2011 January | REALscience

Posted by Michael Bradbury in Animals, Biochemistry, Biology, Food and Nutrition, Marine Science, Space, The Brain, Video on 01 31st, 2011 | No Comments

10 Most Popular Scientific Misconceptions

10 scientific facts you thought you knew…that most people don’t. Is there gravity in space? How long can a goldfish hold a memory? How much of our brains do we really use? Does lightning ever strike twice? How long does it take to digest chewing gum? Does a microwave cook food from the inside...

Posted by Michael Bradbury in Animals, Anthropology, Around the Americas, Citizen science, Climate Change, Environment, Geology, Marine Science, Scientainment, Space, Video on 01 28th, 2011 | No Comments

Science Tourists Explore New Ways to Travel

If Jonas Salk and Carl Sagan are your celebrities, we have a trip for you. From researching global warming in Antarctica to monitoring space flight, Bloomberg Businessweek explores the growing tourism niche of science travel. It’s a marriage of ecotravel and scientific research. Here are some...

Posted by Michael Bradbury in Environment, Greenovation, Video on 01 27th, 2011 | No Comments

Goodnight Light Bulbs

If you haven’t switched over from incandescent light bulbs. Soon you won’t have a choice. The federal government passed new energy efficiency standards and they include compact fluorescent light bulbs. Starting this year the old, familiar incandescent bulbs will be phased out. By 2014 none...

Posted by Michael Bradbury in Biofuels, Biotechnology, Computer Science, Economics, Engineering, Environment, Geology, Greenovation, Health and Medicine, Inventions, Math, Physics and Chemistry, Politics, Science Policy, Solar, Space, Video on 01 26th, 2011 | 2 Comments

Science Underpins Innovation in State of the Union

The 2011 State of the Union address, delivered by President Barack Obama, painted a solid picture of the future. Not surprisingly the President finds a secure and prosperous future filled with scientific and technological innovation. To create more jobs, he stresses better education including concentration...

Posted by Michael Bradbury in Astronomy, Backyard Science, Physics and Chemistry, Space, Video on 01 25th, 2011 | No Comments

Northern Lights Forecast is Bright

The Aurora Borealis is a cosmological phenomenon that originates 93 million miles away — on the sun. When solar winds carrying plasma come into contact with Earth’s magnetic shield a spectacular light show becomes visible. Generally best seen in the higher latitudes of the U.S. and Canada...

Posted by Michael Bradbury in Astronomy, Discoveries, Physics and Chemistry, SciArt, Space, Video on 01 24th, 2011 | No Comments

New Mexico Star Retires to Smithsonian

Call it the astronomer helper. Since 1998, the giant digital camera that has been the heart of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey has done many things. It has helped identify over half a billion new astronomical objects to study. Now the camera that captured the largest color image of sky is ready to retire. That...

Posted by Michael Bradbury in Engineering, Inventions, Physics and Chemistry, Video on 01 21st, 2011 | No Comments

Unchaining the Bicycle

For over 100 years the bicycle has always had a chain. But some engineers are questioning whether a chain is really necessary at all. An Hungarian inventor has come up with a solution to the age old problem of messy bicycle chains — a Stringbike. It rides like any other bikes but doesn’t...

Posted by Michael Bradbury in Animals, Ecology, Marine Science, Video on 01 20th, 2011 | No Comments

Copycat Dolphins

A study done at the Dolphin Research Center in the Florida Keys says although imitation is rare in the animal kingdom, dolphins can imitate one another while blindfolded by using sound. Like bats, dolphins use a form of sonar called echolocation to see sound patterns. It’s their keenest sense. The...

Posted by Michael Bradbury in Climate Change, Consumer Safety, Geology, Health and Medicine, Video, Weird Weather on 01 19th, 2011 | No Comments

ARkStorm Scenario Paints Grim Picture of California

Most Californians are worried about the Big One, referring to a massive and devastating earthquake. But now residents of the Golden State have a new natural disaster they can start sweating. Scientists with the U.S. Geological survey held a 2-day seminar in Sacramento last week urging local communities...

Posted by Michael Bradbury in Animals, Anthropology, Bioethics, Biology, Endangered Species, Video on 01 18th, 2011 | No Comments

Japan to Revive Extinct Mammoths

It sounds like something right out of Jurassic Park but scientists in Japan have plans to bring the long-extinct mammoth back to life using cloning technology within the next 5 years. Akira Iritani, a professor emeritus at Kyoto University in Japan, is looking to resurrect the woolly mammoth using a...

Posted by Michael Bradbury in Astronomy, Scientainment, Space, Video on 01 17th, 2011 | No Comments

Cross Star Lovers Battle over 13th Sign

News that the stars have shifted alignment, astrologically speaking, is leaving Horoscope readers atwitter. Many are hearing that their sign might have changed and there is even a neglected 13th constellation. This is not news, however. Astronomers (and anyone who has taken an astronomy class) will...

Posted by Michael Bradbury in Artificial Intelligence, Computer Science, Diseases, Engineering, Health and Medicine, Scientainment, Video on 01 14th, 2011 | No Comments

IBM Computer v. Jeopardy Champs

In Jeopardy’s! 47 year history, there has NEVER been a contestant like Watson. And who knew the first public face-off between man and machine would be a TV game show. Jeopardy champions Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter represented humanity in a demonstration of intellectual prowess against a new...

Posted by Michael Bradbury in Astronomy, Backyard Science, Space, Video on 01 13th, 2011 | No Comments

Meteor Flash Scares Southern States

Although it may have looked impressive to people in Arkansas, scientists say that Tuesday’s meteor sighting wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. A bright flash of light in the night sky panicked people in seven southern states, from Oklahoma to Florida. They all reported seeing a bright...

Posted by Michael Bradbury in Astronomy, Discoveries, Featured Articles, Physics and Chemistry, Space, Video on 01 12th, 2011 | No Comments

Thunderstorms Make Antimatter as Well as Noise

A high-powered, space-based particle detector has found the first evidence of antimatter being produced naturally on Earth — in thunderstorms. We generally think of antimatter as cosmic rays that are produced by the sun or during a nuclear reaction. But it is used commonly in medical brain scans....

Posted by Michael Bradbury in Biochemistry, Biology, Diseases, Featured Articles, Health and Medicine, Physics and Chemistry, SciArt, Scientainment, Video on 01 11th, 2011 | No Comments

Dance Your Ph.D. Winner

Selection of a DNA aptamer for homocysteine using SELEX from Maureen McKeague on Vimeo. About 50 recent doctors of philosophy decided to make their often obscure doctoral dissertations a little more hip and lively so they entered Science magazine’s Dance Your Ph. D. contest. Making Her research...

Posted by Michael Bradbury in Backyard Science, Citizen science, Physics and Chemistry, Video on 01 10th, 2011 | No Comments

Google Starts Virtual Science Fair

Search giant Google is launching the first online global science fair, tomorrow at 6:00 a.m. PST. A live event at the science fair YouTube page will have all the details. The virtual science fair begins tomorrow and is geared toward students ages 13-18. But that’s all that the company is telling...

Posted by Michael Bradbury in Consumer Safety, Geology, Video on 01 7th, 2011 | No Comments

Runway Closes for Realignment with Magnetic North Pole

Airport runways don’t need to be moved but they do need to reflect changes going on deep within the Earth. Many airports with runways running north-south are waiting for word from the Federal Aviation Administration to see if they need to rename their main runways. Because the earth’s magnetic...

Posted by Michael Bradbury in Astronomy, Physics and Chemistry, Science & Religion, Space on 01 6th, 2011 | No Comments

God Was Behind the Big Bang, Says Pope

Though he has no scientific evidence and hasn’t published on the subject, Pope Benedict XVI had an epiphany on the feast of Epiphany, the Catholic day celebrating the arrival of the Three Kings to the birthplace of Jesus. During the mass in honor of the day, the Pope said that God was responsible...

Posted by Michael Bradbury in Bioethics, Consumer Safety, Featured Articles, Health and Medicine, Physics and Chemistry, The Brain, Video on 01 5th, 2011 | No Comments

Scientist Haunted by Misuse of Drugs He Invented

David Nichols studies the way psychedelic drugs act in the brains of rats. But he’s haunted by how humans hijack his work to make street drugs, sometimes causing overdose deaths. He was hoping that his work would lead to new ways of treating psychiatric disorders not become club drugs. Today the...

Posted by Michael Bradbury in Diseases, Featured Articles, Health and Medicine, Video on 01 4th, 2011 | No Comments

Cancer Spotting Blood Test Coming Soon

A new blood test is so sensitive that it can spot a single cancer cell lurking among a billion healthy ones. This breakthrough in cancer diagnostics is moving one step closer to being available at your doctor’s office. Right now, this test is being used with cancer patients who would otherwise...

Posted by Michael Bradbury in Diseases, Health and Medicine, Plants, Video on 01 3rd, 2011 | No Comments

The Plant List Sprouts up Online

British and American botanists announced last week that they have created a list of all known land plant species, containing 1.25 million scientific names. This two-year project has created the largest and most comprehensive plant list ever made. The goal is to have all plants cataloged and identified...

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