Dog owners have long maintained that their pooches have a lot more going on between their furry ears than scientists acknowledge. Now, new research is adding to the growing evidence that man's best friend thinks a lot more than many humans have believed.
The provocative new experiment indicated that dogs can do something that previously only humans, including infants, have been shown capable of doing: decide how to imitate a behavior based on the specific circumstances in which the action takes place.
Science & Technology
In late June of 1908, a fireball exploded above the remote Russian forests of Tunguska, Siberia, flattening more than 800 square miles of trees. Researchers think a meteor was responsible for the devastation, but neither its fragments nor any impact craters have been discovered.
Astronomers have been left to guess whether the object was an asteroid or a comet, and figuring out what it was would allow better modeling of potential future calamities.
Italian researchers now think they've found a smoking gun: The 164-foot-deep Lake Cheko, located just 5 miles northwest of the epicenter of destruction.
Astronomers have been left to guess whether the object was an asteroid or a comet, and figuring out what it was would allow better modeling of potential future calamities.
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| ©www-th.bo.infn.it/tunguska / University of Bologna |
| A three-dimensional rendering of Lake Cheko in Tunguska, Siberia. The level of the lake is lowered 40 meters (131 feet) to emphasize its cone-like shape. |
Italian researchers now think they've found a smoking gun: The 164-foot-deep Lake Cheko, located just 5 miles northwest of the epicenter of destruction.
The remains of two elderly men and a baby were discovered during work in a garden, and one of the skulls indicates that the man was an Inca Indian.
- There is a genetic flaw in the neck, which is believed to be limited to the Incas in Peru, says arahaeologist Mona Beate Buckholm.
- There is a genetic flaw in the neck, which is believed to be limited to the Incas in Peru, says arahaeologist Mona Beate Buckholm.
Israeli researchers say they have genetically engineered tomatoes to give hints of lemon and rose aromas that have done well in testing on volunteers.
The transgenic tomato includes a gene from a variety of lemon basil, Ocimum basilicum, that produces an aroma-making enzyme called geraniol synthase, Efraim Lewinsohn of Newe Yaar Research Center and colleagues report.
The transgenic tomato includes a gene from a variety of lemon basil, Ocimum basilicum, that produces an aroma-making enzyme called geraniol synthase, Efraim Lewinsohn of Newe Yaar Research Center and colleagues report.
Ohio - Bill Gaskin is amused by all the attention that one big rock can bring.
The South Point mayor said a mysterious rock found after a recent rockslide on old U.S. 52, just above the railroad bridge, has interested a lot of people.
The rock, about 4-foot-by-4-foot, was found embedded in sandstone when crews were removing debris. "It just rolled out," when workers started breaking up the larger stone with machinery, the mayor said.
The South Point mayor said a mysterious rock found after a recent rockslide on old U.S. 52, just above the railroad bridge, has interested a lot of people.
The rock, about 4-foot-by-4-foot, was found embedded in sandstone when crews were removing debris. "It just rolled out," when workers started breaking up the larger stone with machinery, the mayor said.
In just the past six weeks, two supernovae have flared up in an obscure galaxy in the constellation Hercules. Never before have astronomers observed two of these powerful stellar explosions occurring in the same galaxy so close together in time.
The galaxy, known as MCG +05-43-16, is 380 million light-years from Earth. Until this year, astronomers had never sighted a supernova popping off in this stellar congregation. A supernova is an extremely energetic and life-ending explosion of a star.
Making the event even more unusual is the fact that the two supernovae belong to different types. Supernova 2007ck is a Type II event - which is triggered when the core of a massive star runs out of nuclear fuel and collapses gravitationally, producing a shock wave that blows the star to smithereens. Supernova 2007ck was first observed on May 19.
The galaxy, known as MCG +05-43-16, is 380 million light-years from Earth. Until this year, astronomers had never sighted a supernova popping off in this stellar congregation. A supernova is an extremely energetic and life-ending explosion of a star.
Making the event even more unusual is the fact that the two supernovae belong to different types. Supernova 2007ck is a Type II event - which is triggered when the core of a massive star runs out of nuclear fuel and collapses gravitationally, producing a shock wave that blows the star to smithereens. Supernova 2007ck was first observed on May 19.
A beetle that never wants to get pregnant has overturned one of Charles Darwin's theories by engaging in an arms race against the male of the species.
Research suggests that the only way that male Acilius diving beetles can become fathers is to abandon any attempt at courtship and rape any passing females.
The response of the female is to embark on an evolutionary battle of the sexes, in which it develops defences designed to shake off the unwanted attentions of the male.
Darwin believed that variations in the anatomy of the beetle were to assist reproduction. But scientists have discovered that, far from trying to make it easier for males to grab hold of them, the females are developing defences against them.
Research suggests that the only way that male Acilius diving beetles can become fathers is to abandon any attempt at courtship and rape any passing females.
The response of the female is to embark on an evolutionary battle of the sexes, in which it develops defences designed to shake off the unwanted attentions of the male.
Darwin believed that variations in the anatomy of the beetle were to assist reproduction. But scientists have discovered that, far from trying to make it easier for males to grab hold of them, the females are developing defences against them.
The European satellite launcher Arianespace signed an order for 35 top-range Ariane 5 ECA rockets from EADS Astrium Saturday at the Paris Air Show, for an undisclosed sum. The order was signed by Arianespace chief Jean-Yves Le Gall and Francois Auque, head of Astrium, the space arm of the European Aeronautic Defence and Space company, with French President Nicolas Sarkozy attending.
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| The Indian Space Research Organization, ISRO, has selected Arianespace to launch its Insat 4G communications satellite. Three months after Ariane 5 successfully orbited the Insat 4B satellite, Dr. Madhavan Nair, Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) and Jean-Yves Le Gall, Chairman and CEO of Arianespace, today announced that ISRO has selected Arianespace launch Service and Solutions for the Insat 4G satellite. The launch is slated for the end of 2008, using an Ariane 5 from the Guiana Space Center, Europe's Spaceport, in Kourou, French Guiana. Insat 4G will be the 14th ISRO satellite to use the European launcher. Starting with the Apple experimental satellite on Flight L03 in 1981, Arianespace has orbited 13 Indian satellites to date. Insat 4G is designed, assembled and integrated by ISRO. Weighing about 3,200 kg at launch, it has payloads for communications, broadcasting and weather observation. Its primary payload comprises 18 Ku-band transponders and a radio-navigation module. Insat 4G's coverage zone includes the entire Indian sub-continent. |
We've been trying to make contact with aliens for years. Now the day is fast approaching when we might finally succeed. But will our extraterrestrial friends come in peace? Or will they want to eat us? Astronomer David Whitehouse explores the perils of a close encounter
The skies of stars might experience weather like that on planets, researchers now find.
The drifting clouds scientists have seen are wispy, "just like cirrus clouds on Earth"-except these are made of mercury, explained astrophysicist Oleg Kochukhov at Uppsala University in Sweden.
Investigating these metal clouds might shed light on how elements form inside stars.
The drifting clouds scientists have seen are wispy, "just like cirrus clouds on Earth"-except these are made of mercury, explained astrophysicist Oleg Kochukhov at Uppsala University in Sweden.
Investigating these metal clouds might shed light on how elements form inside stars.
Comment: What's wrong with letting a tomato be a tomato?