Farthest Galaxy Yet Smashes Cosmic Distance Record
The Hubble Space Telescope just calculated the distance to the most far-out galaxy ever measured, providing scientists with a look deep into the history of the universe. The far-away galaxy, named GN-z11, existed a mere 400 million years after the Big Bang, or about 13.3 billion years ago. Because the light from such a distant galaxy must travel huge distances to reach Earth, scientists are seeing the galaxy as it looked over 13 billion years ago. You can see the galaxy in this video fr..>> view originalWith artificial 'octopus skin,' robots can bend and stretch while changing color
Researchers developed artificial skin technology to make better robots. (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Imagine a wearable smartphone that could bend and stretch with your body, all while displaying a glittering array of colors. That's the eventual goal of this new octopus-inspired robotic "skin" from researchers at Cornell. It can stretch to six times its original size while still emitting light. Described in a study published Thursday in Science, this super-stretch..>> view originalHow massive volcanoes gave Mars a makeover
A large volcanic structure known as the Tharsis volcanic dome caused the Red Planet's surface to tilt by 20 to 25 degrees 3 billion to 3.5 billion years ago. Tharsis is home to the largest volcanoes in our solar system, and because of their mass they were able to spew out so much lava that the outer layers of Mars rotated around its core.Imagine if you had a peach and you twisted the fruit's flesh around its pit — that's what happened to Mars. Tharsis dome formed 3.7 billion years ago, and from ..>> view originalScott Kelly grew two inches during year-long space flight
When astronaut Scott Kelly arrived in Houston on Thursday morning (March 3), he was about two inches taller than when he left for the International Space Station a year before, according to NASA representatives. That's pretty normal for an astronaut, for without the full strength of gravity pressing down on gel-filled discs between the vertebrae, they expand and lengthen the spine. It's a weird but temporary side effect of spaceflight. But even if Kelly hadn't had his vitals checked immediatel..>> view originalThis tiny dragonfly makes record-breaking flights around the globe
The body and wings of the dragonfly Pantala flavescens have evolved in a way that lets the insect glide extraordinary distances on weather currents. (Greg Lasley) Imagine being just an inch and a half long and flapping your wings all the way across the ocean. This week, we're all buzzing with news of astronaut Scott Kelly's record-breaking flight on the International Space Station. But here at home, a much smaller organism may be circling the globe time and time again without accolades: Acc..>> view originalThe ugly truth behind those “cute baby bird” Internet memes
This Florida egret doesn't mind tossing a few of its chicks to the alligators. Everybody loves a cute picture of a baby bird, which is why the Internet is packed with shots of these tiny balls of fluff, watched over by their adoring parents. Nature's reality, however, is a lot less adorable. Many wading birds—including egrets, herons, and storks—actually feed their babies to local alligators in exchange for protection from other predators. A new study published in PLoS One explores the compl..>> view originalMystery of cosmic radio bursts grows even more intriguing (+video)
Like the pulse of a flashing light, a recently observed series of cosmic radio bursts defy their predecessors, which have been bright, singular blasts.Fast radio bursts, or FRBs, are a relatively new discovery. Since the first one was reported eight years ago, only 17 have been documented since. All of them have been isolated radio pulses that have occurred just a few milliseconds each – that is, until now. Perusing data collected by the hypersensitive Arecibo telescope in Puerto Rico, a team o..>> view originalStudy Finds Surprising Benefit of Viral DNA: Fighting Other Viruses
Photo Human chromosomes. Scientists have found that some fragments of viruses have become part of human biology and perform tasks that benefit us. Credit Biophoto Associates/Science Source What could be more alien than a virus? It’s a nanobiological weapon — a microscopic protein shell holding a few genes that hijack a cell’s internal machinery, forcing it to make new viruses. The battles we fight with these alien enemies brings malaise, scars and even death. Yet as ..>> view originalScientists find huge population of rare whales off Madagascar
More than a decade ago, Salvatore Cerchio went to Madagascar to study coastal dolphins. But his attention eventually shifted to a much bigger marine mammal – a rare species of whale that calls those waters home. Cerchio, who works for the New England Aquarium, discovered the Omura’s whale in waters off the island nation in 2013 and his team had 80 sightings of the whale last year. Much of their work during that time has been trying to better understand the behavior of a whale that until 2003 wa..>> view originalNew Critique Sees Flaws in Landmark Analysis of Psychology Studies
Photo Timothy Wilson, a professor of psychology at the University of Virginia, and other researchers challenged a landmark 2015 study that cast doubt on the results of dozens of psychology studies. Credit University of Virginia, via Reuters A landmark 2015 report that cast doubt on the results of dozens of published psychology studies has exposed deep divisions within the field, serving as a reality check for many working researchers but as an affront to others who co..>> view original
Thursday, March 3, 2016
Farthest Galaxy Yet Smashes Cosmic Distance Record and other top stories.
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