Greenland's shrunken ice sheet: We've been here before
Think Greenland's ice sheet is small today? It was smaller—as small as it has ever been in recent history—from 3-5,000 years ago, according to scientists who studied the ice sheet's history using a new...
View ArticleAcid raid, ozone depletion contributed to ancient extinction
Around 250 million years ago, at the end of the Permian period, there was a mass extinction so severe that it remains the most traumatic known species die-off in Earth's history. Some researchers have...
View Article'Wise chisels': Art, craftsmanship, and power tools (w/ Video)
It's often easy to tell at a glance the difference between a mass-produced object and one that has been handcrafted: The handmade item is likely to have distinctive imperfections and clear signs of an...
View ArticleNASA's solar observing fleet to watch Comet ISON's journey around the Sun
It began in the Oort cloud, almost a light year away. It has traveled for over a million years. It has almost reached the star that has pulled it steadily forward for so long. On Thanksgiving Day, Nov....
View ArticleTesla chief expects US to clear Model S in fires
The leader of upstart automaker Tesla Motors is confident that its Model S electric car is safe and will be cleared by a U.S. investigation into two battery fires.
View ArticleTwitter toughens encryption to thwart online snooping
Twitter on Friday announced it has toughened the encryption of traffic at the globally popular one-to-many messaging service to thwart online snooping.
View ArticleMore than a million Xbox One consoles sold on launch day
Microsoft on Friday crowed that more than a million Xbox One consoles were snapped up within 24 hours in 13 countries after hitting shelves for the first time in the morning.
View ArticleSurgeon test-drives Google Glass in the operating room
When Dr. Heather Evans, a trauma surgeon at Seattle's Harborview Medical Center, stepped into the operating room wearing an eyeglasses-like, Internet-connected device known as Google Glass, she quickly...
View ArticleElectric two-seater Volocopter is tested in Germany (w/ Video)
(Phys.org) —The flying machine looks something like a helicopter but it is quite different and is intended to be a future answer to the greening of noisy, vibration-heavy helicopters as we have known...
View ArticleIf gov't backs in-flight calls, will the airlines?
The Federal Communications Commission might be ready to permit cellphone calls in flight. But what about the airlines?
View ArticleCalm solar cycle prompts questions about impact on Earth
The surface of the sun has been surprisingly calm of late—with fewer sunspots than anytime in in the last century—prompting curious scientists to wonder just what it might mean here on Earth.
View ArticleHydroBee uses water from rivers or faucets to power phone (w/ Video)
(Phys.org) —Whether a person is residing off-grid, or on an outdoors adventure off-grid, finding a place to juice the smartphone is not always trivial. A Kickstarter project aims to interest people in...
View ArticleThe secrets of owls' near noiseless wings
Many owl species have developed specialized plumage to effectively eliminate the aerodynamic noise from their wings – allowing them to hunt and capture their prey in silence.
View ArticleThe physics of beer tapping
An old, hilarious if somewhat juvenile party trick involves covertly tapping the top of someone's newly opened beer bottle and then standing back as the suds foam out onto the floor.
View ArticleSounding rocket to peek at atmosphere of Venus
A week after launching a new orbiter to investigate the upper atmosphere of Mars, NASA is sending a sounding rocket to probe the atmosphere of Venus.
View ArticleSequencing study lifts veil on wine's microbial terroir
(Phys.org) —It's widely accepted that terroir—the unique blend of a vineyard's soils, water and climate—sculpts the flavor and quality of wine. Now a new study led by UC Davis researchers offers...
View ArticleLarge study shows pollution impact on coral reefs—and offers solution
One of the largest and longest experiments ever done to test the impact of nutrient loading on coral reefs today confirmed what scientists have long suspected – that this type of pollution from sewage,...
View ArticleAtlas teams head for DARPA Robotics Challenge
(Phys.org) —December 20 is a big day for teams competing in the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Robotics Challenge. The idea is to promote critical improvements in what robots can do...
View ArticlePollution yields longer-lasting storm clouds
(Phys.org) —A new study reveals how pollution causes thunderstorms to leave behind larger, deeper, longer lasting clouds. Appearing in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences November 26,...
View ArticleTime-lapse movies from an infrared microscope
(Phys.org) —Infrared beams produced at facilities like the National Synchrotron Light Source represent the lower-energy part of the emitted light spectrum, yet are still much brighter than other...
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