Microwires emerging from the green and orange tubes connect to two arrays of 16 microelectrodes. Each array is embedded in a small mat of clear, rubbery silicone
Experimental devices that read brain signals have helped paralyzed people use computers and may let amputees control bionic limbs. But existing devices use tiny electrodes that poke into the [...]

New research shows that 58 percent of world’s seagrass meadows are currently declining.
An international team of scientists warns that accelerating losses of seagrasses across the globe threaten the immediate health and long-term sustainability of coastal ecosystems. The team has compiled and analyzed the first comprehensive global assessment of seagrass observations and found that 58 percent [...]

Leaf lesions due to late blight
Home gardeners beware: This year, late blight — a destructive infectious disease that caused the Irish potato famine in the 1840s — is killing tomato and potato plants in gardens and on commercial farms in the eastern United States. In addition, basil downy mildew is affecting plants in the Northeast.

This artist’s impression shows the focal plane unit of the Planck telescope.
On July 2 the detectors of Planck’s High Frequency Instrument reached their amazingly low operational temperature of -273°C, making them the coldest known objects in space. The spacecraft has also just entered its final orbit around the second Lagrange point of the Sun-Earth system, [...]

Printable batteries.
For a long time, batteries were bulky and heavy. Now, a new cutting-edge battery is revolutionizing the field. It is thinner than a millimeter, lighter than a gram, and can be produced cost-effectively through a printing process.

Coming to shopping aisle near you: the Brammo Enertia electric motorcycle
Would you like an electric bike to go with your new DVR?  Best Buy has started selling electric vehicles, including the Enertia electric motorcycle from Brammo, according to reports.
 

The Spotted Horses is believed to be created by female hands
For thousands of years, these artworks have been credited as the genius of cave men.  Scientists believed these artistic visions were dreamed up and executed by male hands.  But after more than 25,000 years, the results of a recent study have indicated prehistoric female artists [...]

Fareeda and her siblings were born on Christmas Day last year, and you can see Fareeda’s rare lack of markings
A snow white Bengal tiger has become the first of its kind to exist in the wild today after being born without stripes.  The six-month-old cub is so rare it is thought there are fewer than [...]

Costa Rica is the happiest place earth and environmentally friendly
Costa Rica is the happiest place on earth, and one of the most environmentally friendly, according to a new survey by a British non-governmental group.
 

Surprise indeed!

A direct-selling company marketed a coffee mixture with a secret ingredient which guaranteed to “perk up” drinkers. The secret ingredient was sildenafil, more popularly known as Viagra.
Enforcement officers from the Health Ministry recently raided the direct-selling company in Gombak. A medical examination is required, along with a doctor’s recommendation, before men who are suffering [...]

Just what is this formation that appeared so close to Silbury Hill telling us?

Summer 2009 has been another treasure trove of crop circle formations and they just keep getting better and more interesting. We have previously featured articles on the Phoenix and Dragonfly formations (which appeared in the same field) as well as the amazing Jellyfish formation found nearby. [...]