WEIRD SCIENCE
By Nick Lavars – Using a novel manufacturing method, scientists have discovered a way to turn plastic bottles into a useful new aerogel. National University of Singapore. – Recycling plastics is far from a simple undertaking, with only a small portion of what …
By Ben Coxworth – Treatment-resistant warts, along with other skin lesions, may be no match for nano-pulse stimulation. Tiler84/Depositphotos. – Although it’s possible to remove warts by freezing them with liquid nitrogen, they often grow back, requiring multiple treatments. New research, however, suggests …
By Ben Coxworth – The lingonberry is native to the boreal forest and Arctic tundra throughout the Northern Hemisphere, from Eurasia to North America. Evgeniy_Bobkov/Depositphotos. – If you suffer from high blood pressure, you might want to try making lingonberry juice part of …
The idea of ‘absolute time’ is an illusion. Physics and subjective experience reveal why. By Stephen Johnson – ESA. Since Einstein posited his theory of general relativity, we’ve understood that gravity has the power to warp space and time. This “time dilation” effect …
By Scottie Andrew, CNN – The Wedderburn meteorite contains edscottite, which occurs in iron smelting. But it has never occurred in nature until now, when researchers sliced the meteorite open and found it hidden there. Between 2015 and 2019, researchers discovered 31 …
… A notorious class of chemicals could have invisible effects that take a toll over time. By Emma Betuel – You may not remember the last time you sprayed a carpet to make it waterproof, but those chemicals are likely still floating around …
Scientists surprised by haul of crustaceans and tardigrades in undisturbed subglacial lake. Ian Sample Science editor @iansample – Tardigrade, a tiny aquatic invertebrate, is also known as a ‘water bear’. Photograph: Steve Gschmeissner/Getty Images/Science Photo Library. Scientists have found the remains of tiny, …
Physicist plans to karate-chop them with super-fast blasts of light. By Robby Berman – (Oleksiy Mark/Borys Magierowski/Shutterstock/Big Think) Gérard Mourou has already won a Nobel for his work with fast laser pulses. If he gets pulses 10,000 times faster, he says he can …
Even if you avoid industrial farm produce it’s likely that your veggies will have been grown with the help of manure and other animal products. Jessica Glenza in New York @JessicaGlenza – A tractor spreads muck over field of stubble. ‘Most organic agriculture …
The ambitious project was quickly thwarted by a cold lunar night. By Sarah Wells – January 2019 was an eventful month for Chinese space exploration, to say the least. On January 3, the China National Space Administration not only became the first to …
