Researchers at Rice University and Penn State University have discovered that adding a dash of boron to carbon while creating nanotubes turns them into solid, spongy, reusable blocks that have an astounding ability to absorb oil spilled in water. That’s one of a range of potential innovations for the material created in a single step….
Orangutans show remarkably advanced engineering skills when making nests, said researchers following and filming the apes in the forests of Sumatra. The study, published in the journal PNAS, reveals that the apes select thick branches for a scaffold and thinner branches for a springy mattress. Roland Ennos from the University of Manchester, a senior member…
The Greenland Ice Sheet is accelerating in its slide into the ocean, like snow sliding off a roof on a sunny day. According to the University of Colorado Boulder, massive releases of meltwater from surface lakes are speeding up sea level rise. During summer, meltwater pools into lakes on the ice sheet’s surface. When the…
The pesky reality that the universe’s expansion is accelerating — an observation that prompted astronomers to invoke an unknown entity called dark energy to explain it — has been further confirmed by new measurements. Scientists have used cosmic magnifying glasses called gravitational lenses to observe super-bright distant galaxies, giving a measure of how quickly the…
Fertilizers used in growing feed crops for cattle produce the most potent of the greenhouse gases causing climate change
Despite government efforts to ban unapproved stem cell treatments, companies around China still offer them openly.
Brain size and smarts are, to some extent, genetic — and now, a team of more than 200 researchers has uncovered specific genes that are linked to both brain volume and IQ. Though scientists have suggested bigger brains are “smarter,” this study is the strongest case yet for a genetic connection to brain size and…
The Himalayan glaciers are the planet’s largest bodies of ice outside the polar caps. New research shows some Himalayan glaciers got bigger between 1999-2008.
Scientists and engineers worldwide can submit papers for a conference dedicated to brainstorming ideas for future Mars exploration.
Even though bacteria in Lechuguilla Cave have been cut off from the surface for millions of years and were never exposed to antibiotics for medicine or agriculture, most of the 93 strains analyzed in a new study are resistant to several antibiotics. Bacteria found in the cave have ways of fighting off up to 21…