Science

Researchers created a robot that could produce energy by consuming living organisms. The robot has a ‘mouth’ created from a soft polymer membrane. Through this membrane, food – or rather water containing living organisms – is pumped into the robot’s ‘stomach’, which contains a microbic fuel cell filled with bacteria. The bacteria dissolves living organisms, producing energy for the machine. …

A video posted to Facebook by Alaska’s Bureau of Land Management appears to show a “strange thing” swimming in the Chena River in Fairbanks — and many are excitedly speculating that it is either the Loch Ness monster or an American relative of the creature. The Chena River is a favorite haunt of Craig McCaa. He often takes photos of …

The largest marine reserve in the world has been created through an agreement sealed by 24 nations and the European Union (EU). The Ross Sea, a deep Antarctic Bay 3,500 kilometers south of New Zealand spanning 1.55 million square kilometers, has been designated as off-limits from commercial fishing and mineral exploitation. “This decision represents an almost unprecedented level of international …

This month – November 2016 – you’ll see why the word planet means wanderer. Venus will move away from the setting sun all month long, while Saturn will fall sunward this month. Saturn will fade from the evening sky by the month’s end, while Venus will remain an evening “star” for months to come. Thursday, offers up a nice conjunction …

NASA’s Curiosity rover has stumbled upon a metallic meteorite early last week. The meteorite has several unique and unusual features. Known as “Egg Rock” (due to its odd, ovoid appearance) this object has been identified as a small meteorites, most likely composed of nickel and iron. Arizona State University scientists studying photos taken by Curiosity’s ChemCam Remote Micro-Imager think the …

Researchers have come up with a new theory to account for the origins of our only satellite. The study was published Monday in the journal Nature. The new theory claims that the Moon and the Earth originated from one and the same material, that split apart as a result of a collision. The most popular theory of how the moon …

UFO hunters have been closely studying NASA images taken by the Mars rover Curiosity with the aim of spotting potential fossils. The most recent find by the ufologists is an image revealing what appears to look like the remains of a grizzly bear. A close-up of the image shown in a video published online sparked a discussion on whether the …

Scientists have found evidence that the oldest water in the world, which is deep below ground in northern Ontario, could have microbial life that is “alien” to life on the surface. “Microbial subsurface communities are often chemosynthetic, not photosynthetic,” says University Professor Barbara Sherwood Lollar in the department of earth sciences at the Faculty of Arts & Science. “In chemosynthesis, …

Japan plans to continue its whaling program with scientific ends despite the non-binding resolution recently approved by the International Whaling Commission (IWC) to increase surveillance on such activities, local media reported. Japan conducts its whaling under a self-issued permit, under Article VIII of the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling. This article allows a country to grant its nationals …

Astronomers studying data from NASA’s Kepler space telescope have observed a strange set of spooky stars that look just like giant pumpkins in the sky. The stars, which spin so fast they’ve been squashed into pumpkin-like shapes, are thought to be the result of close binary systems where two sun-like stars merge. The 18 stars rotate in just a few …

The European Space Agency’s Schiaparelli Mars lander, plummeting to the surface of the red planet last week after a malfunction during the final stages of its descent, hit the surface at some 180 mph, possibly exploding on impact and gouging out a shallow eight-foot-wide circular crater, officials said Thursday. The ESA says it’s confident the image shows the front heatshield …