphid lion, or, in other words, either the larva of the much less-threateningly named ladybug or lacewing.
This particular one looks like it’s a lacewing,… Read the rest “Science Art: Aphis Wolf, from Webster’s New International”
Listen to the lituus.
About two months ago, the BBC tells us, Scottish researchers used computer models to bring a lost medieval instrument back to life:
… Read the rest “Listen to the lituus.”Bach’s motet (a choral musical composition) “O
Vatican funds stem-cell research.
The Australian Associated Press reports on a new move from the Catholic Church, which is offering a $100,000 research grant for work on adult stem cells:
… Read the rest “Vatican funds stem-cell research.”The Sydney Archdiocese announced
We’ll go a-waltzing….
Australian researchers have just discovered a trio of never-before-seen dinosaurs in the Winton Formation. Two of them died at the bottom of one of those boggy places known as billabongs.… Read the rest “We’ll go a-waltzing….”
Cave man boogie.
The New York Times reports on a German discovery – or, really, a whole set of discoveries – of Stone Age tools, sculptures and the oldest known flutes:
… Read the rest “Cave man boogie.”Dr. Conard, a professor
Last of the BIG cats.
The BBC reports that the largest species of cat, the Amur tiger, has an effective population of less than 50 animals:
… Read the rest “Last of the BIG cats.”They sampled nuclear DNA found within the scat samples of an estimated
Science Art: Fresh Tiger Stripes on Saturn’s Enceladus, by Cassini.
This is Enceladus, one of Saturn’s moons that might harbor life. That nearly geometric blue pattern on its surface is called “tiger striping,”… Read the rest “Science Art: Fresh Tiger Stripes on Saturn’s Enceladus, by Cassini.”
SONG: “Hast Thou Considered the Tetrapod?” (penitential Mountain Goats cover)
SONG: “Hast Thou Considered the Tetrapod?” (To download: double right-click & “Save As”)
ARTIST: grant. Originally by The Mountain Goats.
SOURCE: This… Read the rest “SONG: “Hast Thou Considered the Tetrapod?” (penitential Mountain Goats cover)”
Autotune explained.
Normally I wouldn’t encourage this sort of thing, but NOVA has an interesting feature explaining how Autotune works.
On July 6, they’ll be posting answers to viewers’… Read the rest “Autotune explained.”
I see sounds.
ScientificBlogging.com has a story that I’d suspect was an April Fools if this wasn’t the middle of summer. Supposedly, like our intelligent cousins to the seas, humans are… Read the rest “I see sounds.”
Feather in your tank.
The Daily Green recently revealed an alternative fuel scheme that may be much better than bird-brained:
… Read the rest “Feather in your tank.”Finding novel uses for chicken feathers is a pet project of Professor Richard P.