Models of the six nanoscale “vehicles” that will be competing this April. (Credit: CNRS)
Four racing teams from around the world will gather in France this spring to compete for a first-of-its-kind title.
Their vehicles will “inch” to the starting line and explode into motion to kick off a marathon 36-hour race that will have covered less than the width of a human hair by the time a victor is crowned. The vehicles participating in the race are custom-built tuners assemb ...read more
Some Google Street View cars have been specially equipped with methane analyzers to detect methane lakes from natural gas lines. (Credit: Environmental Defense Fund)
Natural gas pipeline leaks that pose a safety hazard are quickly addressed. But what about leaks too small to pose a threat? These mall leaks are often overlooked and they collectively release tons of methane, a greenhouse gas 84 times more potent than carbon dioxide.
However, thanks to researchers from Colorado State University, ...read more
“We don’t like strangers in these parts.” Credit: 20th Century Fox
The X-Men films have consistently shown their mutant superheroes as powerful but misunderstood outcasts living in the shadows. One of the loneliest and angriest of them all has been Wolverine: the seemingly ageless mutant played by Hugh Jackman whose superhuman healing powers and retractable metal claws enable him to literally tear through squads of gun-toting enemies. But the third and last film of ...read more
(Credit: Shutterstock)
That spinach on your plate deserves more credit. Not only is it packed with folic acid and other health benefits, it could also help scientists regenerate human tissue.
It’s Alive!
One of the biggest obstacles in the field of organ regeneration is scaling up production from tiny samples in a petri dish to full-fledged organs. One of the limiting factors is constructing a working vascular system to transport blood and nutrients throughout the developing tissues ...read more
(Credit: Delpixel/Shutterstock)
Thanks to the architecture in our eyes, we see but a small subset of the hues that make up the visible spectrum.
We only have three kinds of cones, or color-sensitive cells, to make sense of what could be millions or even hundreds of millions of colors. We still do a pretty good job of it — normal human eyes can pick out about a million different colors, far more than we have ever come up with names for. Still, we could conceivably do better ...read more
(Credit: Shutterstock)
Whether we like to or not, we’re all gamblers.
Every waking moment, countless stem cells inside our bodies are dividing in order to replace worn out biological machinery. But every time these perfectly healthy cells divide, roughly three mistakes occur in the genetic code—no one’s perfect. These mutations, though unpredictable, are typically benign, but sometimes this molecular game of Roulette takes an unlucky turn.
“Most of the time these mutati ...read more
Seafloor sediment is home to a vast repository of slow-growing, slow-evolving microbes. (Image: NOAA)
On the seafloor, “marine snow” is constantly falling. Bits of dead plankton, decaying fecal material, biological remnants from shore – it all finds its way to the bottom of the ocean, delivering needed sources of organic molecules and energy to the microbial communities lying in wait.
Over time, this snow – along with sediment mineral grains – accumulates, burying ...read more
The United States Endangered Species Act is often considered to be the most powerful piece of environmental legislation not just in the US, but in the world. As a result, when the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) formally lists a species as either threatened or endangered, it can be a game-changer for the species in question, protecting and even recovering a plant or animal that would otherwise be headed towards extinction. Such an action usually garners a fair amount of notice among conse ...read more
