The planet is called 55 Cancri e and is one of five worlds orbiting a sun-like star about 40 light years away. Its radius is twice that of Earth but it has eight times Earth’s mass, and it screams around its star every 18 hours. Also, its surface is about 3,900 degrees F. Other than that, though, this planet initially seemed like it might be similar to our own. But astronomers’ early assumption that it had water now appears incorrect....
First, some plant anatomy: The central stalk of a flower is called a peduncle. Branching off the peduncle are smaller, flowering stems called pedicels. In certain species of thale cresses, though, given the right conditions, a newly named organ called a cantil will grow. The cantil projects horizontally from the peduncle and then, elbow-like, bends upwards to support the flower-producing pedicels. Researchers named the mystery organ after cantilevers, architectural supports found in structures like bridges....
Samsung Samsung typically leads off the show with its high-end offerings and 2022 is no different. Samsung Micro LED TVs Micro LED has been around for a few years in various forms, but last year it started showing up in more ultra-high-end consumer TVs designed to take on OLED. Samsung’s Micro LED displays rely on a 25-million LED array, with each. diode measuring just micrometers across. All those tiny sources of illumination allow the screen to achieve impressive contrast by keeping dark areas dim even if they appear right next to bright objects....
Chief designer of the Hinterland 1 is a veteran of Québec-based Bombardier Recreational Products, maker of the Sea-Doo watercraft, who says the project “combines sources of artistic, technical and scientific expertise” from recreational vehicles, electric motors and batteries, aeronautics, aluminium, plastics processing and video games. In theory, the sculpted body would comprise an aeronautical-style aluminum monocoque, fashioned by the same hydroforming process GM uses to create body panels for its curvy Pontiac Solstice roadster....
Design and Screen Size The 6P is the first all-metal phone in the Nexus line. When presenting the new phone on stage at their event, Google executives touted the product’s diamond-cut edges and sculpted back, which they said offer users a unique feel. While Android has seen its fair share of aluminum phones from Samsung and HTC, we’ve never seen one with the weight of the Nexus name behind it. Huawei will offer its Nexus 6P phone in frost white, aluminum, and graphite....
That’s right. All of those bodily locations have taste receptors—and many more! Here’s just a brief list of all the places researchers have found taste receptors around your body apart from testicles and taste buds: the cilia (little fingerlike projections) lining your airwayscells in the small intestinecells in the large intestinethe lining of your nasal cavityheart cellsthe placenta (if you’re carrying one)the bladdercells in the brain and the brainstem...
Now, Dorin Boldor, a bioengineer at Louisiana State University’s Agricultural Center, is devising a high-powered microwave that nukes aquatic hitchhikers before they’re flushed out. Adapted from a microwave technology traditionally used to pasteurize sweet potatoes, the system purifies the ballast water for as little as one dollar per 250 gallons of water, less costly than other treatments like scrubbing ship hulls and spraying pesticides. Foreign marine species, from bivalves to fish, have taken hold across the U....
The US Special Operations Command, or SOCOM, awarded the $19.2 million contract. The organization coordinates actions between the various special operations forces of the other military branches. These missions include everything from drug trafficking interdiction to the Abbottabad compound raid to kill Osama bin Laden. Much of modern warfare is built around big, coordinated formations of people and vehicles. From patrols of vehicles that are in radio contact with high-flying drones and distant artillery, to sweeping arcs of tank formations, much of war is planned around mutual support from an array of forces....
With all their bells and whistles, Apple devices unfortunately still require cables for juicing up. Luckily, there’s a way to eliminate cable clutter by only using a single cord to charge all three gadgets. The 3-in-1 Apple Watch, AirPods, and iPhone Charger from Triple Grade is designed to refuel three devices simultaneously, and for a limited time, you can snag it on sale for an extra 20 percent off this Green Monday....
The 2018 entries didn’t disappoint—think a face-palming grizzly, a smiling lion, and some dancing Komodo dragons. The overall winner will be announced on November 15 and will be invited on a one-week safari in Maasai Mara, Kenya with Alex Walker. Below, our favorite images shortlisted for the grand prize.
Sick or injured animals can sometimes need blood transfusions just like sick or injured humans do, and demand is on the rise. But awareness of animal blood donation isn’t high. A new study published in the journal Vet Record looks at owner awareness of pet blood donation and whether or not owners would be willing to have their animal companion contribute. Although the sample size for the study wasn’t huge, the results point to a broader dynamic in pet blood donation in the UK and US: most people just don’t know about it....
When a plant is hurt in some way, it has many ways of fixing or protecting itself using the chemicals in its body. But as the study’s authors point out, this response usually see-saws between the two. For example, an individual plant could either regrow its broken limb or guard itself by producing toxins that ward off animals. To tease apart whether these two reactions happen in sequence or whether defense always comes before regeneration, the researchers attempted to manipulate plant biology to swing in one direction....
Named after the gorgeous giant silk moth with large, colorful “eyespots” on its hind wings (Antheraea polyphemus), as well as the gigantic Cyclops who tormented Odysseus, this Polyphemus sports several exciting features: ATmega 168 microcontroller (housed on a Freeduino board)color Nokia 6100 LCDtwo multi-state pushbuttonswhite LEDphototransistorpiezoelectric buzzer3.7V rechargeable lithium batteryanalog input connectorFTDI USB programming connectorcompact 3×3-inch handheld form factor By using a 3.7V battery to power Polyphemus, no additional power regulators are needed....
A candidate’s grasp of science isn’t just a matter of political rhetoric—it affects society. The failure to acknowledge climate change, for example, puts communities and economies at risk, such as when the government fails to reduce emissions or help prepare for extreme weather or sea-level rise. Misinformation also influences public opinion: Parents who heard presidential candidates make inaccurate statements about the safety of the HPV vaccine during a 2011 debate, according to a 2015 University of North Carolina study, were more likely to think the vaccine causes short-term health problems (though it didn’t affect their willingness to vaccinate)....
Rotate DIY Watchmaking Kit Instead of simply heading to a store to pick up a watch that can suit your style and needs, you may want to put together one on your own. As featured in the New York Times, Gadget Flow, Geeky Gadgets, & more publications, the Rotate® DIY Watchmaking Kit is an all-in-one package that has all the parts and tools you need to build your own mechanical watch....
Int he south, such a pastime is hardly peculiar: rattlesnake hunting dates dates back to the 1700s, when colonists tracked down and killed the reptiles in the hope of protecting human families from its venomous bite. Today, springtime round-ups are still held in many states, including Texas, Alabama, and Georgia. But in the past few decades, a growing body of evidence has shown that round-ups often do more harm than good....
Some of the points are pretty straightforward, like “The Base On Hoth Needed Backup Power.” Others delve into the boring-but-important parts of modern war, like the lack of Imperial cyber security. Raytheon writes: The Star Wars universe is full of cyber security failures. Earlier this year, Grand Blog Tarkin (full disclosure: a site the author of this post founded and runs) pointed out that, while no one in Star Wars is good at cybersecurity defense, both rebels and Imperials are good at cybersecurity attacks....
A frigid front is blowing over much of the Northern Plains and upper Midwest this weekend, hammering the Dakotas, Montana, and Colorado. Temperatures will plummet rapidly, and snowfall is expected to smash previous fall records. This all comes just a month after the Rockies were hit by historic storm that left four feet of snow in some localities. Inevitably, some will be tempted to point out how this looks contradictory to global heating....
Their research, published in the journal Science on Thursday, shows that tropical forests cut for agricultural use, and their soils, are extremely resilient. In just 20 years, these tropical forests on previous agricultural land in Central and South America and West Africa returned to around 80 percent of old growth value. The team of scientists analyzed 77 tropical forest sites across the Americas and West Africa, making up a total of 2275 varying plots of land....
Teams from around the world entered the two-year competition. The Pentagon gave some of them multimillion-dollar robots to program, while others received funding to develop their own machines. But despite the generous allotted time and resources, the DARPA Robotics Competition (DRC) would be extremely difficult. Legged robots, by far the most common design in the contest, are notoriously unstable, even when crossing level terrain. For most teams the concern was not winning the DRC....
