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An ivory carving found during a 2007 archeological dig at the Chukotka Peninsula in Russia suggests the whaling culture is older than earlier research had indicated.
Cornell researchers have identified a mating mechanism that possibly could be adapted to prevent female mosquitoes from spreading the viruses that cause dengue fever, second only to malaria as the most virulent mosquito-borne disease in the tropical world.
In the early morning darkness on April 15, 1912, as the R.M.S. Titanic was sinking in the freezing Atlantic, survivors witnessed a large number of streaking lights in the sky, which many believed to be the souls of their drowning loved ones passing to heaven.
Around the world tonight, two shining points of light can be found near the waxing gibbous moon.
They're the planet Saturn and a star - called Regulus - the brightest star in the constellation Leo the Lion. You can tell which object is Saturn and which is Regulus, because Regulus is the closer body to the moon on Monday night.
They're the planet Saturn and a star - called Regulus - the brightest star in the constellation Leo the Lion. You can tell which object is Saturn and which is Regulus, because Regulus is the closer body to the moon on Monday night.
A nuclear war involving 100 Hiroshima-size bombs would open a massive hole in the earth's ozone layer, exposing life to dangerous levels of the sun's rays, a new study shows.
Smoke caused by the atomic explosions would trap heat in the stratosphere and lead to the deterioration of more than 20 percent of ozone globally, according to a study published today in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The findings suggest a more severe 'nuclear winter' resulting from a massive nuclear war than was predicted in the 1980s.
Smoke caused by the atomic explosions would trap heat in the stratosphere and lead to the deterioration of more than 20 percent of ozone globally, according to a study published today in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The findings suggest a more severe 'nuclear winter' resulting from a massive nuclear war than was predicted in the 1980s.
The asteroid impact believed to have wiped out dinosaurs 65 million years ago was only about half the gigantic size previously estimated, a University of Hawaii doctoral student has found.
Francois Paquay, in the department of geology and geophysics, developed a method using osmium isotopes in deep-ocean sediments to determine sizes of chondritic meteorites that have collided with Earth.
By his calculations, the asteroid believed to be behind the Chicxulub Crater under Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula - and the dinosaurs' extinction - was about 2.5 to 3.7 miles in diameter. It has been estimated from 9.3 to 12 miles in size from crater simulations.
Francois Paquay, in the department of geology and geophysics, developed a method using osmium isotopes in deep-ocean sediments to determine sizes of chondritic meteorites that have collided with Earth.
By his calculations, the asteroid believed to be behind the Chicxulub Crater under Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula - and the dinosaurs' extinction - was about 2.5 to 3.7 miles in diameter. It has been estimated from 9.3 to 12 miles in size from crater simulations.
Tuesday evening the crescent Moon grazed the Pleiades star cluster low in the west after dark in what was a lovely sight to naked eyes and dazzling in binoculars. Hope you saw it.
As it passed in front of some of the stars, it seemed as if the huge Moon swallowed the tiny stars.
Such occurrences provide excellent examples of how misleading appearances can be, especially regarding sizes and distances in the cosmos. It's easy to see how our ancient ancestors formed what we now know to be such wrong conceptions of the universe.
As it passed in front of some of the stars, it seemed as if the huge Moon swallowed the tiny stars.
Such occurrences provide excellent examples of how misleading appearances can be, especially regarding sizes and distances in the cosmos. It's easy to see how our ancient ancestors formed what we now know to be such wrong conceptions of the universe.
To look at it you'd think the landscape had been carved by aliens.
But these perfectly sculpted sand dunes, resembling crabs' claws, were sculpted by the martian winds.
The images were photographed by a powerful camera onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. They come from within the Hellspontus region of the planet, where powerful winds blow from west to east.
The MRO probe is equipped with the most powerful camera ever sent into space. It also took detailed pictures of Phobos, the larger of Mars' two moons. Less than 14 miles wide, the asteroid is covered with craters and mysterious grooves.
But these perfectly sculpted sand dunes, resembling crabs' claws, were sculpted by the martian winds.
The images were photographed by a powerful camera onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. They come from within the Hellspontus region of the planet, where powerful winds blow from west to east.
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| ©MRO |
| Sand dunes on the Hellespontus region of Mars |
The MRO probe is equipped with the most powerful camera ever sent into space. It also took detailed pictures of Phobos, the larger of Mars' two moons. Less than 14 miles wide, the asteroid is covered with craters and mysterious grooves.
Darwin's tree of life represents the path and estimates the time evolution took to get to the current diversity of life. Now, new findings suggest that this tree, an icon of evolution, may need to be redrawn. In research to be published in the April 13 advance online issue of Nature, researchers at Rockefeller University and the University of Tokyo have joined forces to reveal that insects have adopted a strategy to detect odors that is radically different from those of other organisms -- an unexpected and controversial finding that may dissolve a dominant ideology in the field.
Since 1991, researchers assumed that all vertebrates and invertebrates smell odors by using a complicated biological apparatus much like a Rube Goldberg device. For instance, someone pushing a doorbell would set off a series of elaborate, somewhat wacky, steps that culminate in the rather simple task of opening the door.
Since 1991, researchers assumed that all vertebrates and invertebrates smell odors by using a complicated biological apparatus much like a Rube Goldberg device. For instance, someone pushing a doorbell would set off a series of elaborate, somewhat wacky, steps that culminate in the rather simple task of opening the door.
What is called "creationism" is the belief that in six days the Judeo-Christian god created the universe and all the earthly species including humans in finished form much as they exist today. For centuries this view prevailed throughout the western world. Even after evolutionary science had emerged in the latter half of the nineteenth century, the scenario sketched in Genesis remained the only one acceptable for most of Christendom. Not until the early twentieth century did Darwinian science enjoy a fully receptive hearing in the scientific and academic communities of the United States.
But today, rather than riding triumphant, evolutionary science seems to be barely hanging on in the arena of public opinion. A 2007 Gallup poll reported that only 49 percent of the US public accepted evolution and 48 percent did not. Another survey found 42 percent of Americans held strict creationist views. And various school districts throughout the country have experienced furious dust-ups over the teaching of evolution.
But today, rather than riding triumphant, evolutionary science seems to be barely hanging on in the arena of public opinion. A 2007 Gallup poll reported that only 49 percent of the US public accepted evolution and 48 percent did not. Another survey found 42 percent of Americans held strict creationist views. And various school districts throughout the country have experienced furious dust-ups over the teaching of evolution.
