One letter can decide an election.
Getting people to turn out to vote can be a real chore. But, PhysOrg reveals, it gets a little easier if you talk about “voters” […]
SONG: Your Catalogue
SONG: “Your Catalogue”. (OGG version here.)
ARTIST: grant.
SOURCE: NBC News, “New wild cat species is ide…
Read moreScience Art: Beebe's Bathysphäre, 1934
This is an image of William Beebe’s bathysphere, as placed on Wikimedia Commons by ETH Bibliothek. It was creat…
Read moreScience Art: Power of RCA Electron Microscope, May 1955
These are diatoms, I think, seen by two different microscopes.
As the caption from Popular Electronics says…
Read moreScience Art: Red Pepper, 1910.
Red pepper (Cayenne pepper) will cure almost any case of la grippe within 24 hours, or so they say. At least no…
Read moreScience Art: Figs. 1315-1333 (Various rotary piston engines), 1890.
This is a page of figures from (deep breath) The engineer’s sketch-book of mechanical movements, devices, appli…
Read moreOrbiting Vesta
NASA’s not landing on the moon – it’s not even firing off Space Shuttles any more – but it IS taking a long, close look […]
Oupa Neanderthal
University of Montreal researchers have determined that if you’ve got European ancestors, congratulations – you’re part Neanderthal: Neanderthals, whose ancestors left Africa about 400,000 to […]
Sounds curvy.
The word “bouba” sounds curvier than the word “kiki” no matter what language you’re used to hearing, New Scientist explains. That odd phenomenon unravels the […]
Science Art: Museum Drawings from Last Friday by bells.
Click to embiggen From the tumblog bequietyellingcat: museum drawings from last friday. fun fact: the dire wolf was native only to the americas, especially california. […]
Kennedy Space Center’s next job.
There was a lot of apprehension in Central Florida when the Space Shuttle was retired. They’re big vehicles with big missions that require lots and […]
Slow light.
University of Glasgow physicists haven’t gone faster than the speed of light… but they have done something almost as remarkable. They’ve slowed light down to […]
A decent illustration’s worth a dozen pictures.
That’s what this Scientific American column is saying, pretty much. I can’t beat illustrator Kalliopi Monoyios’ blog-ready headline: 5 Reasons Your Camera Won’t Steal My […]
Shamrocks, Saint Patrick, and… Polar Bears?
What could be more Irish than a polar bear? Nothing, say Penn State gene researchers. Because all polar bears are Irish immigrants: Polar and brown […]
Moved by music
Wired, uh, gets physical (their phrase!) while looking at the way music affects our bodies: Biorhythm: Music and the Body is an exhibition of sonic […]
Science Art: Reflections by NASA/Bill Ingalls
Click to embiggen This is it. This image of space shuttle Atlantis was taken shortly after the rotating service structure was rolled back at Launch […]
Where’s Atlantis now?
Live shuttle tracking is going on here, so you’ll know when to wave as the flight passes overhead!
Happy Neptune Day!
Nature reminds us that Neptune’s about to complete its first orbit since it was discovered: Next week, Neptune will complete its first full orbit of […]
Germ-free fabric
PhysOrg keeps itself clean with shirts, towels and unmentionables that’ll remain germ-free for good: University of Georgia researcher [Jason Locklin… an assistant professor of chemistry […]
Treasure in the mud.
Nature uncovers a wealth of rare earth lying beneath the ocean floor: The rare-earth elements — metals such as lanthanum and neodymium — are used […]