Posted by Michael Bradbury in Politics and Science, President Obama Science Policy, SciClips, Uncategorized on 01 29th, 2010 | No Comments
Science State of the Union
President Obama’s first State of the Union address was long as these speeches go but short on science. With only a few mentions of science, science education and innovation, the Monday morning science quarterbacks criticized the President for not including more science.
But two teenage future...
Posted by Michael Bradbury in Animals, Biology, Marine Science, Video, Weird Weather on 01 28th, 2010 | No Comments
Florida Freeze Kills Invasive Species
Millions of tilapia, an invasive fish species, have been wiped out. It has put a temporary dent in commercial fishing, but now biologists say other fish will have a chance to flourish. The tilapia has made its home in Florida lakes for decades since being first brought in to control out of control vegetation....
Science Prepares for Alien Possibility
A two-day conference at the Royal Society in London called The Detection of Extra-terrestrial Life and The Consequences for Science and Society gathered top astronomers to discuss the possibility that some life form on another planet will likely be discovered within our lifetime.
The all-star lineup...
Posted by Michael Bradbury in Geology, Physics and Chemistry, SciClips, Uncategorized, Video on 01 26th, 2010 | No Comments
Scientists Return to Haiti to Study Quake
A group of geoscientists from leading research universities just received a grant to travel to Haiti to study the aftermath of the 7.0 Haiti earthquake that devastated the capital of Port-au-Prince on January 12.
Led by Eric Calais from Purdue University, the team will take measurements of the changes...
Posted by Michael Bradbury in Energy, Environment, Global Warming, SciClips, Solar on 01 25th, 2010 | No Comments
The Sun’s Hot Solar Promise
The sun is one-stop shopping when it comes to finding an unlimited supply of power. But harnessing light and turning it into electricity has proven to be a tricky and expensive proposition.
But if we could squeeze our huge thirst for power from the sun, one way to go may be something called “solar...
Posted by Michael Bradbury in Astronomy, Backyard Science, SciClips, Space, citizen science on 01 21st, 2010 | No Comments
Help NASA Image Mars
Here’s your chance to make scientific history. NASA is inviting the public to help choose sites on Mars to point a high-powered camera as part of a visual survey of the Red Planet.
The HiRISE camera aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has shot over 13,000 images already. Now NASA is opening...
Posted by Michael Bradbury in Animals, Biology, Endangered Species, Environment, SciClips on 01 20th, 2010 | No Comments
Make Room for the Mesopredators
The top predators in every animal niche are disappearing. Development and other forces are pushing these animals toward the brink of extinction.
New research shows that conservation efforts and a plan to return apex predators to the wild may be more cost-effective than trying to control the predators...
Posted by Michael Bradbury in Backyard Science, Physics and Chemistry, Video on 01 19th, 2010 | No Comments
Building a Potato Powered Calculator
Long a science fair project staple, this potato powered calculator is easy to recreate yourself. Batteries not necessary.
Small Asteroid Buzzes Earth
The school bus sized chunk of space rock hurtled past Earth last week and a Utah astronomer caught the dot on video. It didn’t get dangerously close but did come within 80,000 miles.
Why Haiti is Prone to Earthquakes
Haiti sits on the edge of two tectonic plates — the North American and the Caribbean. These plates are constantly in motion in this very active part of the world. Haiti sits on the west end of the island of Hispanola with two big faults running right through the country.
The southern fault, which...
Posted by Michael Bradbury in Animals, Biology, Climate, Endangered Species, Global Warming, Oceanography, Physics and Chemistry, SciClips, Video, Weird Weather on 01 13th, 2010 | No Comments
Cold Snap Masks Global Warming for a Minute
Much of the country and for that matter the Northern Hemisphere has been locked in an icy weather pattern that sent records tumbling and even forced Florida produce growers to seal oranges and strawberries in ice to protect them from frigid temperatures.
Some scientists are saying this is yet another...
Fast Flight to Mars with a Plasma Rocket
Mars is far away. For a manned spaceship to get there now under current rocket power, it would take about a year. But riding a plasma rocket will shorten the trip considerably — to just 39 days.
While Hacketts Cove, Nova Scotia is not the hotbed of aerospace technology, a company there is building...
Posted by Michael Bradbury in Astronomy, Engineering, SciClips, Space on 01 11th, 2010 | No Comments
Russia Takes Aim at Big Asteroid
The head of the Russian space agency surprised scientists recently when he announced that his country needs to start figuring out how to deflect a big asteroid that will pass very close to Earth in about 20 years.
When Apophis was discovered in 2004 NASA thought there was a slight chance that the big...
Posted by Michael Bradbury in Animals, Biology, Climate, Diseases, Endangered Species, Genetics, Health and Medicine, Podcast, Politics and Science, SciClips on 01 10th, 2010 | No Comments
The Growling Uncertainty of Science
One thing is for sure. Science doesn’t do certainty. No matter how close a researcher gets to complete certainty there is always room to know more. Therefore uncertainty is a scientific fact. And we need to get comfortable with it.
From taxonomic tussles over classifying the giant panda to more...
Posted by Michael Bradbury in Backyard Science, Energy, Engineering, Environment, Solar, Video on 01 7th, 2010 | No Comments
A House of Cards in the Columbian Jungle
Dedicated environmentalists, or eccentric architects? Nearly a decade ago, the Jimenez family moved from the Colombian city of Cali to a humble home in the jungle made entirely out of paper.
They keep cool, cook, do laundry and demonstrate how to live off the grid by generating their own energy.
Posted by Michael Bradbury in Biology, Diseases, Genetics, Genomics, Health and Medicine, Video on 01 4th, 2010 | No Comments
2 Cancer Codes Cracked
The International Cancer Genome Project is the largest genetic undertaking since the Human Genome Project. It is trying to sequence the DNA of 50 types of cancer over the next few years.
Researchers decoded the genome for lung and skin cancer in mid December. CBC reports.
Fun fact: Scientists discovered...
