Watch: Tiny Real Dog Meets Enormous Robo-Dog

Perseids over Moosehorn Lake, Utah 

Credit: Eric Benedetti

The plate is called a Chladni plate. When he plays it with a bow (you know, like a violin) the couscous aligns itself it certain patterns. We’re not sure if this is science or magic.

Scientists have come up with an explanation for that 'alien megastructure' star

Probably not aliens.

Well, it had to come to an end some time. There’s been a whole lot of buzz over KIC 8462852 - a star located about 1,500 light-years away between the Cygnus and Lyre constellations of our Milky Way galaxy. It’s displaying such weird behaviour, one scientist even threw the possibility of an advanced alien civilisation building a giant Dyson sphere nearby.

But new research has come up with the most plausible explanation yet for KIC 8462852’s weirdness - a barrage of comet fragments are spinning in a tight orbit around the star. […] But despite the evidence, they’re still not ready to discount the alien megastructure idea entirely. “We can’t really say it is, or is not,” said Marengo. “But what the star is doing is very strange. It’s interesting when you have phenomena like that - typically it means there’s some new physical explanation or a new concept to be discovered.”

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An amateur astronomer discovered a new exploding star on Christmas Day

Although no three kings were present at the time, amateur astronomer Emmanuel Conseil discovered a 'new star' or nova in the Triangulum Galaxy on Christmas Day. He made the discovery using the online Slooh observatory, whose telescopes are located...

What a way to spend Christmas!

Scientists extend an atom’s lifetime with a mirror

Scientists from Chalmers University of Technology have been able to extend the lifetime of an artificial atom, allowing it to remain charged for up to ten times longer. They achieved this by placing the artificial atom in front of a short circuit, which acts as a mirror. The distance between the atom and the mirror affects how long the atom “lives,” which is the time from when an atom is charged to when it returns to its ground state.

Research team leader and Professor of Physics Per Delsing says, “We can vary the lifetime of the atom by changing the distance between the atom and the mirror. If we place the atom at a certain distance from the mirror the atom’s lifetime is extended by such a length that we are not even able to observe the atom.”

Know more at: http://futurism.com/links/scientists-extend-an-atoms-lifetime-with-a-mirror/

Using copper to prevent the spread of respiratory viruses

New research from the University of Southampton has found that copper can effectively help to prevent the spread of respiratory viruses, which are linked to severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS).

S. L. Warnes, Z. R. Little and C. W. Keevil. Human coronavirus 229E remains infectious on common touch surface materials. mBio, November 2015 DOI: 10.1128/mBio.01697-15

This is human coronavirus 229E being inactivated on copper.        Credit: University of Southampton

Scientists Are Using Viruses to Improve Solar Energy Cells

Scientists are harnessing the distinct abilities of viruses to transfer energy, and they’re using quantum mechanics to do it. In a joint effort involving biologists, engineers, and quantum physicists from MIT and Italian energy company Eni, researchers have manipulated a virus into mimicking a plant cell. “A group of us who spoke different [scientific] languages worked closely together, to both make this class of organisms, and analyze the data. That’s why I’m so excited by this,” says Angela Belcher, a professor of biological engineering at MIT.

Read more at: http://futurism.com/links/scientists-are-using-viruses-to-improve-solar-energy-cells/

Scientists have developed liquid-metal 'nano-terminators' to target cancer cells

My mission is to protect you.

Liquid-metal terminators are generally something to be afraid of – but what if the substance was used to fight cancer instead of wiping out humanity?

That’s exactly what researchers in the US are working on, having developed a biodegradable liquid metal that can be used as a drug delivery technique to target cancer cells.

“The advance here is that we have a drug-delivery technique that may enhance the effectiveness of the drugs being delivered, can help doctors locate tumours, can be produced in bulk, and appears to be wholly biodegradable with very low toxicity,” said Zhen Gu, a biomedical engineer in a joint program at North Carolina’s State University and University at Chapel Hill. “And one of the advantages of this technique is that these liquid metal drug carriers – or ‘nano-terminators’ – are very easy to make.”

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By 2020, there will be enough renewable energy to supply CHN, IND, and BRA combined.

Paris-based International Energy Agency (IEA) has predicted that by 2020, 26% of the world’s energy will come from renewable sources (solar, wind, hydro). The agency adds that the amount will be higher than the combined energy demands of country’s like China, India, and Brazil. The prediction was based on the assumption that in the next five years, 700 gigawatts will be added to the world’s current renewable energy capacity.

Read more at: http://futurism.com/links/by-2020-there-will-be-enough-renewable-energy-to-supply-chn-ind-and-bra-combined/

Finland Explores Offering a Universal Basic Income to its Citizens

The Finnish Social Insurance Institution is preparing a proposal that would provide a tax free universal basic income of €800 per month to every Finnish citizen. Read more at: http://futurism.com/links/finland-explores-offering-a-universal-basic-income-to-its-citizens/