Celebrated neuroscientist Michael S. Gazzaniga explains the new science behind an ancient philosophical question.
A series of storms that hit Scotland’s Shetland Islands over the holidays revealed what archaeologists believe could be 2,000-year-old human remains. Local archaeologist Chris Dyer said the ancient skeleton looked as if it were contemporary with the remains of Iron Age structures revealed nearby. Researchers then identified evidence of one or possibly two more burials…
Scientists at Denmark’s Niels Bohr Institute have figured out a cool new way to lower the temperature of hot semiconductors. In a seemingly paradoxical new study, the scientists showed that light from a laser caused the temperature of semiconductor material to drop–and not by just a few degrees. The temperature fell to -269 Celsius –…
Scientists are keeping a close eye on a big asteroid that may pose an impact threat to Earth in a few decades. The space rock, which is called 2011 AG5, is about 460 feet wide. It may come close enough to Earth in 2040 that some researchers are calling for a discussion about how to…
NASA’s battle cry behind the small armada of orbiters, landers and rovers dispatched to Mars is “follow the water!” Where there’s water, there could be life, which needs a solvent like water to assemble the complex macromolecules needed for living systems. Mars is covered with geological evidence that it was once a soggy planet. But…
Climate Innovation Centers can promote clean technologies but need backing with a coordinated effort
Four years ago, NASA launched the Kepler space telescope in an attempt to learn just how common Earth-sized worlds are in the Milky Way galaxy. Now, scientists have unveiled part of the answer: About 17 percent – one in six – of Kepler’s target stars have Earth-sized worlds orbiting closer to their parent stars than…