Adam Piore, Nautilus
In the 1980s, a bioengineer named Norm Heglund was doing field work in Kenya, hoping to uncover the secrets of locomotion. It was a good gig. Heglund and his team spent their days shooting wild animals with tranquilizer darts in Kenya's national parks then dragging them back to a research station, run by the East Africa Veterinary Research Organization, in nearby Muguga for testing.
Jeffrey Marlow, Discover
CHNOPS is one of science's most revered acronyms, an amalgamation of letters that rolls of the tongues of high school biology students and practicing researchers alike. It accounts for the six elements that comprise most biological molecules: carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorous, and sulfur.
Shahar Avin, Aeon
Perhaps your life, like that of many of my friends and relatives, has been improved by propranolol a beta-blocker that reduces the effects of stress hormones, and that's used to treat conditions such as high blood pressure, chest pain, an uneven heartbeat and migraines. It's considered one of the most important pharmaceutical breakthroughs of the 20th century.
Davide Castelvecchi, Nature
It feels like the entire universe is within a sphere that is maybe within a couple metres' radius, says topologist Henry Segerman at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater. He is describing, not an LSD trip, but his experience of exploring a curved universe in which the ordinary rules of geometry do not apply.
Nick Stockton, Wired
The feline approaches its prey. Slowly at first, then crescendoing to a pounce that lands near, but not on the unmoving target. The cat bats an investigatory paw, then claws its target and yanks it faceward. But the cat does not bare its fangs; it does not bite. It closes its eyes and rubs the preya sock flecked with bits of dried herbacross its whiskers, then falls to the ground, its body humming with purrs that oscillate into soft meows.
Andrew Masterson, Cosmos Magazine
The announcement of the Trappist-1 system in February, with seven rocky planets orbiting an ultracool dwarf star, sent ripples of excitement through astrobiologists everywhere.At least three of the planets looked like they were within the star's habitable zone the region in which water will remain liquid. On that level, at least, the trio seemed like very good candidates for hosting life.
Ethan Siegel, SWaB!
When the Apollo astronauts made their trips to the Moon, they were treated to a view that no human had ever seen before: a view of the Earth from our nearest neighboring world. While practically every one of us has seen the reverse view -- that of the Moon from the Earth's surface -- only a few dozen people (and a few lucky satellites) have ever seen what Earth looks like from the Moon's surface. What's the big difference? David Hurn wants to know:What would be brighter: a full moon or a full earth from the moon? Читать дальше...
Bruce Dorminey, Forbes
If President Trump were to champion space-based solar energy as a means of delivering unlimited, renewable electricity from Earth orbit, it's arguable that his administration could leave the U.S. and the world at large with a revolutionary new source of energy.
Jyllian Kemsley, C & E News
A nonprofit group today released a database tool chemists can use to share information about hazardous chemical reactions. Called the Chemical Safety Library, the tool was developed by a group that included representatives from pharmaceutical companies and academic institutions.
Steve Humble, The Conversation
After thousands of years of trying, mathematicians are still working out the number known as pi or . We typically think of pi as approximately 3.14 but the most successful attempt to calculate it more precisely worked out its value to over 13 trillion digits after the decimal point.
Caleb Scharf, Sci American
A new life awaits you in the off-world colonies! A chance to begin again in a golden land of opportunity and adventure!This meme-worthy quote from the 1982 movie Blade Runner drips with satirical intent. We hear it booming out from a gaudy, hovering billboard as it drifts over a dark, rain-soaked noir vision of the future Earth.
Beth Mole, Ars Tech
The longer a person uses opioids, the greater the risk of forming a deadly addiction. But just how long does it take to switch from being a short-term usersay, while you're dealing with pain after a surgeryto a long-term, potentially problematic user? A few weeks? A month?
Edward Archer, RCScience
Hillary Rodham Clinton was destined to be the 45th President of the United States. National, state, and even exit polls predicted a resounding victory. Yet, to the surprise of most (and the dismay of many), Donald Trump was elected. A myriad of post-mortems on the failure of the scientific' polls followed his election, yet few addressed the fundamental error: self-reported data.
Paul Ratner, Big Think
Why do people believe in conspiracy theories?First of all, it's not just a few loners on the internet - prior research indicates that half the American public believes in at least one conspiracy theory in any given year.
