Science

Science has finally explained why shoelaces become loose with the passage of time. A novel study by UC Berkeley mechanical engineers shows why shoelaces get untied with duration. The study was spearheaded by a group of mechanical engineers. While nearly everybody has stopped many times to tie their shoes, no one has asked the relevant question why these pesky shoelaces ... Read More »

Images taken by the Hubble Space Telescope show two different observations about Uranus: one photo shows the ring and the other shows auroras. The picture, which combines a Voyager 2 image and Hubble’s observations, shows cloud-like white spots where the auroras occurred. NASA’s Voyager 2 spacecraft visited Uranus in 1986 and Hubble has been eyeing the planet’s auroras since 2011. Read More »

Just a couple of genes are responsible for some of the longest running and most contentious arguments in evolutionary biology, a new study has shown. The study, led by Antonis Rokas of Vanderbilt University in Tennessee, US, analysed hundreds of thousands of genes sequenced from target organisms to try to resolve heredity issues that up until now have seemed intractable. ... Read More »

Researchers have attached cameras to whales to unlock the mysteries of their life in Antarctica… and it is revealing a bonanza of information. The Australian Antarctic Division said electronic tags with cameras and motion sensors were being placed on humpback whales off the Antarctic Peninsula in the Gerlache Strait. The tags were being attached via suction cups on the giant ... Read More »

NASA has scheduled a major press conference where it plans to reveal a new discovery about ‘ocean worlds in our solar system.’ A spokesperson for Nasa said: ‘These new discoveries will help inform future ocean world exploration – including Nasa’s upcoming Europa Clipper mission planned for launch in the 2020s – and the broader search for life beyond Earth.’ The ... Read More »

Two Russian cosmonauts and a US astronaut touched down safely in central Kazakhstan Monday following a 173-day mission aboard the International Space Station (ISS). Georgia Tech graduate Shane Kimbrough and two Russian cosmonauts undocked from the station 250 miles above the planet early Monday morning. They landed in Kazakhstan 3.5 hours later to officially end a 173-day mission that began ... Read More »

This is the incredible moment two stars collided 500 years ago, causing a spectacular explosion still visible from Earth. Astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) have examined the widely scattered debris from this explosive event, gaining new insights into the sometimes-fierce relationship among sibling stars. Shortly after starting to form some 100,000 years ago, several protostars in the ... Read More »

Peggy Whitson, NASA’s first female astronaut to have spent more cumulative time in space than any other, is en route to breaking another record. It seems that she is not satisfied with her record so far and is planning on staying for three more months at the International Space Station (ISS), surpassing her own numbers. On April 24th, Whitson will ... Read More »

In a breakthrough, scientists have found a new way that could help protect Australia’s iconic Great Barrier Reef by using the powers of attraction to decimate one of the reef’s fiercest enemies. Scientists at the University of Queensland in Australia have revealed that crown-of-thorns starfish gather in large numbers due to a release of pheromones — a scent they have ... Read More »

Astronomers have found an Earth-like planet with an atmosphere for the first time. The planet, GJ 1132b, is cloaked in a thick layer of gases composed of water, methane or a mixture of both, new research found. The exoplanet is 1.4-times the size of Earth and 39 light years away. Researchers observed how light from GJ 1132b’s host star interacted ... Read More »

Octopus, squid and cuttlefish don’t always follow the rules laid out in their DNA. Straying from prescribed genetic instructions may have increased the cephalopods’ thinking prowess, but comes at a cost, a new study suggests. Scientists have found several species of octopus, cuttlefish and squid can rewrite their RNA, the molecular middle men in the manufacture of proteins. The finding, ... Read More »