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‘Science’ Stories

USAF X-37B space plane stays in orbit past its 9-month mission window

Shane McGlaun, Dec 1st 2011 Discuss [5]

Of all the recent space secrets that the USAF and NASA are keeping one of the most intriguing is the X-37B that is in orbit right now. The space plane looks like a smaller version of the retired space shuttle and was lofted into orbit back in March for a 9-month mission. Exactly what the mission of the X-37B is and what payload is in its cargo bay is unknown. Read The Full Story

Implanted medical devices of the future could be laser powered

Shane McGlaun, Dec 1st 2011 Discuss [1]

Should Dr. Evil ever have the need for an implanted medical device like a pacemaker, pain med pump, or insulin pump he will love this. Researchers looking into batteries that last longer for these implanted devices have hit on a discovery that may allow the devices to harvest power from a laser. This would allow the recharging of the medical device battery without having to cut the person open and place a new battery into the device. Read The Full Story

Worms shot into space show humans could survive a trip to colonize other worlds

Shane McGlaun, Nov 30th 2011 Discuss [6]

The stuff of science fiction for decades has been the thought of humans colonizing another world. NASA has been studying microscopic worms originally taken from a garbage dump on earth called Caenorhadbitis elegans or C elegans on the ISS since 2006. The worms were shot into space and studied on the ISS as a project to determine if humans could survive and reproduce on long space flights lasting many years to colonize other worlds. Read The Full Story

Research into more virulent and lethal strains of the bird flu worries some scientists

Shane McGlaun, Nov 30th 2011 Discuss [2]

If this sounds a bit like something out of a horror novel, it's because this sounds a lot like what starts the evens of the horror classic from Stephen King called The Stand. Apparently, researchers working on bird flu have created a strain of the bird flu virus that is lethal and easily spread through the air. Some fear that the mutated strain might be used as a bio weapon. Read The Full Story

Creative thinkers are more likely to cheat according to researchers

Shane McGlaun, Nov 30th 2011 Discuss [2]

This interesting study has been conducted on 97 different university students. The study sought to determine if creative thinkers were more likely to cheat than those that were less creative. The reason for the creative types to be more likely to cheat according to those that ran the study is simply because the more creative participants were able to justify their actions. Read The Full Story

WiFi signals kill sperm according to scientists

Shane McGlaun, Nov 30th 2011 Discuss [6]

If you want to have kids guys you had better keep that laptop off your nads according to some scientists from Argentina. According to these scientists if you put a laptop in your lap you run the risk of decreasing your sperm count and that might make it hard to reproduce. Before any of you get any ideas, I don't think strapping a couple netbooks to your legs with WiFi running wide open will prevent pregnancy. Read The Full Story

Soft robot is designed to move like a starfish

Shane McGlaun, Nov 29th 2011 Discuss [1]

Robots are used for all sorts of different tasks including exploring areas where it is too hazardous for humans to venture due to war or disaster. The problem with many of the robot designs is that wheels and legs can have hard time navigating very rough terrain. To help make robots that are better able to navigate certain types of terrain and are more resistant to bumps and impacts a new bot has debuted that is made from soft materials and resembles a starfish. Read The Full Story

NASA Curiosity Mars rover begins its 354m mile journey

Chris Davies, Nov 26th 2011 Discuss [5]

NASA‘s Curiosity rover has begun its journey into space, the centerpiece of the Mars Science Laboratory project. Blasting off at 10:02 am EST from Space Launch Complex 41 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, the $2.5bn rover will take nine months to travel the 354m miles between here and Mars, complete with an array of scientific instruments along with a nuclear battery to power them all.

Read The Full Story

MIT grad student develops internet lie detector using natural language processing

Paul Fang, Nov 22nd 2011 Discuss [0]

According to the Nieman Journalism Lab, a graduate student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology is developing a way to check for lying in political writing on the internet as easily as you check for spelling errors, using novel natural language processing techniques. NLP, for those who aren't familiar with the computer science term, is concerned with the interactions between computers and natural languages, and is essentially a method of human–computer interaction (Apple's Siri on the iPhone 4S is an app utilizing natural language processing). Read The Full Story

Less than 6-degrees separate you from Kevin Bacon

Shane McGlaun, Nov 22nd 2011 Discuss [66]

Back in August, I mentioned that Facebook and Yahoo had been testing the six degrees theory where we are all supposed to be connected to each other by no more than six other people. This is commonly known as the six degrees of Kevin Bacon. Scientists at Facebook and the University of Milan have now reported that there are actually less than six people separating us all. Read The Full Story

AR-enabled contact lenses tested on rabbits

Shane McGlaun, Nov 22nd 2011 Discuss [6]

Researchers are working on a crazy set of contact lenses that will allow the user to get augmented reality information projected right on their eye. Today we need a smartphone to view augmented reality data, but that might not always be the deal. If these contacts come to pass, there could be a whole new world of augmented reality for a myriad of uses. Read The Full Story

Lightest material on Earth is 100 times lighter than Styrofoam

Shane McGlaun, Nov 18th 2011 Discuss [36]

In the tech world it's not, uncommon to see firms touting their device is the lightest this or that and often there are caveats to their claims. A group of researchers has invented a new material that has no caveats. It’s simply the lightest material on earth. What's it going to be used for? No one knows at this point. Read The Full Story