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Mohenjo Daro
“Faceless” Indus Valley City Puzzles Archaeologists. Mohenjo Daro 101 By John Roach – A well-planned street grid and an elaborate drainage system hint that the occupants of the ancient Indus civilization city of Mohenjo Daro were skilled urban planners with a reverence for …
The man whose life was saved by honey bees
How beekeeping helped heal an army veteran. By BBCEarth – After 20 years in the US Military, Eric Grandon’s life was in a downward spiral. Six tours to the Middle East, including Operation Desert Storm, had taken their toll on his body and …
Ford is turning McDonald’s coffee waste into headlights
By Danielle Wiener-Bronner, CNN Business – New York (CNN Business) Ford has tapped McDonald’s to help it turn coffee parts into car parts. Starting this year, Ford is incorporating coffee chaff — coffee bean skin that comes off during the roasting process …
It’s not just you: spam calls were up nearly 20% in 2019.
The robots love America. By Thor Benson – If you’re like pretty much every single human being, you’re not a fan of robocalls. Unfortunately, it appears this problem is only getting worse, and there isn’t a lot of hope that it will …
Greenery-covered building will feature 400,000 plants on its facade
By Adam Williams – Assuming all goes to plan, Citicape House is due to be completed in 2024. Sheppard Robson. A remarkable new greenery-covered project has been submitted for planning permission in the City of London. Assuming it gets the thumbs-up, the …
Photons entangled to make new form of light
By Michael Irving – An MIT and Harvard team have developed a way to make photons of light interact with each other, which could have applications in quantum computing. Christine Daniloff/MIT. – Photons, the elementary particles that make up light, are known to be fast, …
Arabic ‘Sesame Street’ to represent refugee children in 2020
A new children’s program may help displaced Syrian children find stability and belonging in their new communities. By Molly Hanson – Sesame Workshop and the International Rescue Committee have partnered to launch an Arabic version of Sesame Street named “Ahlan Simsim.” The show …
The Lone Ranger Was Real And Most Likely A Black Man Named Bass Reeves
Photo: Unknown/Wikimedia Commons/CC BY-SA 3.0. Was the real Lone Ranger African American? Most likely, yes – and his name was Bass Reeves. By Melissa Sartore – Bass Reeves was born into slavery in 1838 in Arkansas but later became one of the most successful and …
Jetpack Aviation raises $2 million to build flying motorcycle
By Loz Blain – The Speeder will have VTOL capability. Jetpack Aviation. With his crazy jetpack performance business growing and thriving, Australian innovator David Mayman is hoping to fry some bigger fish in the form of a …
Human-sized penguin fossil discovered in New Zealand
New species said to have been four times heavier than emperor penguin. Patrick Barkham @patrick_barkham – An illustration shows the approximate height of a giant penguin next to a woman. Photograph: Canterbury Museum/AP. A giant penguin that stood as tall as a person …
Winners of the world’s most spectacular photo contest: The Pano Awards
By Rich Haridy – Highlight from the top 50 in Amateur Landscape / Nature category of the 2019 Pano Awards. Zhayynn James. An incredible aerial shot of Iceland’s “braided rivers” has taken first place in the annual Pano Awards, a photography competition dedicated to …
Spiders Can Fly Hundreds of Miles Using Electricity
Scientists are finally starting to understand the centuries-old mystery of “ballooning.” By Ed Yong – A ballooning spider. Michael Hutchinson. On October 31, 1832, a young naturalist named Charles Darwin walked onto the deck of the HMS Beagle and realized that …
Here’s What Happened When The Soviets Changed The Calendar To Get Rid Of Weekends
By Genevieve Carlton – On September 29, 1929, the USSR had its last Sunday for 11 years. In an effort to boost productivity and eliminate religion, Josef Stalin instituted a new Soviet calendar, known as the Soviet Eternal Calendar. Under the Soviet Union’s …
Why Pirelli is building 5G connectivity into its new “Cyber Tires”
By Loz Blain – Pirelli wants to get your tires talking to your car, other cars, and V2X infrastructure. Pirelli. The Internet of Things age is dawning, as ultra-fast 5G connectivity opens up communications between everything from your toaster to your pacemaker, …
How to repopulate rural Spain? Sell its villages
Rural depopulation has hit the Spanish region of Galicia hard. Now some of its thousands of abandoned villages are being marketed for sale. By Esther Costa – Rosy Costoya is a vet, an entrepreneur and, she says, a little bit meiga. In the …
‘One among millions’: DNA is not the only genetic molecule
A recent computer analysis found that millions of possible chemical compounds could be used to store genetic information. This begs the question — why DNA? By Matt Davis – Shutterstock The central dogma of biology states that genetic information flows from DNA (Deoxyribonucleic …
Will Rogers: 5 ways he pushed the boundaries of media
Dubbed “America’s Cowboy Philosopher,” Rogers was a vaudeville, newspaper, radio and movie star By Sarah Wells – In today’s media landscape, we’re used to seeing Jacks and Janes of all trades — celebrities writing memoirs, starring in movies or expressing their 2 a.m. thoughts …
The round boys (and girls) of the animal kingdom
By Rosie Turner – There are many animals in the world, and many that are round. Here we take a look at the best circular creatures and how their ball-like shapes help them to adapt to the environment around them. Here for your …
Directed evolution teaches bacteria to eat carbon dioxide
By Michael Irving – Researchers have evolved E. coli bacteria to eat carbon dioxide from the air. GunnarAssmy/Depositphotos. – Researchers at the Weizmann Institute of Science have created a new breed of bacteria that can effectively “eat” air. By carefully directing the …
Anatomical quirks: 10 things you didn’t know about your body
Bill Bryson’s new book, “The Body: A Guide For Occupants,” provides important (and funny) lessons in anatomy, neuroscience, physiology, biology, and more. By Derek Beres – English anatomist John Banester (1533 – 1610) delivers the Visceral Lecture at the Barber-Surgeons’ Hall in London, …
Trump signs PACT Act, making animal torture a federal crime
“For decades, a national anti-cruelty law was a dream for animal protectionists. Today, it is a reality.” By Stephen Johnson – Pixabay All 50 states and local governments have animal cruelty laws, but before this week it was only a federal crime to …
Why Newton’s apple is heavier in southern Illinois
As this map of Bouguer’s gravity anomaly shows, the pull of the earth varies considerably by region. By Frank Jacobs – Gravitational anomalies across Illinois, Indiana and Ohio: red means higher than average, blue is lower than average. Image: USGS. The law of …
Are we in a “mass extinction” right now? Here’s the evidence
The “Big Five” serves as a benchmark for whether human beings have created a sixth mass extinction. By Frederik Saltre and Corey J. A. Bradshaw – For more than 3.5 billion years, living organisms have thrived, multiplied, and diversified to occupy every ecosystem …
Europa mystery: Why life unlike we know it could live there
In the cosmos, water can mean life. By Passant Rabie – Scientists have long suspected that beneath the cracked, icy surface of Jupiter’s moon Europa lies a vast ocean of liquid water, twice as large as the oceans on Earth. And that ultra-cold …
Lucille Ball And Desi Arnaz Founded A Production Company, And You Can Thank Them For ‘Star Trek’
By Genevieve Carlton – Everyone’s heard of Lucille Ball and I Love Lucy. But not as many people are familiar with Desilu Studios, and even fewer know the true story behind Lucille Ball and Star Trek. In fact, according to an influential studio executive, Star Trek never would …
Surrounding yourself with this one thing can add years to your life
Living near green spaces like public parks may help you live longer, a new study suggests. By Nina Pullano – Gloomy, gray cityscapes making you crave the feeling of sitting beneath a lush, green tree canopy? You aren’t alone. But there is more to …
Mystery of the universe’s weirdest molecule finally solved
Turns out they shouldn’t even exist in the first place. By Passant Rabie – Buckyballs are the rule-breakers of chemistry. These strange molecules are made up of 60 carbon atoms, fused together in a soccer-ball shape. For years, scientists assumed they could only …
The Insane Story Of How A Fruit Juice Company Forcefully Stole The Hawaiian Kingdom
By Melissa Sartore – Why did the US want Hawaii? With even a glance at its sensual beaches and lush jungles, it’s no surprise that the scenic islands have always been desirable. But as with any story of settlement, the development of Hawaii didn’t come …
Cryptoqueen: How this woman scammed the world, then vanished
By BBC – Ruja Ignatova called herself the Cryptoqueen. She told people she had invented a cryptocurrency to rival Bitcoin, and persuaded them to invest billions. Then, two years ago, she disappeared. Jamie Bartlett spent months investigating how she did it for the …
Gene editing babies for height or IQ still science fiction, says study
By Rich Haridy – Designer babies, either through direct gene editing or just choosing embryos based on genomic profiles, are still in the realm of science fiction according to new computer simulations. Sangoiri/Depositphotos. Following the birth of the world’s first CRISPR gene-edited …
Inflammation linked with Alzheimer’s, reduced cognition and brain fog
By Rich Haridy – Three new studies add weight to a long-held hypothesis connecting neurodegeneration and cognitive impairment to chronic inflammation. LisaAlisa_ill/Depositphotos. – Several newly published studies are reporting evidence affirming a growing hypothesis that links inflammation with cognitive deficits. As well as …
Chameleons do more than change color – their bones glow in the dark
Chameleon photo By David Prötzel – Famous for camouflage, their visual communication turns out to run even deeper. – By Brittney Borowiec, Comparative Physiology, Wilfrid Laurier University. Hump-backed and slow, chameleons sway like leaves as they creep along branches. Their coned, protruding eyes …
Doctors Put a Patient in Suspended Animation for the First Time
The process requires stopping a trauma patient’s heart and cooling their body with ice-cold saline. By Claire Bugos – Smithsonian.Com For the first time, scientists have used therapeutic suspended animation to purposefully induce hypothermia and slow organ functions in patients with …
New Fossils Unlock Evolutionary Secrets of Two-Legged Snakes
Scientists have known about the ancient snake group Najash for years, but were not able to gain a thorough understanding of its skull until now. Why did this cheeky snake have two hind legs? (Raúl Gómez) By Brigit Katz – Smithsonian.Com – In …
Most powerful gamma ray burst ever seen came from colliding galaxies
By Michael Irving – An artist’s impression of GRB190114C, the most energetic gamma ray burst ever detected with the energy of 1 TeV. ICRR UTokyo/Naho Wakabayashi. Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are already the most energetic events we know of in the universe, and …
SunUp solar panel system powers hikers or outdoor adventurers
By Bridget Borgobello – Bradley Brister created the SunUp solar backpack charger prototype as part of his degree at Brunel University, London. Brad Brister Design. British design student Bradley Brister has created a solar backpack system as part of his final-year project for his …
Oxford: Vegan-based diet could cut food-related carbon emissions by 60%
Switching over to a vegan-based diet can drastically cut CO2 emissions. But will Americans actually change their diet? By Molly Hanson – Photo Credit: Hero Image / Getty Images. According to researchers at Oxford University, meat is around 35 times more damaging …
Sexist science makes women’s reproductive health a guessing game
“Most women don’t have any idea the degree to which we have been discriminated against when it comes to research.” By Alexandra Pattillo – In the 1970s, women of childbearing age were banned from taking part in first-stage clinical trials. The idea, it …
Life on Earth could owe its existence to ‘space sugar’
The RNA World Hypothesis is controversial — but a new study suggests it is not impossible. By Sarah Sloat – In 1969, a 4.6-billion-year-old meteorite fell to Earth. It showered a rural Australian town with chunks of smelly, black rocks and — more consequentially, overjoyed …
Brown Sugar, Raw, Honey: Which Type of Sugar Is Healthiest for You and Why
Sugar, ah honey honey. By Sze-Yen Tan, The Conversation – In nutrition, sugar refers to simple carbohydrates consisting of one or two basic carbohydrate units such as glucose, fructose, and galactose. Consumers often use “sugar” to describe simple carbohydrates that taste sweet, but …
Mohenjo Daro
“Faceless” Indus Valley City Puzzles Archaeologists. Mohenjo Daro 101 By John Roach – A well-planned street grid and an elaborate drainage system hint that the occupants of the ancient Indus civilization city of Mohenjo Daro were skilled urban planners with a reverence for …
The man whose life was saved by honey bees
How beekeeping helped heal an army veteran. By BBCEarth – After 20 years in the US Military, Eric Grandon’s life was in a downward spiral. Six tours to the Middle East, including Operation Desert Storm, had taken their toll on his body and …
Ford is turning McDonald’s coffee waste into headlights
By Danielle Wiener-Bronner, CNN Business – New York (CNN Business) Ford has tapped McDonald’s to help it turn coffee parts into car parts. Starting this year, Ford is incorporating coffee chaff — coffee bean skin that comes off during the roasting process …
It’s not just you: spam calls were up nearly 20% in 2019.
The robots love America. By Thor Benson – If you’re like pretty much every single human being, you’re not a fan of robocalls. Unfortunately, it appears this problem is only getting worse, and there isn’t a lot of hope that it will …
Greenery-covered building will feature 400,000 plants on its facade
By Adam Williams – Assuming all goes to plan, Citicape House is due to be completed in 2024. Sheppard Robson. A remarkable new greenery-covered project has been submitted for planning permission in the City of London. Assuming it gets the thumbs-up, the …
Photons entangled to make new form of light
By Michael Irving – An MIT and Harvard team have developed a way to make photons of light interact with each other, which could have applications in quantum computing. Christine Daniloff/MIT. – Photons, the elementary particles that make up light, are known to be fast, …
Arabic ‘Sesame Street’ to represent refugee children in 2020
A new children’s program may help displaced Syrian children find stability and belonging in their new communities. By Molly Hanson – Sesame Workshop and the International Rescue Committee have partnered to launch an Arabic version of Sesame Street named “Ahlan Simsim.” The show …
The Lone Ranger Was Real And Most Likely A Black Man Named Bass Reeves
Photo: Unknown/Wikimedia Commons/CC BY-SA 3.0. Was the real Lone Ranger African American? Most likely, yes – and his name was Bass Reeves. By Melissa Sartore – Bass Reeves was born into slavery in 1838 in Arkansas but later became one of the most successful and …
Jetpack Aviation raises $2 million to build flying motorcycle
By Loz Blain – The Speeder will have VTOL capability. Jetpack Aviation. With his crazy jetpack performance business growing and thriving, Australian innovator David Mayman is hoping to fry some bigger fish in the form of a …
Human-sized penguin fossil discovered in New Zealand
New species said to have been four times heavier than emperor penguin. Patrick Barkham @patrick_barkham – An illustration shows the approximate height of a giant penguin next to a woman. Photograph: Canterbury Museum/AP. A giant penguin that stood as tall as a person …