Strange But True
'Smart' potty or dumb idea? Wacky gadgets at CES
January 9, 2013 6:49 pm | by Barbara Ortutay and Ryan Nakashima, The Associated Press | News | CommentsNot everything there is “high-tech”, but the annual Consumer Electronics Show is a great place to see the newest and most fanciful products to reach the market each year. From the iPotty for toddlers to the 1,600-pound (725-kg) mechanical spider and the host of glitch-ridden "smart" TVs, the International CES show is a forum for gadget makers to take big—and bizarre—chances.
Giant squid captured on video in ocean depths
January 9, 2013 6:24 pm | by Malcolm Foster, Associated Press | News | CommentsAfter years of searching, scientists and broadcasters say they have captured video images of a giant squid in its natural habitat deep in the ocean for the first time. Japanese public broadcaster NHK released photographs of the giant squid this week ahead of Sunday's show about the encounter. The Discovery Channel will air its program on Jan. 27.
A quantum eraser without causality
January 9, 2013 11:23 am | News | CommentsWhether a quantum object behaves like a wave or like a particle depends on the type of measurement performed. When two quantum objects, like photons, are observed, one behaves like a particle or a wave depending on the measurement performed on a second photon. When measurement methods are swapped, information appears to be “erased”. A recent experiment supports this phenomenon even in the absence of causality, when the photons are so far removed that no information can be exchanged between the two.
Stopping leaks the way blood does
January 8, 2013 2:00 pm | by David L. Chandler, MIT News Office | News | CommentsA team of Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers has analyzed the blood clotting process and found, for the first time, exactly how the different molecular components work together to block the flow of blood from a cut. Now, they are working on applying that knowledge to the development of synthetic materials that could be used to control different kinds of liquid flows, and could lead to a variety of new self-assembling materials.
Mock Mars trek finds down-to-Earth sleep woes
January 8, 2013 9:19 am | by Seth Borenstein, AP Science Writer | News | CommentsIn 2010, six volunteers were confined in a cramped mock spaceship in Moscow to simulate a voyage to Mars. They emerged after 17 months, claiming a successful experience, but encountered difficulties in getting enough sleep. A study conducted during the experiment found that the lack of slumber can turn intrepid space travelers into drowsy couch potatoes
A temperature below absolute zero
January 7, 2013 1:46 pm | News | CommentsAccording to the physical meaning of temperature, the temperature of a gas is determined by the chaotic movement of its particles. At zero kelvin (-273 C) the particles stop moving and all disorder disappears. Thus, nothing can be colder than absolute zero on the Kelvin scale. Nevertheless, researchers in Germany have now created an atomic gas in the laboratory that has negative Kelvin values.
Suspend the crystals, and they grow better
December 21, 2012 12:47 pm | News | CommentsCrystals growing near the bottom of a beaker are subject to convection, but it is much quieter near the top of the beaker. In that case, why not just let them grow hanging in the beaker? A researcher in The Netherlands who had already tried growing crystals in space has used magnets to grow suspended crystals that form more perfectly, allowing better X-ray diffraction.
Gift misgivings? Trust your gut
December 20, 2012 8:06 pm | News | CommentsThe clock is ticking and you still haven't decided what to get that special someone in your life for the holidays. When it comes to those last-minute gift-buying decisions for family and close friends, intuition may be the best way to think your way through to that perfect gift. At least, that’s according to new research from Boston College.
Paper waste used to make bricks
December 20, 2012 11:06 am | News | CommentsResearchers in Spain have mixed waste from the paper industry with ceramic material used in the construction industry. The result is a brick that has low thermal conductivity. Despite is good insulating properties, however, its mechanical resistance still requires improvement.
Physicists achieve elusive “evaporative cooling” of molecules
December 19, 2012 1:55 pm | News | CommentsEvaporative cooling has long been used to cool atoms, but it has never before been done by molecules—two different atoms bonded together. Achieving a goal considered nearly impossible, JILA physicists have done this, chilling a gas of molecules to very low temperatures by adapting the familiar process by which a hot cup of coffee cools.
Closest Sun-like star may have planets
December 19, 2012 10:40 am | News | CommentsAn international team of scientists has discovered that Tau Ceti, one of the closest and most Sun-like stars, may have five planets. The surprise finding was the result of combining more than 6,000 observations from three different instruments and applying intensive modeling to the data. New techniques allowed the scientists to find signals half the size previously thought possible.
Chemists synthesize new breed of anti-aromatic compound
December 18, 2012 9:03 am | News | CommentsBenzene is an aromatic, a class of compounds that allows electrons to be shared among the different bonds between atoms. Highly stable, they are important to both biological function and industrial production. Anti-aromatics are their “evil twin”—they are missing one or two electrons and are very difficult to create in stable form. A team in Texas has recently synthesized a new anti-aromatic that is stable, as well as an as-yet unnamed intermediate state.
Team confirms “gusty winds” in space turbulence
December 17, 2012 3:53 pm | by Gary Galluzzo, University of Iowa | News | CommentsIn much the same way that a plane is jolted back and forth by invisible gusts of wind, turbulence is common in space, where chaotic motions affect the movements of ionized gas, or plasma. A research team led by the University of Iowa reports to have directly measured this turbulence for the first time in the laboratory.
Researchers demonstrate a new kind of quantum entanglement
December 17, 2012 12:13 am | News | CommentsPhysicists have published new research which builds on the original ideas of Einstein and adds a new ingredient: a third entangled particle. The new form of three-particle entanglement demonstrated in this experiment, which is based on the position and momentum properties of photons, may prove to be a valuable part of future communications networks that operate on the rules of quantum mechanics
Scientists use light to remotely trigger biochemical reactions
December 13, 2012 9:40 pm | News | CommentsResearchers at Rice University have recently turned light into heat at the point of need, on the nanoscale, to trigger biochemical reactions remotely on demand. The method makes use of materials derived from unique microbes—thermophiles—that thrive at high temperatures but shut down at room temperature.
Cloud forest trees drink water through their leaves
December 13, 2012 9:59 am | by Robert Sanders, UC Berkeley | News | CommentsUsing an electronic “leaf” that is able to detect when leaves receive moisture, a team of researchers working in Costa Rica’s cloud forests have discovered that tropical montane cloud forest can augment their water intake by drinking directly from the clouds. In dry but otherwise foggy areas, this ability to drink water through leaves is an essential survival strategy.
A second ascent of chemistry's Mt. Everest
December 12, 2012 4:41 pm | News | CommentsResearchers in China are reporting success in one of the most difficult challenges in synthetic chemistry—a field in which scientists reproduce natural and other substances from jars of chemicals in a laboratory. The feat involved the synthesis of a rare substance with promising in vitro anti-cancer effects found naturally in tiny amounts in a Chinese medicinal herb. Without synthetic chemistry, scientists could never attain enough to pursue a viable drug compound.
Protein strongest just before death
December 12, 2012 4:35 pm | News | CommentsRetinoblastoma protein are tumor suppressors that can be dysfunctional in several major types of cancers. Researchers at Michigan State University have discovered that these proteins actually do their best work with one foot in the grave. Most proteins, like living things, become weaker toward the end of their lifecycle. Retinoblastoma proteins instead become stronger.
More than 3,000 epigenetic switches control daily liver cycles
December 12, 2012 11:11 am | News | CommentsCircadian rhythms affect our bodies not just on a global scale, but at the level of individual organs, and even genes. Scientists at the Salk Institute have recently determined the specific genetic switches that sync liver activity to the circadian cycle. Their finding gives further insight into the mechanisms behind health-threatening conditions such as high blood sugar and high cholesterol.
Engineers pinpoint origin of bone fractures
December 12, 2012 10:57 am | News | CommentsA new study from engineering researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute shows, for the first time, how the little-understood protein osteocalcin—found in vegetables like broccoli and spinach—plays a significant role in the strength of our bones. The findings could lead to new strategies and therapeutics for fighting osteoporosis and lowering the risk of bone fracture.
Black branes and blackfolds: Revealing new study on black holes
December 11, 2012 11:25 am | News | CommentsBlack holes are surrounded by many mysteries, but now researchers from the Niels Bohr Institute, among others, have come up with new groundbreaking theories that can explain several of their properties. The research shows that black holes have properties that resemble the dynamics of both solids and liquids.
Inspiration from a porcupine’s quills
December 10, 2012 5:46 pm | by Anne Trafton, MIT News Office | News | CommentsAnyone unfortunate enough to encounter a porcupine’s quills knows that once they go in, they are extremely difficult to remove. Researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Brigham and Women’s Hospital now hope to exploit the porcupine quill’s unique properties to develop new types of adhesives, needles and other medical devices.
Apollo's lunar dust data being restored
December 7, 2012 11:43 am | by Elizabeth Zubritsky, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center | News | CommentsForty years after the last Apollo spacecraft launched, the science from those missions continues to shape our view of the moon. In one of the latest developments, readings from the Apollo 14 and 15 dust detectors have been restored by scientists. Digital data from these two experiments were not archived before, and it's thought that roughly the last year-and-a-half of the data have never been studied.
To the moon? Firm hopes to sell $1.5 billion trips
December 7, 2012 8:49 am | by Seth Borenstein, AP Science Writer | News | CommentsA new venture called Golden Spike Co. was announced on Thursday that hopes to offer trips for two to the moon for a cool $1.5 billion. Some space experts are skeptical of the firm’s financial ability to get to the moon, but the team of former NASA executives believe they can combine the technical might of Apollo with the marketing of Apple.
Individual cells respond to electrical signal
December 6, 2012 1:09 pm | News | CommentsIn an effort to aid the administration of medication at the cellular level, researchers in The Netherlands have pioneer a way to control or speed up the process of binding ligands, or antibodies, to diseased cells. This ability relies on a new method that uses supramolecules to electrically switch the behavior of individual cells.
