Advanced Chip To Replace Fluffy Bunnies In Cosmetics Testing
As part of the cosmetic industry’s attempt to shift away from animal testing for makeup, L’Oreal and the Hurel Corporation have designed a new chip that simulates the behavior of skin cells,...
View ArticleAt Cambridge Alien Conference, Scientists Warn Of An Invisible Earth and...
This week, scientists from around the globe converge on Cambridge University in England to discuss mankind’s relationship with intelligent life from beyond the stars. So far, the news is not...
View ArticleRogue Computer Algorithms Threaten Stock Markets
Computer intelligence is getting more human every day. They solve problems like humans, they communicate like humans, and now, they’re ruining the world’s financial markets just like humans. NYSE...
View ArticleNew Evidence Calls Into Question China’s Role in Google Attacks
Over the last two weeks, China and the US have engaged in a round of diplomatic sparring over attacks against Google. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton demanded that China investigate the attacks,...
View ArticleWater Purification Chemical Uses Visible, Not UV, Light To Kill Bacteria
The World Health Organization estimates that around one sixth of the world lacks access to clean drinking water. Since those billion people are also the poorest people in the world, water purification...
View ArticleNIF Moves 5.9 Million Degrees Closer To Fusion Power
With the need for a cheap and abundant alternative to fossils fuels more important than ever before, the field of fusion energy is getting hotter. Really, really hot. 6 million degrees hot. Yes, the...
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Robots Display Predator-Prey Co-Evolution, Evolve Better Homing Techniques
When we last checked in with the Laboratory of Intelligent Systems in the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale of Lausanne, Switzerland, their evolving robots had learned how deceive other robots about the...
View ArticleBritish Police to Monitor Civilians with UAVs by 2012
In a move sure to generate plenty of Orwell name-drops in the Boing Boing comments section, the British police have begun developing UAVs for the surveillance of domestic civilians. The British police...
View ArticleNew Computer Program Studies Trees on TV to Simulate Their Movement
The same subtle, random movements, bouncing shadows, and immense complexity that make plants fascinating to observe in life also make them hell to animate. Like water and fire, a rustling tree is one...
View ArticleMagnetoscope Monitor Measures Heart’s Magnetic Field to Detect Problems Early
While the ECG machine, whose steady beep and jagged line TV medical dramas long ago planted into the popular imagination, remains the most common method for monitoring heart activity, a new device...
View ArticleDARPA Gives $32 Million For A Bigger Big Dog From Boston Dynamics
After years of development and several creepy videos, Boston Dynamics’ Big Dog robot is scheduled to get bigger. Working off a $32 million request from DARPA and the Marine Corps, Boston Dynamics has...
View ArticleCarbon Crystals Harder Than Diamond Found In Finnish Meteorite
Diamond may remain the preferred material for wedding rings, Lil’ Wayne’s birthday gifts, and Damien Hirst sculptures, but it looks like girls’ best friend will have to relinquish its title as the...
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Say Hello to Robonaut2, NASA’s Android Space Explorer of the Future
With the news that the White House has canceled the Constellation Program, NASA seems to be moving out of the human space flight business. However, the unveiling of a next-generation robot astronaut...
View ArticleSuperinsulating Aerogels Arrive on Home Insulation Market At Last
Over 70 years ago, scientists invented aerogel, the least dense solid known to man, and an insulator four times more efficient than fiberglass or foam. Famously, according to Dr. Peter Tsou of NASA’s...
View ArticleVideo: What Would You See As You Plummet Into a Black Hole?
By definition, one can’t see a black hole itself, only its effect on the light of intervening stars. And without some serious equipment, even that’s a tall order. Luckily for all us amateur...
View ArticleRHIC Collider Creates Quark-Gluon Plasma at 4,000,000,000,000 Degrees Celsius
Until the LHC finally gets up to full speed, Brookhaven National Lab’s Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) remains the world’s most powerful heavy ion smasher. And on Monday, they showed off some...
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Video: In Attempt at True VTOL, F-35 Makes Shortest, Slowest Landing Yet
To perfect the vertical and short takeoff and landing ability of the F-35 Lightning II, test pilots have been taking off and landing at progressively shorter distances and slower speeds, building up...
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Video: A Silent Rotor Blade Paves the Way for Super-Stealth Choppers
For all the government conspiracy militia nuts out there, I’ve got some good news and some bad news. The good news is that there is no such thing as silent, stealth black helicopters. The bad news is...
View ArticlePeePoo Bags Sterilize and Compost Human Waste Where Toilets Are a Luxury
The mismanagement of human waste is a serious health problem for the 2.6 billion people who don’t have regular access to toilets. In fact, in the slums of Kenya, waste management is so haphazard that...
View ArticlePhysics Student Petitions For “Hella” to Be Next SI Unit Prefix
Beloved by Bay Area natives and loathed by the rest of the country, the term “hella” has entered the general American lexicon thanks to the combined efforts of No Doubt and South Park. And now, if...
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