|  Will the World's Largest Supercollider Spawn a Black Hole? (Op-Ed)  | Don Lincoln is a senior scientist at the U.S. Department of Energy's Fermilab, the United States' biggest Large Hadron Collider research institution. The most commonly mentioned is the idea that the LHC can make a black hole.
| Read More » To Prevent Another Dust Bowl, the US Must Sow the Right Seeds  | Diane Banegas currently works in the area of science delivery for the research arm of the U.S. Forest Service. This is especially true if the land is in an arid region with less than 11 inches (28 centimeters) of annual precipitation.
| Read More » Ancient armored mammal from Argentina was a huge armadillo  | By Will Dunham WASHINGTON (Reuters) - DNA coaxed out of a 12,000-year-old fossil from Argentina is providing unique insight into one of the strangest Ice Age giants: a tank-like mammal the size of a small car with a bulbous bony shell and a spiky, club-shaped tail. Scientists said on Monday their genetic research confirmed that the creature, named Doedicurus, was part of an extinct lineage of gigantic armadillos. Doedicurus was a plant-eater that weighed about a ton and roamed the pampas and savannas of South America, vanishing about 10,000 years ago along with many other large Ice Age animals.
| Read More » Thought-controlled prosthetic limbs possibly within reach, scientists say  | By Jarni Blakkarly SYDNEY (Reuters) - Thought-controlled prosthetic limbs, wheelchairs and computers may be available within a decade, say Australian scientists who are planning to conduct human trials next year on a high-tech implant that can pick up and transmit signals from the brain. Animals have already been tested with the device, called a stentrode, which is the size of a matchstick and planted inside a blood vessel near the brain. "The big breakthrough is that we now have a minimally invasive brain-computer interface device which is potentially practical for long-term use," said Terry O'Brien, head of medicine at the Department of Medicine and Neurology at the University of Melbourne. The current method for accessing brain signals requires complex open-brain surgery and becomes less effective over several months, which means it is rarely applied, he said.
| Read More » Thought-controlled prosthetic limbs possibly within reach, scientists say  | By Jarni Blakkarly SYDNEY (Reuters) - Thought-controlled prosthetic limbs, wheelchairs and computers may be available within a decade, say Australian scientists who are planning to conduct human trials next year on a high-tech implant that can pick up and transmit signals from the brain. Animals have already been tested with the device, called a stentrode, which is the size of a matchstick and planted inside a blood vessel near the brain. "The big breakthrough is that we now have a minimally invasive brain-computer interface device which is potentially practical for long-term use," said Terry O'Brien, head of medicine at the Department of Medicine and Neurology at the University of Melbourne. The current method for accessing brain signals requires complex open-brain surgery and becomes less effective over several months, which means it is rarely applied, he said.
| Read More » Volkswagen-Size Armored Mammal Is Armadillo Ancestor  | A new genetic analysis of the glyptodont, an ancient armored creature the size of a Volkswagen Beetle, reveals that it's closely related to the modern-day armadillo. "The data sheds light on the familial relations of an enigmatic creature that has fascinated many but was always shrouded in mystery," study researcher Hendrik Poinar, an evolutionary geneticist and physical anthropologist, said in a statement. Now, a genetic analysis shows that the glyptodont is nestled deeply within the armadillo family and should be treated like a close relative, the researchers said.
| Read More » Gorilla born by rare caesarean section delivery at British zoo  | A baby gorilla has been delivered by a rare caesarean section at a British zoo in an operation performed by a hospital gynaecologist, the zoo said on Tuesday. Professor David Cahill, a gynaecologist at a nearby hospital who has delivered hundreds of babies by caesarean but never a gorilla, was drafted in to perform the operation, one of just a handful ever carried out worldwide. "I have since been back to visit Kera and the baby gorilla, it was wonderful to see them both doing so well." The baby girl gorilla weighed just over a kilogram (2 lbs 10oz) at birth 11 days ago.
| Read More » Homesteading in Space: White House Science Office Seeks Sci-Fi Inspiration  | Roughly 70 space scientists, engineers, entrepreneurs, along with storytellers, artists, directors, and producers met to show their interest in science fiction and space exploration with a view toward future "homesteading" in space. Other co-sponsors were the National Academy of Sciences, Science & Entertainment Exchange, and the Museum of Science Fiction.
| Read More » 'Space Archaeologists' Show Spike in Looting at Egypt's Ancient Sites  | As economic and political instability rocked Egypt, looters increasingly plundered the country's archaeological sites, leaving holes across the nation's ancient landscapes. That's the trend reported today in the journal Antiquity by archaeologists who used satellite images to monitor sites in Egypt from 2002 to 2013. For the last several years, "space archaeologist" Sarah Parcak, an associate professor of anthropology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, has pored over satellite images to discover lost pyramids, tombs and cities buried in Egypt.
| Read More » Dreamlike Seahorse Picture Snags Top Prize  | Lopresti's striking photo of a spiny seahorse in waters near Trieste, Italy, rose above submissions from entrants in 54 countries in the the annual Underwater Photographer of the Year (UPY) contest. The image, titled "Gold," also claimed first place in the contest's macro photography category. Motion blur in the waves conveys the undulation of moving water, while the sharply focused and brilliantly yellow seahorse's head and body emerge from the deep blue sea surrounding it.
| Read More » Scientists Find 8 New Species of Spider with Whiplike Legs  | A pair of elongated, whiplike legs that are actually sophisticated environment sensors distinguish an unusual arachnid known as the whip spider, also called the tailless whip scorpion. Scientists recently described eight new species of this long-legged spider that are native to Brazil, nearly doubling the number of known species in the genus Charinus. Thanks to the new species discoveries, Brazil now boasts the greatest diversity of whip spiders in the world.
| Read More » Scientists Isolate Antibodies That Fight Ebola  | An Ebola survivor's blood and a new technique for isolating immune cells may have opened up new ways to combat the deadly virus.
| Read More » Come on, Already! Impatience Linked to Chromosome Length Impatient people may be more likely to have shorter telomeres, parts of human chromosomes that that tend to get shorter as people age, according to a new study. Read More » Small Weight Loss Leads to Big Health Gains Losing just 5 percent of your body weight can have significant positive effects on your health, a new small study finds. Read More » Young Adults Ignore Stroke Symptoms That Could Save Their Lives (Op-Ed)  | Dr. David Liebeskind is director of outpatient stroke and neurovascular programs and director of the Neurovascular Imaging Research Core at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center. He contributed this article to Live Science's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights
| Read More » 10 Reasons California Is 'Greener' than New York (Op-Ed)  | @deaton_jeremy. Deaton contributed this article, a response to " 10 Reasons NY is 'Greener' than CaliforniaExpert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights.
| Read More » 10 Reasons New York Is 'Greener' Than California (Op-Ed)  | 10 Reasons California Is 'Greener' Than New YorkExpert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights.
| Read More » Are Genetic Weapons the Best Tools to Fight Zika Virus? (Op-Ed) Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. Read More » | |
