File this one under “holy crap,” but scientists at MIT have discovered molecules that spontaneously assemble themselves into a pattern that can turn light into electricity — essentially a self-creating solar panel. In a petri dish. The researchers set out to create a synthetic…
Read Full ArticleElectricity collected from the air could become the newest alternative energy source
Imagine devices that capture electricity from the air ― much like solar cells capture sunlight ― and using them to light a house or recharge an electric car. Imagine using similar panels on the rooftops of buildings to prevent lightning before it forms. Strange…
Read Full ArticleUltra-tiny frogs discovered living like faeries inside pitcher plants
One of the world’s tiniest frogs has been discovered in Borneo. At 10-12 mm long, Microhyla nepenthicola may be micro, but its croak is loud. That’s how researchers found them, swimming in tiny puddles of water captured by pitcher plants. A group of zoologists…
Read Full Article‘Auspicious Buddhist flower’ blooms in China after 3000 yrs
A Chinese nun has found an Udumbara flower, which Buddhist legend holds blossoms every 3,000 years, growing under her washing machine. The flower was found in the home of a Chinese nun in Lushan Mountain in Jiangxi province. The Udumbara – apparently Sanskrit for…
Read Full ArticleWater Freezes When Heated
Usually water freezes at 32 degrees Fahrenheit and temperatures below that. But now scientists – reporting today in the journal Science — have found a way to keep water in a liquid form at -40 degrees F. What’s more, the scientists have found another…
Read Full ArticleGreen Sea Slug Is Part Animal, Part Plant
It’s easy being green for a sea slug that has stolen enough genes to become the first animal shown to make chlorophyll like a plant. Shaped like a leaf itself, the slug Elysia chlorotica already has a reputation for kidnapping the photosynthesizing organelles and…
Read Full ArticleSoviet Scientist Turns Foxes Into Puppies
Aww, aren’t those puppies cute? Those aren’t dogs. They’re foxes, believe it or not. In the 1950s, Soviet scientist Dmitri Belyaev set out to breed a tamer fox that would be easier for their handlers in the Russian fur industry to work with. The…
Read Full ArticleSplitting Time from Space – New Quantum Theory Topples Einstein’s Spacetime
Was Newton right and Einstein wrong? It seems that unzipping the fabric of spacetime and harking back to 19th-century notions of time could lead to a theory of quantum gravity. Physicists have struggled to marry quantum mechanics with gravity for decades. In contrast, the…
Read Full ArticleWhy boys are turning into girls
Here’s something rather rotten from the State of Denmark. Its government yesterday unveiled official research showing that two-year-old children are at risk from a bewildering array of gender-bending chemicals in such everyday items as waterproof clothes, rubber boots, bed linen, food, nappies, sunscreen lotion…
Read Full ArticleNASA Discovers Large Lunar Ice Field
A team of NASA scientists announced Friday the discovery of a large amount of water on the moon’s south pole. “Indeed, yes, we found water. And we didn’t find just a little bit, we found a significant amount,” said Anthony Colaprete, a principal project…
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