Eye damage caused by a high-powered green laser.
So far, the reports have been scattered and anecdotal. But eye doctors around the world are warning that recent cases of teenagers who suffered eye damage while playing with high-powered green laser pointers are likely to be just the first of many.
Continue reading… “Eye Doctors Warn of Retinal Injuries From High-Powered Green Lasers”
Ormia ochracea is a small parasitic fly best known for its strong sense of directional hearing.
It’s no surprise that many bugs have excellent hearing thanks to finely honed antenna. Checking out the giant antenna on the tiny bug above, it seems no surprise that they can hear surprisingly well. In fact, some insect antennae are so powerful, engineers haven’t yet been able to come close to mimicking nature. And that’s especially when it comes to small, directional antennae. It’s one thing to have whip-like “ears” like the bug above, but what stumps engineers is making very small, but very acute sound sensors. Yet a minute fly — with minute antenna — is about to change that, and help revolutionize how we built these structures.
Continue reading… “Parasitic Fly Could Help Revolutionize Antenna Technology”
A quieter version of the biodegradable SunChips bag.
Frito-Lay hopes to make some big noise with a quieter version of its biodegradable SunChips bag. The company introduced a biodegradable bag for the snacks in April of 2009 with a big marketing effort to play up its environmentally friendly nature as it was made from plants and not plastic and could break down in compost.
Bendable graphene battery concept
Researchers at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) may be on the cusp of creating something special: Bendable batteries that could have better performance than their stiff, inflexible cousins.
New discovery could lead to new treatments for other types of cancer.
Researchers believe they have found a key gene involved in Ferguson-Smith disease, otherwise known as multiple self-healing squamous epithelioma (MSSE), a skin cancer that grows rapidly but then a few weeks later, inexplicably, heals itself.
IRS says breastfeeding expenses are tax write-offs.
Breastfeeding is easier on the planet because formula takes energy to produce, transport, and it wastes space in landfills. Not to mention that breastfeeding is the most natural means of giving your baby the best possible start. Michelle Obama even promoted breastfeeding as a means of reducing childhood obesity down the line. And most recently, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced tax breaks for breastfeeding moms.
Continue reading… “IRS Gives Tax Breaks to Breastfeeding Moms”
NASA Scientists have tested the climate effect of what a small, regional nuclear war would do to the world and have come up with a few revealing (and quite scary) conclusions. For the purpose of the exercise, NASA termed a small, regional nuclear war as 100 Hiroshima-level bombs.
Continue reading… “Regional Nuclear War Could Reverse Global Warming According to NASA”
Researchers worked with mice and found that if a portion of the heart was removed within the first week of life, the heart grew back completely.
An adult zebra fish can regenerate a damaged heart with no scar formation. This remarkable phenomenon has been seen in other fish and amphibians as well, but never before in a mammal.
Continue reading… “Study Finds Newborn Mice’s Hearts Can Heal Themselves”
Most U.S. adults wished people practiced better mobile etiquette and found the lack of cellphone manners extremely annoying.
Whether is it texting during dinner, talking on a cellphone in a public restroom or using a laptop while driving, most people think mobile etiquette is getting worse, not better.
Monsanto is a perfect example of the worst excesses of opaque corporate shenanigans that, alongside outright political dictatorship and oppression, are direct threats to true democracy.
The Monsanto Technology Stewardship Agreement (the name itself is Orwellian in it’s use of language to obscure and not illuminate) indemnifies Monsanto against “any and all losses, injury or damages resulting from the use or handling of seed (including claims based in contract, negligence, product liability, strict liability, tort, or otherwise)…in no event shall Monsanto or any seller be liable for any incidental, consequential, special, or punitive damages.”
The Kite Powered Electric Car, Wind Explorer.
Continue reading… “Kite-Powered Electric Car Crosses Australia Using Only $15 Worth of Electricity”
