Nerdly News Curated from Interesting Sites
NASAs New Horizons spacecraft successfully flew past the most distant world ever explored by humans on New Years Day. Now, a clearer picture of the 22-mile-long object known as Ultima Thule is beginning to take shape and it has scientists baffled.
Weve never seen anything like this, said…
The often-discouraging search for ways to prevent or treat Alzheimers disease may have flickered to life this week with a bright new idea and a buzzy new soundtrack as well.
In experiments conducted on mice, scientists used light and sound to orchestrate a series of episodes that were marked…
You can call the generation of young Americans now working their way to adulthood Generation Z, because they follow Generations X and Y. You can call these 14-to-27-year-olds iGen, after the wireless devices that seem permanently affixed to their persons. And if theyre your kids and still living…
The periodic table has become an icon of science. Its rows and columns provide a tidy way of showcasing the elements the ingredients that make up the universe.
It seems obvious today, but it wasnt to generations of early chemists. That changed when Dmitri Mendeleev started writing a textbook…
Hoping to escape traffic on her way home from Los Angeles International Airport, Susan Hough found herself driving down La Cienega Boulevard through the heart of the Inglewood Oil Field. It was a jarring scene: Scores of black pump jacks nodded lazily in the scrubby hills, like a herd of mechanical…
Its rust-colored and lumpy. Its about as dark as potting soil. And shaped like a snowman.
Two days after NASAs New Horizons spacecraft hurtled past a small, frozen world 4.5 billion miles from Earth, Ultima Thule is finally coming into focus.
What we are seeing is the first contact binary ever…
Behind the exclusive gates of Hollister Ranch are some of Californias most-coveted beaches and surf breaks. Few have had the chance to visit them.
But earlier this month, after decades of pushback and stalemates, state officials passed through these gates with the cooperation of the ranchs powerful…
The nations psychologists want us to talk about race. Not in the hushed confines of a therapists office, but in classrooms, church basements and workplaces.
If that feels like a daunting task, dont worry. The mental health experts have launched a video series to get you started.
The first installment…
If you think of the night before Christmas as a time for hot cocoa, cozy fires and Bing Crosby albums, a new discovery by Swedish researchers may well break your heart:
The risk of suffering a heart attack spikes on Christmas Eve.
That finding is based on a comprehensive database of hospital statistics…
Yes, your brain is like a muscle: If you dont strengthen and stretch its capacities, it will not deliver high performance.
But your brain is not like one of those forgiving muscles that lets you engage in a lifetime of indolence and then perks up willingly when you take up weight-training upon…
Forget the zombies, ghosts and vampires that pretend to frighten you on Halloween. What ought to scare you to death is the heightened risk of being killed by a car while youre out trick-or-treating.
During prime trick-or-treat hours, the odds that a pedestrian will be fatally struck by a car are…
In 30 countries around the world, consumers can slide a roll of dried tobacco into a sleek device, heat it to 350 degrees and inhale. The result is a hit of nicotine that feels like its coming from a traditional cigarette without producing any smoke.
Tobacco giant Philip Morris International wants…
Struggling to bring your high blood pressure under control, even with the help of medications?
Open your mouth and say aha! if you see tooth decay or gums that are sore, bleeding or receding. You may have found the culprit.
Researchers reported Monday that in adults whose hypertension was being…
Sometimes theres a fine line between science and art.
Nikon Instruments recently unveiled the winners of its annual Small World in Motion contest, a microscopic videography competition that highlights the beautiful and strange sights of an often unseen world.
This years top winners, Elizabeth…
As a young Trekkie, Sarah Stewart knew she wanted to study distant worlds. But as a kid, she never imagined where that interest would lead.
Nobody as a little child thinks, Im going to grow up and have a lab full of cannons, said Stewart, a planetary scientist who was awarded a “genius” fellowship…
Have you experienced an unusual number of mosquito bites this summer?
Have they landed mostly below the knee and especially around your ankles?
And did the six-legged perpetrator fly off unnoticed, like a mosquito ninja, after feasting on your blood?
If the answer to all these questions is yes,…
You know its important to eat right, exercise and keep your cholesterol under control to reduce your risk of a heart attack of stroke. If thats not enough of an incentive, new research suggests that taking care of your cardiovascular system will pay off for your brain as well.
A study of more…
A NASA spacecraft rocketed toward the sun Sunday on an unprecedented quest to get closer to our star than anything ever sent before.
The Parker Solar Probe will fly straight through the wispy edges of the corona, or outer solar atmosphere, that was visible during August’s total solar eclipse. It…
This weekend, in the dark hours before dawn, NASA plans to send a spacecraft to touch the sun.
The Parker Solar Probe, which could blast off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station as early as 12:33 a.m. Pacific on Saturday, will dip down to within 4 million miles of the solar surface or nearly…
The longest lunar eclipse of the 21st century is coming up, and you dont want to miss it.
On Friday, the moon will be fully engulfed in the heart of Earths shadow for 1 hour, 42 minutes and 57 seconds.
It doesnt get much better than that. The longest possible duration of a lunar eclipse is one…