DARPA has released information about a new, chameleon-like soft robot that has a range of capabilities and can be produced at a very low cost. DARPA hopes the new “hiding in plain sight” robot will be used by various defense agencies for many types of missions. The robot can walk on its own, glow, carry…
According to a NOAA-led paper published in the journal Conservation Biology, high levels of background noise, mainly due to ships, have reduced the ability of critically endangered North Atlantic right whales to communicate with each other by about two-thirds. From 2007 until 2010, scientists used an array of acoustic recorders to monitor noise levels, measure…
When well-meaning campaigners want us to pay attention to global warming, they often end up pitching beyond the facts. And, while this may seem justified by a noble goal, such “policy by panic” tactics rarely work, and often backfire. Remember how, in the wake of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Al Gore (and many others) claimed…
Small increases in temperature may have reduced the industrial and agricultural production of poor countries, according to a study by U.S. economists. Higher temperatures may also have contributed to political instability in these countries — defined as those with below-median per capita income, adjusted for the purchasing power of the country’s currency — according to…
Potentially huge news published today in the journal Cell is the result of two years of collaboration between teams lead by Jay Bradner of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Martin Matzuk Baylor College of Medicine. Bradner, who is also an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, explains the origins of this research as…
A new report based on input from the science community outlines the most pressing objectives over the next decade for studying the sun and the far-reaching effects of solar activity. The report, released by the National Research Council, identifies specific science goals and provides recommendations for how to maintain robust and effective programs despite budgetary…
There’s no place on Earth that’s changing faster – and no place where that change matters more – than Greenland. Late last month, NASA reported that ice all across the vast glacial interior of the world’s largest island was melting – a “freak event” that hadn’t occurred for at least 150 years. The alarming discovery…
The common ancestor of sharks and humans — and all jawed animals with a backbone for that matter — possessed a sixth sense: the ability to detect electrical fields under water. The anatomical tools for this ability, called electroreceptors and electrosensory ampullary organs, arose from the same cell population in both cartilaginous fishes (such as…
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is hosting a competition to reinvent the toilet for the 2.5 billion people around the world who don’t have access to modern sanitation. Entries must operate without running water, electricity or a septic system, not discharge pollutants, capture energy or other resources, and operate at a cost of 5…
Scientists at the UK’s National Physical Laboratory (NPL) have managed to produce a solid-state maser — a device similar to a laser which uses microwaves instead of light — capable of operating at room temperature, potentially opening the way for a revolution in deep space communication. Masers are currently used to boost radio signals from…