Your appendix might serve an important biological function after all
One of the first things you learn about evolution in school is that the human body has a number of 'vestigial' parts - appendix, wisdom teeth, tailbone - that gradually fell out of use as we adapted to more advanced lifestyles than our primitive ancestors.
But while our wisdom teeth are definitely causing us more pain than good right now, the human appendix could be more than just a ticking time bomb sitting in your abdomen. A new study says it could actually serve an important biological function - and one that humans aren’t ready to give up.
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@EverythingScience
One of the first things you learn about evolution in school is that the human body has a number of 'vestigial' parts - appendix, wisdom teeth, tailbone - that gradually fell out of use as we adapted to more advanced lifestyles than our primitive ancestors.
But while our wisdom teeth are definitely causing us more pain than good right now, the human appendix could be more than just a ticking time bomb sitting in your abdomen. A new study says it could actually serve an important biological function - and one that humans aren’t ready to give up.
Article
@EverythingScience
Telegraph
Your appendix might serve an important biological function after all
One of the first things you learn about evolution in school is that the human body has a number of 'vestigial' parts - appendix, wisdom teeth, tailbone - that gradually fell out of use as we adapted to more advanced lifestyles than our primitive ancestors.But…
‘Mars’ Event Series Renewed For Season 2 By National Geographic | Deadline
http://deadline.com/2017/01/mars-event-series-renewed-season-2-national-geographic-tca-1201885744/
For past and future episodes join:
Mars - National Geographic
http://deadline.com/2017/01/mars-event-series-renewed-season-2-national-geographic-tca-1201885744/
For past and future episodes join:
Mars - National Geographic
Deadline
‘Mars’ Event Series Renewed For Season 2 By National Geographic – TCA
National Geographic has given the green light to a second season of Mars, its global event series from Brian Grazer and Ron Howard.
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket will deliver 10 satellites to low-Earth orbit for Iridium, a global leader in mobile voice and data satellite communications. The 10 satellites are the first of at least 70 satellites that SpaceX will be launching for Iridium’s next generation global satellite constellation, Iridium NEXT.
SpaceX is targeting launch of Iridium-1 from Space Launch Complex 4E at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The instantaneous launch window opens on January 14 at 5:54:39 pm UTC.
The satellites will begin deployment about an hour after launch.
NOTE: The official LIVE webcast will begin in 11 hours on following links:
Iridium-1 Hosted Webcast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTmbSur4fcs
Iridium-1 Technical Webcast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7WimRhydggo
And the discussions for the same will be held in:
@Fizikx and @Everythingsciencechat
Be sure to join us there!
SpaceX is targeting launch of Iridium-1 from Space Launch Complex 4E at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The instantaneous launch window opens on January 14 at 5:54:39 pm UTC.
The satellites will begin deployment about an hour after launch.
NOTE: The official LIVE webcast will begin in 11 hours on following links:
Iridium-1 Hosted Webcast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTmbSur4fcs
Iridium-1 Technical Webcast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7WimRhydggo
And the discussions for the same will be held in:
@Fizikx and @Everythingsciencechat
Be sure to join us there!
YouTube
Iridium-1 Hosted Webcast
Mini fire extinguishers inside lithium batteries may stop blazes
How do you stop your smartphone from bursting into flames? Implant a tiny fire extinguisher inside the battery.
Lithium-ion batteries are used in phones, laptops and other portable devices because they are lightweight and highly efficient. However, they also carry a fire risk due to their flammable liquid components.
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@EverythingScience
How do you stop your smartphone from bursting into flames? Implant a tiny fire extinguisher inside the battery.
Lithium-ion batteries are used in phones, laptops and other portable devices because they are lightweight and highly efficient. However, they also carry a fire risk due to their flammable liquid components.
Article
@EverythingScience
Telegraph
Mini fire extinguishers inside lithium batteries may stop blazes
How do you stop your smartphone from bursting into flames? Implant a tiny fire extinguisher inside the battery. Lithium-ion batteries are used in phones, laptops and other portable devices because they are lightweight and highly efficient. However, they also…
SpaceX lands its Falcon 9 rocket at sea, following first launch since August
Following today’s rocket launch, SpaceX successfully landed its Falcon 9 on the company’s drone ship in the Pacific Ocean. It’s the first landing SpaceX has done since August, and the fifth time one of these vehicles has landed at sea. However, this marks SpaceX’s first launch in the Pacific and the first landing for the drone ship “Just Read The Instructions.” The feat brings the total number of recovered SpaceX rockets to seven, as two other Falcon 9 vehicles have successfully touched down on solid ground after a launch.
Article
@EverythingScience
Following today’s rocket launch, SpaceX successfully landed its Falcon 9 on the company’s drone ship in the Pacific Ocean. It’s the first landing SpaceX has done since August, and the fifth time one of these vehicles has landed at sea. However, this marks SpaceX’s first launch in the Pacific and the first landing for the drone ship “Just Read The Instructions.” The feat brings the total number of recovered SpaceX rockets to seven, as two other Falcon 9 vehicles have successfully touched down on solid ground after a launch.
Article
@EverythingScience
Telegraph
SpaceX lands its Falcon 9 rocket at sea, following first launch since August
Following today’s rocket launch, SpaceX successfully landed its Falcon 9 on the company’s drone ship in the Pacific Ocean. It’s the first landing SpaceX has done since August, and the fifth time one of these vehicles has landed at sea. However, this marks…
For all news about SpaceX and the future of space travel join: @SpaceX
We now know bacteria can communicate electrically, and we should be worried
We already have a lot to worry about when it comes to bacteria, as more and more strains becoming resistant to our dwindling arsenal of antibiotics. Last year, a woman in the US was killed by a superbug resistant to every antibiotic available.
But scientists continue to discover more worrying facts about the apparently simple, single-cell organisms we call bacteria: such as the way they beam out electrical signals to recruit other species to join their communities.
Article
@EverythingScience
We already have a lot to worry about when it comes to bacteria, as more and more strains becoming resistant to our dwindling arsenal of antibiotics. Last year, a woman in the US was killed by a superbug resistant to every antibiotic available.
But scientists continue to discover more worrying facts about the apparently simple, single-cell organisms we call bacteria: such as the way they beam out electrical signals to recruit other species to join their communities.
Article
@EverythingScience
Telegraph
We now know bacteria can communicate electrically, and we should be worried
We already have a lot to worry about when it comes to bacteria, as more and more strains becoming resistant to our dwindling arsenal of antibiotics. Last year, a woman in the US was killed by a superbug resistant to every antibiotic available. But scientists…
We know we are – but what else is conscious too?
WHEN I was a psychology student in the 1970s, there was a widespread view that the study of consciousness was a passport to irrelevance. Now many scientists grapple with it and anyone who cracks the problem can certainly expect a call from Stockholm.
Philosophers have pondered the issue for millennia and, understandably, are not going to be shoved aside by newcomers armed with electrodes and MRI scanners. Michael Tye, however, is not a neuroscientist, but a physicist turned philosopher, who for the last decade or so has been considering the evidence we use to determine whether other organisms are conscious.
Article
@EverythingScience
WHEN I was a psychology student in the 1970s, there was a widespread view that the study of consciousness was a passport to irrelevance. Now many scientists grapple with it and anyone who cracks the problem can certainly expect a call from Stockholm.
Philosophers have pondered the issue for millennia and, understandably, are not going to be shoved aside by newcomers armed with electrodes and MRI scanners. Michael Tye, however, is not a neuroscientist, but a physicist turned philosopher, who for the last decade or so has been considering the evidence we use to determine whether other organisms are conscious.
Article
@EverythingScience
Telegraph
We know we are – but what else is conscious too?
WHEN I was a psychology student in the 1970s, there was a widespread view that the study of consciousness was a passport to irrelevance. Now many scientists grapple with it and anyone who cracks the problem can certainly expect a call from Stockholm. Philosophers…
To the Moon! Private Team Fully Funded for Google Lunar X Prize Race
One of the teams vying to win a $30 million race to the moon has locked up all the funding needed for its lunar mission, team members said.
The GLXP is offering $20 million to the first privately funded team that lands a spacecraft on the moon, moves the vehicle at least 1,640 feet (500 meters) on the lunar surface and has the craft beam high-resolution imagery back to Earth. The second team to do all this gets $5 million. An additional $5 million is available for various special accomplishments, bringing the total purse to $30 million.
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@EverythingScience
One of the teams vying to win a $30 million race to the moon has locked up all the funding needed for its lunar mission, team members said.
The GLXP is offering $20 million to the first privately funded team that lands a spacecraft on the moon, moves the vehicle at least 1,640 feet (500 meters) on the lunar surface and has the craft beam high-resolution imagery back to Earth. The second team to do all this gets $5 million. An additional $5 million is available for various special accomplishments, bringing the total purse to $30 million.
Article
@EverythingScience
Telegraph
To the Moon! Private Team Fully Funded for Google Lunar X Prize Race
One of the teams vying to win a $30 million race to the moon has locked up all the funding needed for its lunar mission, team members said. Moon Express — one of five teams still competing for the Google Lunar X Prize (GLXP) — has secured $20 million in "Series…
Global sea ice is at lowest level ever recorded
It’s a new low point. The area of the world’s oceans covered by floating sea ice is the smallest recorded since satellite monitoring began in the 1970s. That means it is also probably the lowest it has been for thousands of years.
Article
@EverythingScience
It’s a new low point. The area of the world’s oceans covered by floating sea ice is the smallest recorded since satellite monitoring began in the 1970s. That means it is also probably the lowest it has been for thousands of years.
Article
@EverythingScience
Telegraph
Global sea ice is at lowest level ever recorded
It’s a new low point. The area of the world’s oceans covered by floating sea ice is the smallest recorded since satellite monitoring began in the 1970s. That means it is also probably the lowest it has been for thousands of years.The latest observations from…
Electronic gene control could let us plug bacteria into devices
We don’t usually welcome bugs in digital technology, but that’s about to change. Researchers have developed a way to control bacterial genes at the flick of a switch using electricity.
Synthetic biologists are eager to find ways to connect engineered organisms to electronics, so we can make living components for devices.
The ability of custom-made microbes to sense the environment and make biological molecules would be particularly valuable for devices that work inside the body, says William Bentley at the University of Maryland.
Article
@EverythingScience
We don’t usually welcome bugs in digital technology, but that’s about to change. Researchers have developed a way to control bacterial genes at the flick of a switch using electricity.
Synthetic biologists are eager to find ways to connect engineered organisms to electronics, so we can make living components for devices.
The ability of custom-made microbes to sense the environment and make biological molecules would be particularly valuable for devices that work inside the body, says William Bentley at the University of Maryland.
Article
@EverythingScience
Telegraph
Electronic gene control could let us plug bacteria into devices
We don’t usually welcome bugs in digital technology, but that’s about to change. Researchers have developed a way to control bacterial genes at the flick of a switch using electricity. Synthetic biologists are eager to find ways to connect engineered organisms…
Drug-resistant "nightmare bacteria" are quickly spreading through US hospitals
Uh oh
Researchers have found evidence that drug-resistant superbugs, which have been labelled "nightmare bacteria", are spreading faster and more stealthily inside US hospitals than previously thought.
In the US, the bacteria, known as carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE), infect roughly 9,300 people per year, and kill around 600. And now researchers think they might spread from person to person asymptomatically - which explains why doctors are often unable to detect it.
Article
@EverythingScience
Uh oh
Researchers have found evidence that drug-resistant superbugs, which have been labelled "nightmare bacteria", are spreading faster and more stealthily inside US hospitals than previously thought.
In the US, the bacteria, known as carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE), infect roughly 9,300 people per year, and kill around 600. And now researchers think they might spread from person to person asymptomatically - which explains why doctors are often unable to detect it.
Article
@EverythingScience
Telegraph
Drug-resistant "nightmare bacteria" are quickly spreading through US hospitals
Researchers have found evidence that drug-resistant superbugs, which have been labelled "nightmare bacteria", are spreading faster and more stealthily inside US hospitals than previously thought.In the US, the bacteria, known as carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae…
2016 confirmed as the hottest year on record
Another uh oh...
Last year was the hottest year on record globally, beating 2015’s exceptionally high temperatures, the World Meteorological Organisation said today.
The global average temperature in 2016 was 1.1°C higher than pre-industrial levels and about 0.07°C higher than the previous record set in 2015, the organisation said.
Along with record temperatures, other long-term indicators humans are changing the climate reached new heights in 2016, including levels of greenhouse gases and melting ice, the WMO said.
Article
@EverythingScience
Another uh oh...
Last year was the hottest year on record globally, beating 2015’s exceptionally high temperatures, the World Meteorological Organisation said today.
The global average temperature in 2016 was 1.1°C higher than pre-industrial levels and about 0.07°C higher than the previous record set in 2015, the organisation said.
Along with record temperatures, other long-term indicators humans are changing the climate reached new heights in 2016, including levels of greenhouse gases and melting ice, the WMO said.
Article
@EverythingScience
Telegraph
2016 confirmed as the hottest year on record
Last year was the hottest year on record globally, beating 2015’s exceptionally high temperatures, the World Meteorological Organisation said today. The global average temperature in 2016 was 1.1°C higher than pre-industrial levels and about 0.07°C higher…
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Zebra shark makes world-first switch from sexual to asexual reproduction
A zebra shark (Stegostoma fasciatum) in Australia has become the first recorded case of a shark switching from sexual to asexual reproduction.
In April last year, Leonie gave birth to three pups called Cleo, CC, and Gemini in a Queensland aquarium. This sweet but otherwise unremarkable tale would have gone unnoticed by the science world if it weren't for one key detail: Leonie hadn't mated with a male shark since 2012.
Article
@EverythingScience
A zebra shark (Stegostoma fasciatum) in Australia has become the first recorded case of a shark switching from sexual to asexual reproduction.
In April last year, Leonie gave birth to three pups called Cleo, CC, and Gemini in a Queensland aquarium. This sweet but otherwise unremarkable tale would have gone unnoticed by the science world if it weren't for one key detail: Leonie hadn't mated with a male shark since 2012.
Article
@EverythingScience
Telegraph
Zebra shark makes world-first switch from sexual to asexual reproduction
A zebra shark (Stegostoma fasciatum) in Australia has become the first recorded case of a shark switching from sexual to asexual reproduction. In April last year, Leonie gave birth to three pups called Cleo, CC, and Gemini in a Queensland aquarium. This sweet…
Physicists say they've manipulated 'pure nothingness' and observed the fallout
According to quantum mechanics, a vacuum isn't empty at all. It's actually filled with quantum energy and particles that blink in and out of existence for a fleeting moment - strange signals that are known as quantum fluctuations.
For decades, there had only ever been indirect evidence of these fluctuations, but back in 2015, researchers claimed to have detected the theoretical fluctuations directly. And now the same team says they've gone a step further, having manipulated the vacuum itself, and detecting the changes in these strange signals in the void.
Article
@EverythingScience
According to quantum mechanics, a vacuum isn't empty at all. It's actually filled with quantum energy and particles that blink in and out of existence for a fleeting moment - strange signals that are known as quantum fluctuations.
For decades, there had only ever been indirect evidence of these fluctuations, but back in 2015, researchers claimed to have detected the theoretical fluctuations directly. And now the same team says they've gone a step further, having manipulated the vacuum itself, and detecting the changes in these strange signals in the void.
Article
@EverythingScience
Telegraph
Physicists say they've manipulated 'pure nothingness' and observed the fallout
According to quantum mechanics, a vacuum isn't empty at all. It's actually filled with quantum energy and particles that blink in and out of existence for a fleeting moment - strange signals that are known as quantum fluctuations.For decades, there had only…