How we became multicellular
Science News reveals the strange habits of little single-celled swimming organisms called “choanoflagellates” that tend to gather together in clusters for specialized… Read the rest “How we became multicellular”
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Scientists endorse civil disobedience to get somebody to actually do something about climate change.
Reuters reports on scientists – 400 of them – who have shed the stereotypical dispassionate patience that goes with, you know, gathering data over long periods of time and … Read the rest “Scientists endorse civil disobedience to get somebody to actually do something about climate change.”
How forensic linguistics reveals who wrote what. (Or, why JK Rowling and Alexander Hamilton can’t stay anonymous.)
National Geographic goes (or went – this article is from 2013) into the science of forensic linguists, using computers to analyze things like word choice and sentence length to determine… Read the rest “How forensic linguistics reveals who wrote what. (Or, why JK Rowling and Alexander Hamilton can’t stay anonymous.)”
Click to embiggen“Curse of the dancer” reveals backstage backstabbing goes back at least 1,500 years.
LiveScience looks at a lead tablet, translated by a Roman history professor, that consists of a dancer’s curse against a rival:
… Read the rest ““Curse of the dancer” reveals backstage backstabbing goes back at least 1,500 years.”The curse calls upon numerous demons to inflict harm
Paint cows like zebras and they’ll be better off, initial study indicates.
Real Clear Science has a strange Japanese experiment (published in PloS ONE) in which researchers stole an insect-repelling trick from zebras and gave black cattle white stripes –… Read the rest “Paint cows like zebras and they’ll be better off, initial study indicates.”
As Australopithecus to us, so this fossil to sharks.
Nature reveals the “missing link” for sharks, thanks to a cartilaginous fossil of a 383 million-year-old eel-like fish:
… Read the rest “As Australopithecus to us, so this fossil to sharks.”Christian Klug at the University of Zurich in Switzerland
Science Art: Warming Stripes for Scotland from 1884-2018, from #ShowYourStripes, University of Reading’s Institute for Environmental Analytics.
Click to embiggenThis how much the average temperature in Scotland has changed, year over year, since 1884. The white stripes represent the average temperature in Scotland between 1971… Read the rest “Science Art: Warming Stripes for Scotland from 1884-2018, from #ShowYourStripes, University of Reading’s Institute for Environmental Analytics.”
Paralyzed man moves, thanks to mind-controlled exoskeleton.
BBC News has the story (told in many photos) of Thibault, a man who has been able to move all four limbs with a robot body he controls with two brain implants:
… Read the rest “Paralyzed man moves, thanks to mind-controlled exoskeleton.”Sixty-four electrodes on each implant
Aspirin against air pollution? Really?
Science Daily takes a few deep breaths and plunges into a Columbia/Harvard/Boston University study that’s found that aspirin can protect lungs against damage from air pollution… Read the rest “Aspirin against air pollution? Really?”
Disabling one protein might (finally) cure the common cold. Thing is, the protein’s not in the germ – it’s in us.
Science News takes rhinovirus by the (one) horn with a study that finds a weak spot in the way the germ spreads inside our cells:
… Read the rest “Disabling one protein might (finally) cure the common cold. Thing is, the protein’s not in the germ – it’s in us.”Researchers have identified a key protein in humans that some
Science Art: Hero’s Steam Turbine, 1903
A machine that converts heat into motion – an amazing feat – from the book New Conceptions in Science by Carl Snyder, found in the Wellcome Collection. In this case, the steam… Read the rest “Science Art: Hero’s Steam Turbine, 1903”
Common insectides have lowered songbird populations – they eat a couple seeds and lose weight.
National Geographic reports on a study that has found nicotine-based insecticides – the world’s most widely used pesticides – act like appetite suppressants for … Read the rest “Common insectides have lowered songbird populations – they eat a couple seeds and lose weight.”
Your cat really does love you.
Or so PopSci would have you believe. That’s their take on behaviorist Kristyn Vitale’s Oregon State University study of the bonding styles of cats:
… Read the rest “Your cat really does love you.”Both babies and dogs display