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These micro-animals are the world's most durable known organisms
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These tiny water bears, called Tardigrades (meaning "slow stepper"), are water-dwelling, eight-legged, segmented micro-animals. They have been sighted from mountaintops to the deep sea, from tropical rain forests to the Antarctic. Tardigrades are notable for being perhaps the most durable of known organisms; they are able to survive extreme conditions that would be rapidly fatal to nearly all other known life forms. They can withstand temperature ranges from 1 K (−458 °F; −272 °C) to about 420 K (300 °F; 150 °C), pressures about six times greater than those found in the deepest ocean trenches, ionizing radiation at doses hundreds of times higher than the lethal dose for a human, and the vacuum of outer space. They can go without foo ...
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11639 |
duddy |
8 years ago |
The glue of the future, today
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Before I begin telling you about this fascinating new glue (adhesive), there's a thing or two you need to know about the animal that inspired it all, the gecko. Geckos are small lizards that have the ability to run up walls and scurry across ceilings with the help of tiny rows of hairs on their feet known as setae. Setae generate a multitude of weak attractions (called Van der Waals forces) between molecules on the two surfaces that add up to a secure foothold. Unlike glue or tape, a gecko’s sticky feet attach and detach effortlessly, which made it a perfect case study for engineers to model. To create their artificial gecko adhesive, a Stanford team of scientists started by making silicone micro-wedges, which imitated gecko hair. They asse ...
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18607 |
duddy |
8 years ago |
Here's why your hair will eventually turn gray
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As soon as we're born, we're destined to age. Some of us age gracefully - we enjoy years of youthfulness - while others experience hair loss, wrinkles, and greying earlier than expected. Found in the core of each hair, a pigment known as melanin gives rise to a person's hair color. This universal pigment is also found in our skin and eyes, giving use our unique physical traits. Dark and light versions of melanin - eumelanin and phaeomelanin, respectively - combine in various combinations to create all natural hair colors. Melanin itself is the product of a specialized cell, the melanocyte, which is found in each hair follicle, from which the hair grows. As hair grows, the melanocyte injects melanin into the hair cells, which contain the s ...
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9529 |
duddy |
8 years ago |
When apes sue humans
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In December 2013, four captive chimpanzees in the state of New York became the first nonhuman primates in history to sue their human captors in an attempt to gain their freedom. The chimps' lawyers, members of a recently formed organization known as the Nonhuman Rights Project, were asking a judge to grant their clients the basic right to not be imprisoned illegally. The judges of the New York lawsuits ultimately dismissed them all on the grounds that the plaintiffs aren't people. The appeals are ongoing. ...
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15690 |
duddy |
8 years ago |
The ocean is louder than you think
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Nearly 11 kilometers deep, the ocean is still a noisy place, according to scientists that have eavesdropped on the deepest part of the world's ocean, and instead of finding a sea of silence, discovered a cacophony of sounds both natural and caused by humans. For three weeks, a titanium-encased hydrophone recorded constant ambient noise from the ocean floor at a depth of more than 36,000 feet, or 7 miles, in the Challenger Deep trough in the Mariana Trench near Micronesia. The ambient sound field is dominated by the sound of earthquakes, both near and far, as well as distinct moans of baleen whales, and the clamor of a category 4 typhoon that just happened to pass overhead. The hydrophone also picked up sound from ship propellers. Challenge ...
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12780 |
duddy |
8 years ago |
These giant looking mosquitoes aren't really mosquitoes after all
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The crane fly is the world's most misunderstood insect that looks like a mosquito, but is actually a fly. Although it might look like the daddy longlegs of mosquitos, it is actually harmless and doesn't suck your blood. In fact, some sources suggest that this insect eats other bugs and mosquitoes larvae, acting as natural form of pest control.
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10662 |
duddy |
8 years ago |
Tiniest of the penguin species
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The little penguin ( Eudyptula minor) is the smallest species of penguin. They grow to an average of 33 cm (13 in) in height and 43 cm (17 in) in length and usually weighs about 1.5 kilogram on average (3.3 pounds). They are mainly found on the coastlines of southern Australia and New Zealand. In Australia, they are often called fairy penguins. In New Zealand, they are more commonly known as little blue penguins or blue penguins owing to their slate-blue plumage. ...
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13646 |
duddy |
8 years ago |
Curry's paradox, explained
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At some point in your life, you've probably played this game of logic known as the missing square puzzle, or Curry's paradox - named after its inventor Paul Curry. This optical illusion is commonly used in mathematics classes to help students reason about geometrical figures, or rather to teach them to not reason using figures, but only using the textual description thereof and the axioms of geometry. It depicts two arrangements made of similar shapes in slightly different configurations. Each apparently forms a 13×5 right-angled triangle, but one has a 1×1 hole in it. As depicted in the animation, the illusion works because the diagonal of the two internal triangles is not a continuous slope from corner to corner. The overall connected shap ...
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16332 |
duddy |
8 years ago |
A Big Mac versus molten copper
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Here's what happens when you pour 1 984°F/1 085°C molten copper on a Big Mac. This demonstration has nothing to do with the fact that McDonald's uses preservatives in its ingredients. This is simply a demonstration of the Leidenfrost effect - a scientific principle explaining the phenomena that occurs when a liquid comes in near contact with a solid that is significantly hotter than its boiling point; the surface of the liquid comes to a nearly immediate boil, and creates a thin layer of protective steam. It's much the same effect as when one drops water onto a hot pan and the droplet is seen to dance across the surface. In this instance, the inherent moisture in the burger protects it for a few moments before the copper (at nearly 2 000 d ...
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12844 |
bio_man |
8 years ago |
Corn is a man-made invention
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Did you know that delicious yellow corn we've all come to love is a human invention. It is a plant that does not exist naturally in the wild, and can only survive if planted and protected by humans. Scientists believe people living in central Mexico developed corn at least 7000 years ago. It was started from a wild grass called teosinte. ...
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3993 |
bio_man |
8 years ago |
Surfing spider discovered
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The creature you see above is a spider that can actually surf on top of waves and hunt for a wide variety of animals including not only insects but also fish and toads. Dubbed the Dolomedes briangreenei, this species of spider floats on top of water and senses vibrations below to detect potential prey. The spider can even submerge itself underwater for up to an hour to hunt down prey, which makes it doubly frightening for any creatures caught in its path. The largest animals that the spider has been known to eat are cane toads, which can measure up to nine inches in length. For comparison, the D. briangreenei is about the size of a human palm. ...
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21382 |
duddy |
8 years ago |
World's heaviest calculator?
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Oven a century ago, people were using technology to help them solve math problems. This 100-year-old calculator still works today, and it can calculate into the billions. While the machine may be mathematically accurate, it weighs approximately 70 pounds, significantly more than modern day calculators. That doesn’t sound very convenient. But then again, imagine how strong you would get carrying a 70-pound calculator around school ...
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21032 |
duddy |
8 years ago |
Watch how animals react to their own reflection
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A French photographer has conducted an interesting experiment in Gabon by installing mirrors in several locations in the wilds and observing the way the animals reacted to their own reflections. The result was most amusing, to say the least.
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16984 |
duddy |
8 years ago |
Last but not least chipmunk
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Not one to be outdone by the dynamic trio of Alvin, Simon, and Theodore of Alvin and the Chipmunks, the least chipmunk ( Eutamias Minimus) is the smallest of all chipmunk species (shown above). Least chipmunks range over most of western North America occupying the widest geographic and altitudinal range of any chipmunk. These tiny rodents possess a long, narrow but fairly bushy tail, and have soft, dense fur which is moulted twice a year - the summer coat being brighter in color than the more greyish winter coat. Like other chipmunks, this species has relatively short ears which are covered in short hairs and pouches inside the cheeks which are used to carry food. Interestingly, the female least chipmunk may be slightly larger than the male ...
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19673 |
duddy |
8 years ago |
This synthetic organism survives with less than 500 genes
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This week in Science, researchers led by genome sequencing pioneer Craig Venter report engineering a bacterium to have the smallest genome - and the fewest genes - of any freely living organism. Known as Syn 3.0, the new organism has a genome whittled down to the bare essentials needed to survive and reproduce, just 473 genes. However, the function of 149 of Syn 3.0's 473 genes remain unknown. As Syn 3.0's name suggests, it’s not the first synthetic life made by Venter. In 2010, Venter's team reported that they had synthesized the sole chromosome of Mycoplasma mycoides - a bacterium with a relatively small genome - and transplanted it into a separate mycoplasma called M. capricolum, from which they had previously extracted the DNA. After s ...
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10813 |
duddy |
8 years ago |
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