2011 June | REALscience

Posted by Michael Bradbury in Space, Video on 06 30th, 2011 | No Comments

Piece of Space Junk Sends Astronauts Scrambling

A piece of space junk came dangerously close to the International Space Station, causing the astronauts to seek shelter. The spaceflyers aboard the space station beat a hasty retreat to emergency escape capsules as a precaution. NASA Mission Control says the piece of debris was an “unknown object...

Posted by Michael Bradbury in Biology, Health and Medicine, The Brain, Video on 06 29th, 2011 | No Comments

Baseball’s Curse of the Baby Blues

The eyes have it. A couple of years ago former Baltimore Orioles coach Buck Showalter appeared on ESPN during a Baseball Tonight segment called Scouting the Body, all about what recruiters look for physically in an ideal baseball player. He pointed out that the best players have brown eyes. While there...

Posted by Michael Bradbury in Climate Change, Consumer Safety, Diseases, Environment, Geology, Greenovation, Physics and Chemistry, Politics, Science Policy, Video on 06 28th, 2011 | No Comments

Nuclear Power Plants Under Threat

The record snow pack melt combined with cool, heavy spring rains forced reservoirs in northern states to release extra water into rivers, creating a big flood which is now surging south, from North Dakota to Nebraska where the Missouri River is over its banks and threatening two nuclear power plants. The...

Posted by Michael Bradbury in Adaptation and Extinction, Animals, Climate Change, Endangered Species, Environment, Marine Science, New Species, Oceanography, Plants, Video on 06 27th, 2011 | 1 Comment

Northwest Passage Opens for Whales, Plankton Not Just People

This video from May 2010 tells the tale of a gray whale lost, half a world away from home. Biologists immediately thought it was a hoax but after studying the 43-foot whale more closely they discovered that it must have gotten off it’s north-south Pacific Ocean migration track thanks to an ice-free...

Posted by Michael Bradbury in Artificial Intelligence, Computer Science, Featured Articles, SciArt, Scientainment, Video on 06 24th, 2011 | No Comments

Crowdsourcing Humanity

Now that we’ve been living in the Information Age for over 50 years, it’s safe to say we’ve become quite proficient at gathering data. We’ve built elaborate systems to collect and transmit data. We’ve also built elaborate systems to protect and encrypt personal information...

Posted by Michael Bradbury in Adaptation and Extinction, Climate, Climate Change, Discoveries, Geology, Oceanography, Video on 06 23rd, 2011 | No Comments

Sea Level Rise Small, Steady and Unprecedented

For years scientists and politicians have been saying the sea is rising. And it is. But because the amount of sea level rise each year is measured in millimeters for many it seems insignificant and for some it seems downright laughable. But new research this week confirms that sea levels have risen...

Posted by Michael Bradbury in Adaptation and Extinction, Animals, Climate Change, Endangered Species, Environment, Marine Science, Oceanography, Video on 06 22nd, 2011 | No Comments

Ocean under Siege

For decades fishermen have been saying there’s no future in fishing. Environmentalists have been warning about overfishing and pollution harming the ocean’s delicate ecosystem. But so far the ocean has been able to absorb everything humans have thrown at it. The summary of a new international...

Posted by Michael Bradbury in Astronomy, Discoveries, Physics and Chemistry, Space, Video on 06 21st, 2011 | No Comments

What’s the Matter, Neutrinos?

New evidence of muon neutrinos turning into electron neutrinos could pave the way for spotting differences between matter and antimatter. That may not mean much to most people but scientists think it might be a big clue in the search for why matter is everywhere and antimatter is not. Physicists believe...

Posted by Michael Bradbury in Climate Change, Politics, Video on 06 20th, 2011 | No Comments

Australia Launches “Respect the Science” Campaign

On June 4 an Australian newspaper printed a front-page story about climate scientists who had received death threats. Immediately, the newspaper faced criticism for the timing of the story, which was published ahead of what will surely be a contentious national debate over a national carbon tax. Whenever...

Posted by Michael Bradbury in Citizen science, Featured Articles, Health and Medicine, Scientainment, The Brain, Video on 06 17th, 2011 | No Comments

Music in the Name of Science

An exhibition which doubles as a huge, interactive science experiment has opened in New York. The Dublin Science Gallery’s Biorhythm: Music and the Body show immerses its visitors in a world of sonic experiences to see how they respond to different musical stimuli. Tara Cleary from Reuters reports. But...

Posted by Michael Bradbury in Astronomy, Discoveries, Physics and Chemistry, Space, Video on 06 16th, 2011 | No Comments

Baby Black Holes Present near Birth of the Universe

How black holes form is one of the biggest questions facing astronomers. For years super-massive black holes have provided a laboratory for physicists to study the light-strangling phenomenon. Now a six-week study has revealed the first direct evidence that massive black holes were common in the early...

Posted by Michael Bradbury in Adaptation and Extinction, Climate Change, Environment, Video on 06 15th, 2011 | No Comments

Wildfires Tied to Climate Change

The U.S. House of Representatives Energy and Natural Resources committee held a hearing on wildfire management this week. Fires are burning in California, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Florida and Oregon. The record-breaking Wala fire in Arizona may have been sparked by a campfire but made worse...

Posted by Michael Bradbury in Consumer Safety, Diseases, Health and Medicine, Video on 06 14th, 2011 | No Comments

FDA Slathers Sunscreen Labels with More Protection

For over 30 years the Food and Drug Administration has been wrestling with the rules governing suntan lotion. About five years ago, the federal agency began urging sunscreen companies to give consumers better information about sun protection products. Now, the FDA is announcing new rules this week that...

Posted by Michael Bradbury in Animals, Marine Science, Video on 06 13th, 2011 | No Comments

Elusive Shark Behavior Caught on Camera

For all the shark movies and popular interest in the big predatory fish, science really knows surprisingly little. When large numbers of tiger sharks began populating waters off of Kona on the island of Hawaii, they began planning just how to get a glimpse at what drives them. After more than a year...

Posted by Michael Bradbury in Astronomy, Atmospheric science, Space, Video on 06 10th, 2011 | No Comments

Solar Flare Could Disrupt Cell Phones and Satellites

Scientists say particles from a solar flare will rain down on Earth and possibly cause problems. NASA caught incredible images of the sun as it released a medium-sized solar flare and a spectacular coronal mass ejection. It appeared to cover at least half of the sun with its plasma cloud. Now it is...

Posted by Michael Bradbury in Discoveries, Featured Articles, Physics and Chemistry, Video on 06 9th, 2011 | 1 Comment

Periodic Table Gets Two New Elements

Animated Periodic Table set to Tom Lehrer’s The Elements There are no names or even symbols for the two latest members to be admitted to the exclusive chemistry club — The Periodic Table of the Elements. Numbers 114 and 116 now have a place on that familiar chemical chart that everyone in...

Posted by Michael Bradbury in Backyard Science, Citizen science, Plants, Scientainment, Video on 06 8th, 2011 | No Comments

New Science App for Leaf Peepers

Attention smart phone toting leap peepers. If you’ve ever wondered what type of tree was nearby but didn’t have a guide book, finding the answer is now as easy as taking a snapshot with your smart phone. LeafSnap is a new smart phone application developed by Columbia University and University...

Posted by Michael Bradbury in Artificial Intelligence, Computer Science, Consumer Safety, Engineering, Inventions, Video on 06 7th, 2011 | No Comments

Driverless Cars Take to French Roads

It sounds like something from science-fiction — but it’s actually the latest brainchild from town planners in the western French town of La Rochelle. Small electric cars without drivers steer themselves through the streets taking locals and tourists around town in the first driverless car...

Posted by Michael Bradbury in Consumer Safety, Diseases, Food and Nutrition, Health and Medicine, Plants, Video on 06 6th, 2011 | No Comments

Bean Sprouts Blamed for E. Coli Outbreak

Update: Preliminary tests prove negative for E. coli in bean sprouts from an organic farm in the Uelzen district of the German state of Lower Saxony. 23 out of 40 sprout samples from the farm came back negative for the bacteria. 17 samples are undergoing further testing which won’t be available...

Posted by Michael Bradbury in Computer Science, Engineering, SciArt, Scientainment, Video on 06 3rd, 2011 | No Comments

Vivid Light Show Illuminates Sydney

Sydney’s iconic Customs House, Museum of Contemporary Art and Opera House are being given a psychedelic makeovers as part of the city’s annual festival of light, music and ideas. To weather the winter doldrums of the Southern Hemisphere, Sydney, Australia came up with a bright idea —...

Posted by Michael Bradbury in Biology, Consumer Safety, Diseases, Food and Nutrition, Genomics, Health and Medicine, Video on 06 2nd, 2011 | 1 Comment

E. Coli Outbreak Strikes European Veggies

As of Wednesday afternoon officials said 17 people had died in Germany and one in Sweden. A recent E. coli outbreak across Europe is believed to have started in northern Germany but it appears to be causing people to fall ill all around the world, including two cases in the U.S. The unusually virulent...

Posted by Michael Bradbury in Consumer Safety, Diseases, Environment, Health and Medicine, The Brain, Video on 06 1st, 2011 | No Comments

Cell Phones Dial Up Fresh Radiation Concern

For years scientists have argued that cell phones could be harmful to our health. But it wasn’t until last year that the first long term study suggested a relationship between prolonged cell phone use and brain cancer. And even that preliminary finding didn’t get people to turn off their...

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