Obesity is the main cause of type 2 diabetes and related chronic illnesses that together will kill more people around the globe this year than the Covid-19 coronavirus. Scientists at Joslin Diabetes Center have delivered a proof of concept for a novel cell-based therapy against this dangerous condition. The potentialContinue Reading
The departure from theoretical calculations eludes explanation Positronium is positively puzzling. A new measurement of the exotic “atom” — consisting of an electron and its antiparticle, a positron — disagrees with theoretical calculations, scientists report in the Aug. 14 Physical Review Letters. And physicists are at a loss to explainContinue Reading
Nearly 40 years of satellite data from Greenland shows that glaciers on the island have shrunk so much that even if global warming were to stop today, the ice sheet would continue shrinking. The finding, published today, Aug. 13, in the journal Nature Communications Earth and Environment, means that Greenland’sContinue Reading
“Why did the fox steal my shoes?” sounds like the start of a brain-teasing riddle or an annoyingly viral song. But for people in Berlin, it was an existential question spurred by the knowledge that a local fox was the culprit behind a string of shoe thefts. About two weeksContinue Reading
No one knew that single-celled organisms could live so long. Microbes found themselves buried in the dirt 101.5 million years ago, back before even Tyrannosaurus rex when Earth’s biggest meat-eating dinosaur, called Spinosaurus roamed the planet. Time passed, continents shifted, oceans rose and fell, great apes emerged, and eventually humanContinue Reading
That’s four small steps for horse-kind. The United States Space Force has a new recruit in their mission to keep planet Earth safe. His name is Ghost, and he likes to go clip-clop on the beach. Ghost, a 5-year-old mustang, is the newest addition to the Conservation Military Working HorseContinue Reading
Miniaturization has enabled so many unfathomable dreams. Shrinking down electronic circuits has allowed us to access technology like smartphones, health watches, medical probes, nano-satellites, unthinkable a couple decades ago. Just imagine that in the course of 60 years, the transistor has gone from being the size of your hand palmContinue Reading
There’s an electrical hum in most animals, including ourselves. No one knows where it came from or why exactly it exists. Now, new research suggests this electric hum came from primordial lightning. In most vertebrates and invertebrates, there is constant background cellular electrical activity, often coursing through the nervous system,Continue Reading
The devices will reach their potential only if they can fix their glitches Astronaut John Glenn was wary about trusting a computer. It was 1962, early in the computer age, and a room-sized machine had calculated the flight path for his upcoming orbit of Earth — the first for anContinue Reading
Spot is a very good (and expensive) dog. Meet Spot — the mechanical dog that can open doors, run up and down stairs, and take a hearty kick to the ribs without missing a beat. Spot is a good boy. And now, Spot can be your good boy for theContinue Reading
