How easy is it to create life? It happened here at least once. Does that give scientists studying the creation of life from non-life (abiogenesis) much to work with?
A suite of artificial intelligence algorithms may become the ultimate chemistry set. Software can now quickly predict a property of molecules from their theoretical structure. Similar advances should allow chemists to design new molecules on computers instead of by lengthy trial-and-error. Our physical understanding of the macroscopic world is so good that everything from bridges…
An area in the Amazon twice the size of California is experiencing what scientists call a “megadrought.” The prolonged drought, which began in 2005, has caused widespread damage to the area and may possibly be a sign that the rainforest is showing the first signs of large-scale degradation due to climate change. A research team,…
The dynamics of global innovation are changing as a result of the activities of emerging economies, according to The Global Innovation Index 2012. Countries like China, India – and even Paraguay and Sri Lanka – show that while innovative activity generally increases with income levels, good results can be achieved using their own innovation models….
In an upcoming paper for the journal Aquatic Mammals, a pair of scientists detail a series of interactions between an adult bottlenose dolphin with scoliosis and a group of sperm whales in the Azores. The scientists describe their research as the first time sperm whales have been observed interacting in a non-aggressive way with a…
A man fell to Earth from more than 24 miles high, becoming the first human to break the sound barrier under his own power — with some help from gravity. The man, Felix Baumgartner, an Austrian daredevil, made the highest and fastest jump in history after ascending by a helium balloon to an altitude of…
Chimpanzees have made headlines in recent years for several unprovoked attacks against humans, the latest just recently at the Jane Goodall Institute Chimpanzee Eden in South Africa. The severely injured victim, University of Texas graduate student Andrew Oberle was mauled by chimpanzees as he gave a lecture to about a dozen tourists. Oberle remains in…