2011 March | REALscience

Posted by Michael Bradbury in Astronomy, Discoveries, Physics and Chemistry, Podcast, Space, Video on 03 31st, 2011 | No Comments

Mercury Comes into View

After a six-and-a-half-year and 93-million-mile journey the Messenger spacecraft has reached its target — Mercury, the planet closest to the sun. After a tricky maneuver to use gravitational force to enter into the fast-spinning orbit of Mercury the probe began sending back the clearest and closest...

Posted by Michael Bradbury in Atmospheric science, Climate, Climate Change, Oceanography, Physics and Chemistry, Podcast, Space, Video on 03 30th, 2011 | No Comments

NASA Mission to Study Polar Climate Change

The earth’s climate is getting a checkup thanks to NASA’s Operation Ice Bridge. It’s a six year mission to study the earth’s polar region from on board an airplane. NASA scientist Tom Wagner explains the mission from the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. While...

Posted by Michael Bradbury in Animals, Ecology, Endangered Species, Environment, Podcast, Politics, Video on 03 29th, 2011 | No Comments

Tigers Creep Back from the Brink

India’s latest tiger census shows an increase in the numbers of the endangered big cat, but threats to their roaming territory could reverse those gains, officials said on Monday. At a three-day tiger conference in New Delhi(PDF) Indian officials released the latest tiger census. The news appeared...

Posted by Michael Bradbury in Citizen science, Computer Science, Engineering, Inventions, Podcast, SciArt, Video on 03 28th, 2011 | No Comments

Building Dreams from Scratch

A new membership-based, do-it-yourself fabrication and manufacturing space allows engineers and inventors to work on their gadgets using the latest in high-tech equipment. Tech Shop has opened facilities in California with plans to expand across the country. It’s like your father’s workshop...

Posted by Michael Bradbury in Computer Science, Engineering, Environment, Health and Medicine, Inventions, Podcast, Scientainment, Space, Video on 03 25th, 2011 | No Comments

Virtusphere Rolls into the Future

It looks like a giant hamster ball but it’s doing far more than exercising its occupants. The Virtusphere, which first rolled onto the scene during the reality television show Shark Tank in 2009, takes virtual reality to a whole new level. For science, it gives the opportunity to walk through...

Posted by Michael Bradbury in Astrobiology, Podcast, Space, Video on 03 24th, 2011 | 1 Comment

Moon Mechanics

British astronomer Brian Cox explains the rotation of the moon. With all the talk lately about the effects of the full moon and the recent supermoon, a lot of people are asking some pretty lunar questions lately. Many want to know why we can only see one side of the moon and if there is a dark side...

Posted by Michael Bradbury in Artificial Intelligence, Computer Science, Engineering, Podcast, SciArt, Scientainment, Video on 03 23rd, 2011 | No Comments

Robots Debut in New Opera

Call them operabots. In a marriage of music and media, a team at the MIT Media Lab has infused an opera with robotic technology. In Death and the Powers, a new opera by Media Lab professor Tod Machover, the main character wishes to leave the physical world, but remain there digitally. He downloads himself...

Posted by Michael Bradbury in Animals, Anthropology, Endangered Species, Podcast, SciLebs, Video on 03 22nd, 2011 | No Comments

NFL Cheerleader turns to Life of Science

Mireya Mayor explores remote areas of the world is search of elusive and endangered species. The wildlife expert and anthropologist also educates students and parents about the importance of conservation wherever she goes. After watching the movie Gorillas in the Mist before practice one day, the former...

Posted by Michael Bradbury in Physics and Chemistry, Podcast, Scientainment, Video on 03 21st, 2011 | No Comments

Science with a Beat

A hip-hop science tour is helping kids dance to a different beat — science. To get more middle school students interested in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) subjects FMA Live — named after Sir Isaac Newton’s second law, Force Equals Mass Times Acceleration —...

Posted by Michael Bradbury in Anthropology, Discoveries, Physics and Chemistry, Podcast, Video on 03 18th, 2011 | 1 Comment

Atlantis: Still Lost or Now Found?

The fabled lost city of Atlantis has been found — again. This time the ringed city made famous in the writings of Plato 2,700 years ago is located in southern Spain. A new National Geographic special believes there is sufficient evidence to show that Atlantis existed and is buried in a marshy...

Posted by Michael Bradbury in Biofuels, Greenovation, Video on 03 17th, 2011 | No Comments

Grease Thieves a Bad Ingredient in Biodiesel

Even a few years ago, fast food restaurants would have been glad to have someone remove their used cooking oil. But now it’s a crime. The frequency of oil robberies is on the rise as biodiesel operations are using the leftover restaurant byproduct to recycle for fuel. A black market for the greasy...

Posted by Michael Bradbury in Consumer Safety, Diseases, Earthquake, Environment, Health and Medicine, Physics and Chemistry, Video on 03 16th, 2011 | No Comments

Radioactive Threat Real in Japan: What to Know

The radiation levels at Japan’s Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant continue to fluctuate. Overnight, the spike in radiation levels forced the remaining workers out of the plant for a short time. Police are planning to use water cannons normally reserved for crowd control to keep nuclear fuel...

Posted by Michael Bradbury in Atmospheric science, Earthquake, Environment, Geology, Physics and Chemistry, Video on 03 15th, 2011 | 1 Comment

Japanese Nuclear Crisis Deepens

After several days of uncertainty surrounding the fitness of Japanese nuclear power plants it appears that the worst is not yet over. Today, the International Atomic Energy Association declared the nuclear crisis in Japan to be a 6on a scale that goes to 7. To compare, the Three Mile Island partial...

Posted by Michael Bradbury in Atmospheric science, Consumer Safety, Earthquake, Environment, Geology, Greenovation, Video on 03 14th, 2011 | No Comments

Nuclear Threat Remains After Japan Quake

There’s been more trouble at Japan’s stricken Fukushima nuclear power plant. With cooling systems down, fuel rods have been exposed at the facility’s Unit 2 reactor, and there was an explosion at Unit 3. While not ideal these explosions keep the threat of a total nuclear meltdown to...

Posted by Michael Bradbury in Earthquake, Geology, Video on 03 11th, 2011 | No Comments

9.0 Quake Rocks Japan

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy The largest earthquake in modern Japanese history struck the island nation yesterday, sending a 23-foot tsunami racing across the Pacific where every coastal nation in the western hemisphere was put on high alert. The 8.9 temblor...

Posted by Michael Bradbury in Consumer Safety, Inventions, Physics and Chemistry, Video on 03 10th, 2011 | No Comments

Student Uses Sound to Detect Bombs

Move over bomb-sniffing dogs. Here comes Benjamin Clough. The Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute doctoral student just received $30,000 for developing a safer way for police, military and bomb squads to detect hidden explosives and other dangerous chemicals using sound waves. He has been working in...

Posted by Michael Bradbury in Diseases, Health and Medicine, The Brain, Video on 03 9th, 2011 | No Comments

Reading Dyslexia Differently

Scientists studying the brains of dyslexic children say they can now accurately predict which child will overcome their disability and which will continue to struggle to read throughout later life. A Stanford University research team has been using brain scans on children with dyslexia and they can...

Posted by Michael Bradbury in Astrobiology, Discoveries, Space, Video on 03 8th, 2011 | No Comments

Evidence Dismisses Alien Discovery

A Huntsville, Alabama researcher claims to have found fossils of bacteria in a meteorite. Some of the bacteria appears very close to some found here on earth while others he claims are very different. The research appears online in the journal Cosmology. NASA has already distanced itself from the research...

Posted by Michael Bradbury in Environment, Video on 03 7th, 2011 | No Comments

Electronic Recycling Key to Green Jobs

Goodwill Industries of Rhode Island recycles around 400,000 pounds of electronic waste per year as part of a partnership with Dell Computers to divert computer and electronics from landfills. the Reconnect Partnership gives about half the nation easy access to free recycling for computers, monitors,...

Posted by Michael Bradbury in Atmospheric science, Climate, Climate Change, Environment, Space, Video on 03 4th, 2011 | No Comments

No Glory at NASA Today

An Orbital Sciences Taurus rocket loaded with an Earth-monitoring satellite crashed into the southern Pacific Ocean just six minutes after launching from Vandenberg AFB this morning. The mission was equipped with two science instruments, one trained on observations of aerosols in Earth’s atmosphere...

Posted by Michael Bradbury in Earthquake, Geology, Video on 03 3rd, 2011 | No Comments

Quakes Linked to Drilling

The Arkansas Oil and Gas Commission has called an emergency meeting to temporarily shut down two injection wells in Faulkner County that have been linked to an earthquake swarm in the region. Arkansas Geological Survey geologist Scott Ausbrooks didn’t reveal any details ahead of tomorrow’s...

Posted by Michael Bradbury in Health and Medicine, Physiology, Psychology, The Brain, Video on 03 2nd, 2011 | No Comments

Texas Oil Tycoon Pushes the Edges of Science

Just because Texas oil tycoon Tom Slick died in a plane crash in 1962 doesn’t mean his vision died with him. In fact, his legacy has grown a few lone-star state institutions that bring in over $1 billion a year to the San Antonio area. The Southwest Research Institute and the Texas Biomedical...

Posted by Michael Bradbury in Artificial Intelligence, Computer Science, Engineering, Video on 03 1st, 2011 | No Comments

Looky Here! Eye Tracking Coming to PCs

Ever wish your eyes were lasers? A Lenovo laptop prototype brings that wish closer to reality. Touch screen and movement based technology is quickly supplanting the mouse as the standard way to interact with computers. But a company is looking down the road to make our interface with machines more user...

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