Laser demonstration reveals bright future for space communication
(Phys.org) —The completion of the 30-day Lunar Laser Communication Demonstration or LLCD mission has revealed that the possibility of expanding broadband capabilities in space using laser...
View ArticleWalking the walk: What sharks, honeybees and humans have in common
A mathematical pattern of movement called a Lévy walk describes the foraging behavior of animals from sharks to honey bees, and now for the first time has been shown to describe human hunter-gatherer...
View ArticleStudy faults a 'runaway' mechanism in intermediate-depth earthquakes
Nearly 25 percent of earthquakes occur more than 50 kilometers below the Earth's surface, when one tectonic plate slides below another, in a region called the lithosphere. Scientists have thought that...
View ArticleCone snails are for life and not just at Christmas
Those who fly to tropical shores this Christmas in search of sea and sun may be unaware that an exotic shell picked from the beach could potentially bring relief to many thousands of people suffering...
View ArticleNew approach to vertex connectivity could maximize networks' bandwidth
Computer scientists are constantly searching for ways to squeeze ever more bandwidth from communications networks.
View ArticleCassini sees Saturn and moons in holiday dress
(Phys.org) —This holiday season, feast your eyes on images of Saturn and two of its most fascinating moons, Titan and Enceladus, in a care package from NASA's Cassini spacecraft. All three bodies are...
View ArticleAstronauts poised for second spacewalk to repair station
Two American astronauts prepared to step out Tuesday on a rare Christmas Eve spacewalk to wrap up repairs to the cooling system at the International Space Station, NASA said.
View ArticleIndonesia cave reveals history of ancient tsunamis
A cave discovered near the source of Indonesia's massive earthquake-spawned tsunami contains the footprints of past gigantic waves dating up to 7,500 years ago, a rare natural record that suggests the...
View ArticleNASA carbon sleuth gets simulated taste of space
(Phys.org) —A NASA observatory that will make the most precise, highest-resolution and most complete, space-based measurements of carbon dioxide in Earth's atmosphere to date has marked a key milestone...
View ArticleMars Express heading towards daring flyby of Phobos (w/ Video)
(Phys.org) —Late this month, ESA's Mars Express will make the closest flyby yet of the Red Planet's largest moon Phobos, skimming past at only 45 km above its surface.
View ArticleCarbon dioxide study adds to picture of global carbon cycle
(Phys.org) —One of the most widely known compounds on Earth is carbon dioxide, or CO2. We learn as children that CO2 is a key component of photosynthesis, the process by which plants, algae, and...
View ArticleScientists highlight the resurrection of extinct animals as both a strong...
(Phys.org) —Scientists from across the world have "scanned the horizon" in order to identify potentially significant medium and long-term threats to conservation efforts.
View ArticlePiglets glow green, thanks to cytoplasmic injection reproductive technique
(Phys.org) —Along with red, green is the color of this holiday season. And bright green is showing up in more than just decorations. In Guangdong Province in Southern China, ten transgenic piglets...
View ArticleAstronauts wrap up successful spacewalk to fix station (Update 4)
Two NASA astronauts wrapped up successful repairs at the International Space Station on Tuesday after a rare Christmas Eve spacewalk to fix an equipment cooling system.
View ArticleNew Study Brings Scientists Closer to the Origin of RNA
(Phys.org) —One of the biggest questions in science is how life arose from the chemical soup that existed on early Earth. One theory is that RNA, a close relative of DNA, was the first genetic molecule...
View ArticleHow effective are renewable energy subsidies? Maybe not effective as...
(Phys.org) —Renewable energy subsidies have been a politically popular program over the past decade. These subsidies have led to explosive growth in wind power installations across the United States,...
View ArticleStudy highlights snowball effect of overfishing
Florida State University researchers have spearheaded a major review of fisheries data that examines the domino effect that occurs when too many fish are harvested from one habitat.
View ArticleNew circuit design allows for elimination of laptop charger brick
(Phys.org) —Power electronics maker FINsix Corporation has announced the development of what is being called the world's smallest laptop adaptor—one that is just a quarter the size of traditional...
View ArticleSuper rich benefit from 'status quo bias'
(Phys.org) —Income inequality – between the super-rich and the rest of us – and a sorry record of progressive policy initiatives from Congress all can be traced to a built-in "status quo bias" in our...
View ArticleResearchers bring radio-frequency identification technology to the supply chain
In 2000, five MIT Media Lab alumni co-founded ThingMagic to help bring radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology—wireless readers and data-transmitting tags—to the supply chain. This meant...
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