WEIRD SCIENCE
By Michael Irving – – A new method of communication involves beaming an audible message to a specific person across a room using lasers. (Credit: Andreus/Depositphotos). In the modern day, we’re used to being able to send messages to specific people over …
NASA research finds a new direction in searching for signs of life in the Universe. By Paul Ratner – NASA-funded research says retinal, not chlorophyll, gave the early Earth its color The two pigments co-evolved but retinal came first We should be looking …
By Nick Lavars – Led by professor of oncology Ron Levy, a team at Stanford has come up with a promising new cancer treatment. (Credit: Steve Fisch). Harnessing the body’s natural immune defenses to take the fight to cancer, known as immunotherapy, is an …
By Michael Irving – – Researchers have found evidence that chaos theory – best known through the “butterfly effect” – plays a big role in the immune system. (Credit: agsandrew/Depositphotos). The immune system is incredibly complex, but most of us would probably …
By Michael Irving – A new breed of medical micro-robots made to explore the human body can automatically adapt to the different environments in there. (Credit: EPFL/ETHZ). It’s looking more and more likely that tiny robots could one day be swimming and crawling …
Aww. By Evan Fleischer – Researchers appear to have found a neural basis for “cute aggression.” Cute aggression is what happens when you say something like, ‘It’s so cute I want to squeeze the stuffings out of it!’ But it’s also a complex …
In the early days of life on Earth, protecting the warmth-trapping atmosphere from the Sun’s fierce solar winds was critical. By Yasmin Tayag – For life to take root on a planet, organisms need little more than a rocky surface, liquid water, and …
The magnetic field is changing like never before, and scientists aren’t sure what to do. By Peter Hess – The Earth’s magnetic field protects us from the most harmful portions of the sun’s radiation. The Earth’s magnetic field has always been in flux, …
Japan looks to replace China as the primary source of critical metals. By Robby Berman – Enough rare earth minerals have been found off Japan to last centuries Rare earths are important materials for green technology, as well as medicine and manufacturing Where …
Carl Sagan—who first coined the term—was tempted to call them “star-tar.” By Matthew Davis – Tholins are a broad group of organic compounds formed when simpler molecules are irradiated. They are extremely common in our solar system, and studies have shown that their …
