Scientists announced today that “life” as we know it may not be…well, as we knew it. A microbe was discovered that uses arsenic to replicate and grow (no phosphorous in its DNA)–changing the notions of what the fundamental building blocks…
Exciting news today as scientists announce the successful entrapment of antimatter. According to Nature: [A] research collaboration at CERN, Europe’s particle-physics lab near Geneva, Switzerland, has managed, 38 times, to confine single antihydrogen atoms in a magnetic trap for more…
I’m a fan of IDEO, the “design consulting” firm that’s made a name for itself with multidisciplinary approaches to problem solving. Their OpenIDEO site throws challenge prompts out to the net at-large. One of their current challenges is rather big…
Since it’s been too long since my last post, here’s a quick primer on team cycling for all you curious folks out there! >> Link: How do cycling teams work? | Slate Magazine
“Mandelbrot set” may sound like complicated math. But many of us already recognize these sets as “fractals” — a term that Dr. Mandelbrot coined. I remember reading about the Mandelbrot set in college. I didn’t realize at the time that…
After wondering for years about how curveballs curve and breaking balls break, we can finally rest easy knowing that the rules of physics are not being violated on the pitchers mound! ScienceNOW reports on how curveballs are the mental effects…
This is like magnifying glasses and ants, only a mega casino is the magnifying glass and tourists are the ants. Somewhere in that analogy there’s poetry… Check out how the hot Las Vegas sun gets intensified to fry sunbathers at…
Astronomers report that they’ve found a rocky planet with an atmosphere that could support life — and it’s orbiting a star only 20 light years from our Sun. (Apologies to any extra-terrestrial readers for my heliocentric slant.) >> Link: Astronomers…
I grew up with heat and humidity in Houston, so most days I don’t complain. But today’s heat across Los Angeles and southern California is extreme. It’s 115 degrees Fahrenheit in downtown LA! Check out this map for more: Check…
According to an article in the Daily Trojan (the college paper at the University of Southern California), last week 2 representatives of a pro-Israel group were removed from an open meeting at the request of organizations petitioning for California’s divestment…