19May2013

Algae blooms discovered beneath Arctic ice

A NASA mission to study the tiny algae vital to the ocean’s food chain has turned up a massive amount of phytoplankton where scientists least expected it – under the Arctic ice. In a project that uses both satellites and on-site [...]

Transit may shine light on enduring mysteries of Venus

Experts want to know what happened to oceans? Why a super-fast atmosphere? And so on Skywatchers around the world will get a once-in-a-lifetime chance to see Venus cross in front of the sun Tuesday. The so-called transit of Venus is more than [...]

Mysterious Arc of Venus hoped to appear during transit

An armada of spacecraft and ground-based telescopes will be on the lookout for something elusive and, until recently, unexpected, when Venus transits the sun on June 5th and 6th. Astronomers are all set to observe The Arc of Venus using 9 coronagraphs [...]

From cancer to quantum, teens’ scientific feats celebrated

Winners of the 2012 Intel ISEF show the promise of science for improving the world New ways to detect cancer, search online social networks and link atoms using quantum physics took the highest honors this week at the 2012 Intel International [...]

PROBA-2:Proposals invited for the PROBA-2 Guest Investigator Programme

The Royal Observatory of Belgium is soliciting proposals for analysis of data from PROBA-2′s two solar observation instruments, SWAP and LYRA, under its Guest Investigator Programme. Proposals in response to this Third Call for Ideas [...]

From Cubicles, Cry for Quiet Pierces Office Buzz

Jennifer S. Altman for The New York Times. Barrie Berg, the chief executive of American operations for What If, in one of the diner-style booths the firm installed in its Manhattan office. “There’s something very satisfying about a booth,” [...]

Rare “ring of fire” solar eclipse to dim skies with photos

The sun and moon will align over the earth in a rare astronomical event on Sunday – an annular eclipse that will dim the skies over parts of Asia and North America, briefly turning the sun into a blazing ring of fire. “It will look [...]
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Young scientists, inventors and mathematicians score big

Cancer sensor, a better way to search tweets, and quantum teleportation are among research highlights at a global high-school-science competition Gordon E. Moore Award winner Jack Andraka is flanked by Intel Foundation Young Scientist Award [...]
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Caecilians: The other amphibian

By Roberta Kwok / May 16, 2012 Caecilians may look like snakes or worms, but they are neither. They’re amphibians, which means the curious creatures’ closest relatives are frogs and salamanders. Credit: john@measey.com John Measey flew [...]
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Math for hungry birds

Scientists have found that when albatrosses forage for food, their flight path looks like a mathematical pattern called a fractal. Credit: Coedekoven/SWFSC/NOAA People may say that math is for the birds. A new study shows this may be true, [...]