So say some of our leading scientists. Of course, not all experts agree. Carl Sagan, the inspiration behind the films ET and Contact, thought that we should spend big bucks combing the cosmos for much more intelligent life somewhere else. He even thought that such life, being benign and otherwise more "evolved"...
Deciding what to do with your money is a complex decision, requiring lots of different parts of the brain to work together. But just before you make your conscious decision, a single neuron can reveal what you're going to choose. The brain assembles a complex network of different areas that can evaluate the various benefits of...
All hail the nano-scientists. A group from the University of Texas, in Dallas, has developed a new technique using nanotubes that can spin yarns out of powders--specifically, powdered boron and magnesium. Though the research is in early stages, one of the coolest possible applications could be wearable power supplies. "Powders are very important functional materials because...
On the order of Charles and Ray Eames’ Powers of Ten, here’s an interactive graphic that helps one visually comprehend relationships of scale. Move the giant slider to zoom in and out to view the relative size of various things ranging from seriously microscopic out to seriously far-off deep space. (link)...
Suren Manvelyan is a photographer and physics teacher. He’s created a series of detailed images of the human eye called “Your Beautiful Eyes”: The 34-year-old from Yerevan, Armenia, explains: “It is quite natural when you shoot macro shots of insects and plants, but to try to make a picture of the eye? I did not...
Oh, to be young again. Three travelers were selected via an online vote to go on a year-long adventure that took them through 186 countries covering 275,000 miles. This event was Coca-Cola’s Expedition 206. The participants were Tony from Munich, Germany; Kelly from Martelange, Belgium, and Antonio from Mexico City, Mexico. (link) The goal of this...
What do you get the chemistry professor who has everything? The world’s smallest periodic table etched on a single strand of his own hair, of course. (link)...