Gearing Up For Thanksgiving Weekend And Desperate For Small Talk Topics That Make You Sound Slightly

DARPA wants your crazy robot pitches

Scientists Find Two Natural Genes in our Cells That Can Combat HIV

During the opening era of the AIDS epidemic, being diagnosed was a death sentence. Thanks to advances in medicine, it isn’t anymore. HIV is no longer a terminal illness; with treatment, an individual with HIV has the exact same life expectancy as someone without the disease.

However, it is still a devastating virus. The treatments have many side effects, and you will need to take the medicine for the rest of your life.

For years, scientists have been trying to find a way to effectively cure HIV/AIDS, but unfortunately, none yet have made that incredible leap. But new breakthroughs come each year, which slowly bring us closer to our goal.

Case in point, last month, researchers from the University of Massachusetts Medical School announced the discovery of proteins that naturally inhibit the human immunodeficiency virus. Surprisingly, they found these proteins in the cells in our immune system’s T cells, which are the cells that HIV attacks (specifically, it attacks CD4 positive T cells, which are white blood cells that are vital to fighting off infection).

Find out more at: http://futurism.com/links/scientists-find-two-natural-genes-in-our-cells-that-can-combat-hiv/

Measuring the Life of a Human: What Events Will We Miss?

When compared to the life of the universe, the life of a human only lasts the span of a single blink. So, what won’t we get to see?

Find out at: http://futurism.com/videos/measuring-life-human-events-will-miss/

Magnified Universe [more]

Prototype Robotic Lunar Lander, Testing at Marshall Space Flight Center

Source: http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/388176main_0901812_full.jpg

Just because you can’t see it doesn’t mean mental illness don’t exist.

www.thebpmag.com

The world is racing to build a moon base — here’s what it could look like

The European Space Agency just reminded the world that it wants to build a base on the moon by 2030, using 3-D printed parts made from materials found on the lunar surface. But the ESA has some stiff competition.

What’s Up for March 2016?

In March, Jupiter, it’s moons and moon shadows will all be visible in the sky. Find out when and where to look up:

Jupiter dominates the evening sky this month, rising at sunset and setting at dawn. On March 8, Jupiter reaches what is called “opposition”. Imagine that Jupiter and the sun are at opposite ends of a straight line, with the Earth in between. This brings Jupiter its closest to Earth, so it shines brighter and appears larger in telescopes.

On the nights of March 14 – 15, March 21 – 22 and March 29, two of Jupiter’s moons will cross the planet’s disk. 

When the planet is at opposition and the sun shines on Jupiter’s moons, we can see the moon’s shadow crossing the planet. There are actually 11 of these double shadow transits in March!

The next six months will be awesome times for you to image Jupiter when it’s highest in the sky; near midnight now, and a little earlier each night through the late summer.

Even through the smallest telescopes or binoculars, you should be able to see the two prominent belts on each side of Jupiter’s equator made up of the four Galilean moons: Io, Europa Ganymede and Calisto. If you have a good enough view, you may even see Jupiter’s Red Spot!

Our Juno spacecraft will arrive at Jupiter on July 4th of this year and will go into orbit around the giant planet. Right now, the Juno mission science team is actively seeking amateur and professional images of the planet. These images are uploaded to a Juno website, and the public is invited to discuss points of interest in Jupiter’s atmosphere.

Locations will later be voted on and the favorites will be targets for JunoCam, the spacecraft’s imaging camera. Once JunoCam has taken the images, they’ll be posted online. Imaging participants can then process these raw mission images and re-upload them for others to view.  

Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com

Why music might be killing sharks

For too long, sharks have been portrayed and perceived as the menacing, lurking creatures in the deep. Contrary to popular belief, we are much more of a threat to them than they are to us.

Researchers have found that the ominous music that often accompanies even documentary footage of them has inspired excessive fear about sharks.

In an experiment at UC San Diego, participants watched footage of sharks. Some scenes featured uplifting music, and others had a more daunting score. 

The effect was what you might expect. Viewers saw sharks as intimidating creatures when they they also heard ominous music. 

But with uplifting music (or none at all), viewers had a more positive impression of sharks.  

This is problematic because rarely do we see shark footage without the ominous music, and the negative portrayals of sharks may be hindering conservation efforts.

“We know from prior research that conservation progress for sharks is sluggish compared to marine mammals and that this slow response may be due in part to the societal marginalization of sharks,” says study co-author Elizabeth Keenan.

After all, in the words of Senegalese conservationist Baba Diou, “we will conserve only what we love.”

And while they’re still not exactly a furry, cuddly rabbit, consider this: you’re more likely to be struck by lightening than fall prey to a fatal shark attack.

4D Printing Allows You to Print Objects That Change over Time http://futurism.com/videos/4d-printing-allows-print-objects-change-time/