science – News Stories About science - Page 8

Why the Earth's Age Does, Actually, Matter in Politics

paul krugman

Nov 23, 2012 1:28 PM CST

Why the Earth's Age Does, Actually, Matter in Politics

Paul Krugman: Republican Party becoming increasingly 'anti-rational'

(Newser) - When Marco Rubio deflected a question about the Earth's age recently, the Florida senator argued that such issues have nothing to do with politics—but he's wrong, writes Paul Krugman in the New York Times . Let's not forget that Rubio himself once "provided powerful aid to...

'Bionic Man'
to Climb
Skyscraper

Oct 31, 2012 12:15 PM CDT

'Bionic Man' to Climb Skyscraper

He'll walk up all 103 flights to show off the new prosthetic leg

(Newser) - This Sunday, when Zac Vawter thinks "climb the stairs," he'll take the first step in what could be a very big development for prosthetic science. Vawter lost his right leg in a motorcycle accident in 2009, and has since been fitted with a prototype of the first...

Italy May Be Home to 'Dumbest Court in the World'

OPINIONs

Oct 23, 2012 3:48 PM CDT

Italy May Be Home to 'Dumbest Court in the World'

Earthquake verdict recalls Galileo for many

(Newser) - An Italian court has convicted six scientists for failing to predict a deadly earthquake, which, congratulations, puts it in the running for "dumbest court in the world," reads the headline to a post by Elie Mystal at the Above the Law blog. Prosecutors blamed the six for providing...

Science, Brought to You By...

Oct 18, 2012 7:14 AM CDT

Science, Brought to You By...

Red Bull Stratos could mark new age of advertising

(Newser) - When Felix Baumgartner jumped from the edge of space wearing prominent Red Bull logos on his spacesuit, advertising CEO Larry Woodard got excited. Could we, he asks in a column for ABC News , be on the verge of a new age of ad-sponsored science? "Red Bull stayed right on...

Nobel Winner Was
'Too Stupid for Science'

Oct 9, 2012 12:03 AM CDT

Nobel Winner Was 'Too Stupid for Science'

Schoolmaster urged stem-cell pioneer John Gurdon to study something else

(Newser) - Academic underachievers everywhere can take heart from the story of John Gurdon, the British professor who won this year's Nobel prize for medicine —64 years after being told it would be a "sheer waste of time" for him to study science. When he was 15, Gurdon was...

GOP Rep Blasts Evolution as Lie ‘Straight From Pit of Hell’

Oct 7, 2012 8:44 AM CDT

GOP Rep Blasts Evolution as Lie ‘Straight From Pit of Hell’

Paul Broun tells church group science meant to keep people from their savior

(Newser) - Rep. Paul Broun, a Georgia Republican and medical doctor whose musings on the president have landed him on the House Wingnut Index , is mincing no words on his views on evolution, reports Talking Points Memo . “God's word is true. All that stuff I was taught about evolution and...

Scientists Hunt
for Smallest
Objects in
Existence

Sep 17, 2012 5:43 PM CDT

Scientists Hunt for Smallest Objects in Existence

Superstring theory could help us measure one

(Newser) - The tiniest thing in the universe is not a grain of sand, as people once thought, nor a proton or neutron, or even a quark or electron—as small as they all are. In fact, experts today balk at naming any point-like object "the smallest" because of a theoretical...

'3-Parent Babies'
Could Soon Be
Legal in UK

Sep 17, 2012 4:45 AM CDT

'3-Parent Babies' Could Soon Be Legal in UK

Health secretary investigating risks, benefits

(Newser) - As the US continues to grapple with gay marriage, the British may be a step closer to legalizing three-parent babies. It's part of a scientific strategy to help eliminate debilitating genetic problems. The three-parent technique would involve using some healthy DNA from a third party who's not the...

First Snakes,
Now Spiders
Take Over Guam

Sep 14, 2012 5:13 PM CDT

First Snakes, Now Spiders Take Over Guam

Tree snakes devoured most of the spider-eating birds

(Newser) - First it was two million snakes . Now spiders are taking over Guam. The tiny island is experiencing a population explosion of arachnids because a vast, invasive army of snakes ate most of the native birds, the spiders' natural predator. Biologists say Guam's jungle currently holds 40 times more spiders...

Wedding Jitters Boost
Chance of Divorce

study says

Sep 14, 2012 4:15 PM CDT

Wedding Jitters Boost Chance of Divorce

Break-ups more common when wives are hesitant

(Newser) - Not so sure about getting hitched? You may want to call off the wedding—especially if you're a bride-to-be. A new study shows that wives who harbored pre-marriage doubts were two-and-a-half times more likely to end up divorcing their spouse four years later, reports LiveScience . And jittery couples who...

Face Shape:
It's All in
the Genes

scientists say

Sep 14, 2012 2:54 PM CDT

Face Shape: It's All in the Genes

DNA could one day provide forensic facial sketches

(Newser) - In the future, a single shred of DNA could reveal the image of a person's face, thanks to a new discovery. For the first time ever, scientists have found genetic code associated with determining facial structure. The five genes were located by measuring nearly 10,000 people's faces...

Scientists Turn
Water Droplets
Into Simple
Computer

Sep 7, 2012 3:00 PM CDT

Scientists Turn Water Droplets Into Simple Computer

Introducing 'superhydrophobic droplet logic'

(Newser) - Could the future of computers be water? Researchers in Finland may have laid the groundwork by converting water droplets into digital data. The concept came out of a discovery that water droplets on a water-repellent surface ricochet off each other like billiard balls, reports Science Daily . Scientists added tracks and...

New 'Quantum
Teleportation'
Record Wows
Scientists

Aug 18, 2012 4:57 PM CDT

New 'Quantum Teleportation' Record Wows Scientists

Photons send quantum information across 89 miles

(Newser) - Quantum teleportation won't beam you up to the Starship Enterprise—at least not yet. But scientists are able to tweak "entangled" photons at greater distances than ever before, Scientific American reports. In case you haven't been freaked out yet: Scientists can separate two photons by dozens of...

America's Worst Airport
for Spreading Disease Is ...

Jul 29, 2012 3:41 PM CDT

America's Worst Airport for Spreading Disease Is ...

... New York's JFK, scientists say

(Newser) - Which US airport is most likely to spread an infectious disease during an epidemic? This won't surprise New Yorkers: It's JFK. But its top ranking has nothing to do with dirtiness, reports the New York Daily News . MIT scientists who analyzed 40 of the biggest US airports compared...

Elderly Termites
Grow Suicide
Backpacks

weird science

Jul 27, 2012 4:58 PM CDT

Elderly Termites Grow Suicide Backpacks

... and then explode them when enemies invade

(Newser) - Some termites grow up to be suicide bombers. Researchers observing the termite species Neocapritermes taracua found that certain workers, when they became elderly, grew a pair of dark blue spots between their abdomen and torso. When invaders raided their colony, these aging workers bit the intruders and then exploded the...

Signs Found of Mysterious
Neanderthal 'Sister Species'

Jul 27, 2012 3:22 AM CDT

Signs Found of Mysterious Neanderthal 'Sister Species'

Evidence lives on in the DNA of modern-day Africans: scientists

(Newser) - Newly discovered bits of "foreign DNA" in modern Africans indicate that a mysterious "sister species" may have walked the earth with Neanderthals and humans, according to scientists. The DNA doesn't resemble DNA from any modern-day humans, nor from Neanderthals, whose DNA sometimes shows up in modern-day Europeans....

America's New
Jobless: Glut of
Science PhDs

Jul 8, 2012 8:33 AM CDT

America's New Jobless: Glut of Science PhDs

Science jobs declining as PhDs surging

(Newser) - President Obama, like a lot of politicians and pundits, likes to say that America's future lies with science, advocating for more young people to go into research. But the truth is that the supply of PhDs has been vastly outpacing the job market for years, resulting in a glut,...

Look Out
Black Widow,
Here Comes
Brown Widow

Jul 7, 2012 9:36 AM CDT

Look Out Black Widow, Here Comes Brown Widow

Less toxic rivals may be taking over in West

(Newser) - Good news: You may now be slightly less likely to find a black widow spider hiding in your shoe. Researchers discovered that the deadly arachnid is being crowded out of swaths of its native US territory by a new creepy crawler to the scene—the brown widow, reports LiveScience . The...

Singapore Scientists Invent Remarkable Toilet

Jul 1, 2012 2:00 PM CDT

Singapore Scientists Invent Remarkable Toilet

It uses 90% less water and turns your, ahem, No. 2 into electricity

(Newser) - Imagine if every time you went the bathroom you did a little good for the planet. That green dream could soon be entirely possible, thanks to a new invention out of Singapore: a toilet system that transforms human droppings into electricity and fertilizer and uses 90% less water per flush...

Scientists Invent
Paint-On Batteries

Jul 1, 2012 6:42 AM CDT

Scientists Invent Paint-On Batteries

Spray-painted power source is half a millimeter thick

(Newser) - If you tend to associate spray paint with nefarious behavior involving graffiti, prepare to have your mind blown. Scientists have invented batteries that can be spray painted onto any surface. Researchers at Rice University demoed the new technology by coating steel, glass, and a beer mug with painted-on batteries. "...