Striking It Rich in Supernovae Dust at the Center of the Milky Way Galaxy

Medicine & Technology Mar 19, 2015

It’s a tough job sifting through the data and the haze of the center of the Milky Way galaxy, but some astronomers have to do it. The time-consuming job often means having to peer into the center with aid of multiple telescopes, all giving you a different perspective at a different wavelength. It can be job of countless hours, with little to no reward, but when researchers find even cosmic dust, their studies can strike it rich.

Solar Eclipse Guide March 2015—How To Watch it Tonight From Anywhere on Earth

Mar 19, 2015

A rather rare occurrence, happening once every year or two, a total eclipse of the sun is a pretty big deal in the sky-watching community. Not only is it special because the sun’s disk entirely covered by the moon, but also because it’s a cosmic occurrence right in our back yard. But for those not living in the Arctic or on the Faroe Islands archipelago between Norway and Iceland, tonights events may be a little hard to see.

Eclipse Tourists—Beware of Polar Bear Attacks

Mar 19, 2015

Think of star-gazing and astronomy as a particularly safe hobby? Think again. It turns out that while looking at the cosmos, hundreds of thousands of light-years away, local astronomers may be too preoccupied to realize the threats much closer to home.

How a Beaked Whale Fossil May Reveal Origins of Humanities First Steps

Mar 17, 2015

In a study published this week in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers with the University of Potsdam in Germany say that they may have found the origin of man’s first steps on land with the rediscovery of a 17 million year old fossil of a beaked whale once native to East Africa. The fossil, which was original unearthed in 1964, but lost for nearly half a century after the skull was misplaced, is the oldest known fossil of a beaked whale and strongly suggests an exact time for when the East African plateau was once turned into a savannah.

Research Provides Al Gore With a Climate Change Platform for Election

Mar 17, 2015

For years now former Vice President of the United States, Al Gore has been the the man professing the end of the world as we know it. In fact, while his predictions and commentary on the matter of global climate change may have sent scientists and the rest of the American public into a frenzy, they also happened to win him an Academy Award for his film “An Inconvenient Truth”. But with a changing industry and a change in the global conversation, Gore’s recent tone has been a lot more hopeful than it once was. And with news this weekend of an even greater shift towards green energy, with a discovery made by researchers at Brown University, some are hopeful that Gore will once again reclaim an office in the White House with election campaigns starting right around the corner.

Solvent Baths Promise Better Perovskite Crystals and Better Solar Energy

Mar 17, 2015

With the coming of spring, and the looming global warming ever at our odds, it’s clear that there’s enough heat already out in the world. So why would you want your “green” energy practices to contribute ever more to that heat? Current methods, for example, in the production of solar cells used to capture energy require an intense recrystallization process that comes at the price of a drastic raise in the temperature of the substance—perovskite. But now, thanks to chemists at Brown University, the green energy movement may soon be equated with a cooler movement, as well.

After Hopeful Solar Power News, Al Gore May Just Find Another Place in Office

Mar 17, 2015

For years now former Vice President of the United States, Al Gore has been the the man professing the end of the world as we know it. In fact, while his predictions and commentary on the matter of global climate change may have sent scientists and the rest of the American public into a frenzy, they also happened to win him an Academy Award for his film “An Inconvenient Truth”. But with a changing industry and a change in the global conversation, Gore’s recent tone has been a lot more hopeful than it once was. And with news this weekend of an even greater shift towards green energy, with a discovery made by researchers at Brown University, some are hopeful that Gore will once again reclaim an office in the White House with election campaigns starting right around the corner.

Champion Foodies—Chimpanzees Will Make the Trek for a Delicious Meal

Mar 17, 2015

Though researchers have come to understand that in comparison to the human palette, chimpanzees may not be as refined, it appears that these clever relatives are foodies at heart. In fact, when it comes to a meal of grapes over veggies, chimpanzees will even go out of their way for the chance to dine on something sweeter than the norm. In a new study published this week in the journal PeerJ researchers at Chicago’s Lincoln Park Zoo investigated the food preferences of chimpanzees in captivity only to find that the animals are clever enough to find a way of getting the goodies they prefer.

Intricate Organic Molecules—Yeah, We Can 3D Print That

Mar 16, 2015

Perhaps you’re a neurobiologist looking to isolate endocanibinoids from human brains. Any volunteers to offer their brains up for study? You’re not likely to find any takers, but now thanks to some researchers at the University of Illinois, you may just be able to print your own. That’s right, print. In what the researchers are calling the next step in 3D-printing, with a version specifically designed to tailor to researchers, University of Illinois chemists led by lead researcher Martin Burke have develop a machine that can systematically synthesize thousands of different molecules basically from scratch.

How One Innovation May Change the Solar Energy Game Forever

Mar 16, 2015

If you’ve ever ventured out into the middle of the desert, you’ve likely encountered a solar field of sorts. On the way to Las Vegas, for example, there exists a solar plant that leverages thousands of glass reflectors to burn hot with the power of the sun. But when it comes to more domesticate uses of the sun, researchers and consumers have been limited by the capabilities of light-absorbing perovskite films used in solar cells. Now, however, thanks to a PhD researcher at Brown University, the tides may have changed.

First Successful Penis Transplant Raises Questions around South African Circumcision Ceremonies

Mar 14, 2015

While a South African patient’s identity is being protected for ethical reasons, according to Tygerberg Hospital, news of his successful procedure and sexual history are making headlines nonetheless. Fully recovered from a nine-hour operation that occurred on Dec. 11, 2014, the young man whose name is not being disclosed at this time, marks a great achievement in that doctors were the first to successfully complete a penile transplant operation in his case.

Listeriosis Outbreak Now Poses Threat to Ice Cream—Blue Bell Creameries Recalls Products

Mar 14, 2015

It’s in the popcorn, in the caramel apples, and now it’s in the ice cream. It appears that Listeria monocytogenes has some pretty great tastes, seeing as how it has infected all of our favorite treats. And now, in what happens to be the company’s first recall in a successful 108-year history, a new outbreak of Listeriosis has caused Blue Bell Creameries to take its ice cream off of the shelves.

Tropical Cyclone Pam Devastates Vanuatu in the South Pacific

Mar 14, 2015

In the midst of unimaginable destruction, meteorologists say that a cyclone, designated “Cyclone Pam”, will continue to devastate islands in the South Pacific even after the storm brought torrential rains and fierce winds hour after hour since the start of the weekend.

Intricate Organic Molecules—Yeah, We Can 3D Print That

Mar 13, 2015

Perhaps you’re a neurobiologist looking to isolate endocanibinoids from human brains. Any volunteers to offer their brains up for study? You’re not likely to find any takers, but now thanks to some researchers at the University of Illinois, you may just be able to print your own. That’s right, print. In what the researchers are calling the next step in 3D-printing, with a version specifically designed to tailor to researchers, University of Illinois chemists led by lead researcher Martin Burke have develop a machine that can systematically synthesize thousands of different molecules basically from scratch.

In the Wake of Ebola—H7N9 Influenza Has Spread in Secret

Mar 13, 2015

In the wake of the Ebola pandemic, researchers in China have identified a virus capable of global infection that has been mutating and brewing on the sidelines. A strain of the avian influenza, the H7N9 flu emerged in eastern China in Feb. 2013 in a small population with a mortality rate of roughly 33%. But over the last year, since it reemerged in October 2013, the virus has been spreading steadily, and mutating along the way. Now public health officials fear that the growing viral infection may soon reach the levels much like the Ebola outbreak, and it is something that researchers are heavily investigating.