A few years ago, a large controversy was set in motion in the international scientific community about the possible existence of fossilized life forms in a Martian meteorite that crash-landed in Antarctica. The piece of rock, known as ALH 84001, was then believed by some to contain certain proof that life existed on the Red Planet sometime in the past. Skeptics were naturally less than willing to accept that, and proposed that cross-contamination may have been responsible for the discovery. Just recently, results of a new set of analysis have demonstrated that a non-biological explanation for how the structures formed is unfeasible and impo... [read more >>] In an accomplishment that is bound to make others in the community jealous, scientists at the Towson University, in Baltimore, Maryland, managed to develop a method of trapping rainbows. In addition to looking absolutely astounding, the new system may also usher in a new era of developments in the fields of communications and optical computing, as it may offer researchers a new method of coding information on light. Converting data from optical to electrical environments is the most difficult thing to do in the latter industry, and the new system, featuring only light and a lens, promises an affordable, low-cost, and effective solution to t... [read more >>] One of the most important things to do when discovering a new species of animals or of ancient hominids, in the fossil record is to depict it as accurately as possible. For many years, paleoartists, which specialize in creating drawings or sculptures of creatures that lived millions of years ago, have accompanied archaeologists and paleontologists in their research trips, offering them basic clues of how the fossils looked like when the animals that created them were still alive. Now, the artist's tool bag is also expanding, with the advent of modern, 3d modeling technologies, Wired reports. “What’s driven my work has alway... [read more >>] Our galaxy, the Milky Way, is of the massive spiral variety, which means that it features two arms (four by some accounts) filled with stars. Measuring the distance to these stars is something that may seem simple at first, but which is actually very complicated, mostly because of the inherent uncertainties that existing models bring to the table. All that is about to change, as the first results of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey are starting to be made available. For almost a decade, astronomers have been using the 2.5 meter telescope at Apache Point Observatory, in New Mexico, to scout the skies and create a new map of our galaxy, that... [read more >>] Quantum computers are one of the most promising and hard-to-reach goals in the world today. These machines promise unprecedented calculation power, that would make today's supercomputers look like mere pocket calculators. But achieving stable quantum operations is tremendously difficult, and groups around the world are hitting their heads against the wall trying to figure this thing out. The same is the case with quantum communications, where data is handled on similarly-unstable structures. Now, two researchers at the University of Potsdam believe that they may have discovered a way of weeding out unwanted knots that form in this type... [read more >>] Recent astronomical observations seem to point at the fact that the Milky Way, our own galaxy, is currently colliding with a dark, high-velocity cloud of hydrogen gas, known as Smith's Cloud. The formation may be a galaxy in itself, according to the most recent hypothesis, and not a common one. In fact, astronomers believe, the fact that the structure has the mass of about one million Suns seems to point at a single conclusion, namely that it is a dark matter galaxy, a long-proposed clump of the form of matter that can explain how galaxies come together in the skies. The trajectory that the High-Velocity Cloud (HVC) has would seem to ... [read more >>] Scientists at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), the group that manages the Large Hadron Collider, announced that the first proton beams had already been injected in the massive particle accelerator, and that they had completed thousands of spins in its tunnels. The 27-kilometer-long facility saw the injection of a clockwise-circulating beam on Friday. CERN officials revealed that a stable beam was established at 10 PM local time last night, ZDNet reports.The CERN Twitter feed also states that an additional beam of protons, circulating anticlockwise, was introduced in the accelerator's tunnels later yesterday, and t... [read more >>] California's Death Valley is a fairly harsh place when it comes to deserts, with temperatures regularly reaching 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit) during the day. At night, it gets so cold, that ice can form. In this rather inhospitable place, tourists and scientists have discovered one of the most unusual phenomenons they've ever seen, namely moving stones. Untouched by people's hands, the rocks appear to be actually gliding on the ultra-smooth surface of the desert, and experts have yet to fully explain this peculiar behavior. The thing about these stones is that they appear to be traveling in eerie, straight pa... [read more >>] The dual nature of light, as in the fact that it can act like both a particle and a wave, has had physicists puzzled since that was first discovered. Such a duality was bound to lead to some paradoxes, scientists hypothesized at the time, and now their predictions appear to be coming true. Scientists have recently discovered a paradox that makes no sense, but that occurs nonetheless. When they attempt to pass light through an already transparent, ultra-small layer of gold atoms that has received many holes priorly, less light goes through than it would through a layer without holes. Even kindergarten children will tell you that, if you pi... [read more >>] On October 9, NASA slammed its $79-million LCROSS space probe into the surface of the Moon, in a quest for discovering water-ice in the Cabeus Crater at the south pole. At the time, as the world watched this endeavor live, the impact crater and the ejection plume that the spent Centaurus rocket stage created as it impacted the lunar surface, just a few minutes before the space probe itself, were not that impressive, and many called the mission a failure. However, NASA officials refrained from making comments until the science results were in – and they are good. “Indeed, yes, we found water. And we didn't find just a litt... [read more >>] | 
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