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Home > News > Editors > Tudor Vieru
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Articles written by Tudor Vieru |
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More articles: next 30 >> (14,448 total)
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TUDOR VIERU
Unknowingly, I've been a science geek for the better part of the last 20 years, but it was only here that I figured out the full extent of my passion for all things new. The first story I wrote about galaxies and black holes won me over, and so I've been writing for Softpedia since late 2008.
Since then, I've literally covered more subjects and topics than I can possibly hope to remember, but I can honestly say that I could go on doing this forever. Working a “normal” job can quickly become routine, but being a science editor is anything but boring.
When not busy with science articles, I like to play my bass guitar, make music, hang out with friends and listen to the latest songs by my favorite bands. I also take my aggressive rollerblading to the streets from time to time, though my skills aren't what they once were.
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The latest dataset produced by the European Space Agency's (ESA) Planck Telescope reveals the existence of a mysterious haze made up of microwaves throughout the Milky Way. The observatory also found several previously unknown islands of very cold hydrogen gas in the galaxy.
According to astronomers studying t... |
13 February 2012
14:46 UTC |
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At 07:00 local time, the first Vega light-lift delivery system launched successfully from the Kourou Spaceport, in French Guiana, South America. The rocket was commissioned by the European Space Agency (ESA), which now finally has all payload mass segments covered.
Small satellites will from now on be launched aboa... |
13 February 2012
13:59 UTC |
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Hurricane Irene, a Category 3 storm that struck North America in August 2011, is not an “100-year event,” as some experts have suggested. Rather than being an anomaly, a new study shows, it represents a clear indicator of how storm intensity will evolve as global warming progresses.
Investigators at the ... |
13 February 2012
13:34 UTC |
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Experts at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (UWM) are making considerable progress in understanding the way plants grow, from the roots up. Their goal is to develop crops that are more productive, and less prone to being decimated by microorganisms and other plagues.
UWM plant physiologist Edgar Spalding and his... |
13 February 2012
13:06 UTC |
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One of the latest time-lapse videos of Earth released by the American space agency showcases parts of the North American continent, including the United States and Canada, and provides a brief glimpse of stupendous auroras taking place at higher latitudes.
The video is shot during the nighttime, so all major cities ... |
13 February 2012
12:38 UTC |
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University of California in Riverside (UCR) investigators say they may have discovered a new target for drugs in treating a neurodegenerative form of dementia called Alzheimer’s Disease. The molecule they discovered could also be targeted in the fight against other neurological disorders.
During the study, th... |
13 February 2012
11:00 UTC |
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Bridges, nuclear power plants, dams and other strategically-important buildings could be “cloaked” against the seismic waves earthquakes produce. This could be achieved by using innovative metamaterials, constructs that do not exist in nature, and which can easily steer seismic waves.
In other words, the... |
13 February 2012
10:42 UTC |
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A group of physicists at the University of Cambridge announce the development of the first mathematical model that can explain the shape of a ponytail, and can also quantify the curliness of human hair. Experts have been interested in the properties of hair since the time of Leonardo da Vinci.
According to the inves... |
13 February 2012
09:31 UTC |
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The tiny stretch of ice visible in the image to the left is a portion of the Amery Ice Shelf, a region of the Antarctica that is very narrow, but extremely significant to the East Antarctic Ice Sheet (EAIS). A new study shows that this narrow basin drains about 16 percent of all EAIS ices. The Lambert Glacier is dr... |
13 February 2012
09:14 UTC |
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Sources close to US President Barack Obama say that he will ask for a budget of $17.7 billion (€13.34 billion) for NASA this fiscal year. This sum is the lowest the American space agency was proposed to receive over the last four years, analysts say.
The forthcoming 2013 budget proposal is expected to severely ... |
13 February 2012
08:43 UTC |
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A computer glitch was responsible for the failure of the Phobos-Grunt sample-return mission to the Martian moon Phobos, a report by Russian investigators explains. The document finally settles the debate as to what actually happened to the Russian Federal Space Agency's (RosCosmos) probe.
Other reasons that we... |
13 February 2012
08:11 UTC |
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ESA officials announce that the first Vega rocket is now fully assembled at the Kourou Spaceport, in French Guiana, South America. Its maiden flight will take place on Monday, February 13, and the booster will carry nine small satellite to Earth's orbit. I've tracked the progress this rocket has made over... |
11 February 2012
12:01 UTC |
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This week saw the Chinese National Space Administration (CNSA) reveal new maps of the Moon. Thus far, nothing unusual, except maybe for the amazing resolution and level of detail these products contain. CNSA is indeed beginning to catch up with Russia, Europe and the US in space exploration.The data used to compile t... |
11 February 2012
11:51 UTC |
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Extrasolar planets that once had liquid water on their surfaces could lose the chemical under the action of intense tidal and gravitational forces, a new study has determined. If that happens, all that is left is a barren, Venus-like world, which is incapable of supporting life. While the research is not really signi... |
11 February 2012
11:36 UTC |
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Officials at Tesla Motors introduced a new electric vehicle model on February 11, called Model X. The SUV-class vehicle completes the company's range of products, which also features Model S and the Tesla Roadster. The new SUV is expected to cost between $60,000 and $85,000 (up to €64,400).
The vehicle is ... |
11 February 2012
11:15 UTC |
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Piranhas are known to be extremely aggressive fish, which attack and swarm everything from smaller fish to humans. They live inside rivers and lakes in the Amazon, and have a very high kill rate. In fact, they can overcome any fish but the arapaima. This is one of the largest species of freshwater fish in the world,... |
11 February 2012
10:39 UTC |
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Venus may be currently decreasing its rotation speed, for unknown reasons. Recent investigations conducted using the European Space Agency's (ESA) Venus Express orbiter revealed that the location of surface features was slightly changed from where it should have been.
Observing the surface of our neighboring pl... |
11 February 2012
09:45 UTC |
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Officials managing the European Space Agency's (ESA) Earth Explorer constellation say that an innovative microwave radiometer aboard the Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) satellite is helping the spacecraft contribute to hurricane forecasts.
The spacecraft was developed for measuring ocean salinity and s... |
11 February 2012
09:08 UTC |
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In a paper published in the Februray 8 issue of the top scientific journal Nature, investigators at the Yale University showcase a scenario detailing how Earth's continents will rearrange themselves. We are currently right in the middle of a supercontinental cycle. Such a cycle usually lasts for hundreds of mill... |
10 February 2012
16:39 UTC |
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As an interesting example of how 11,000 years of cohabitation can trump millions of years of common history, a group of scientists has recently found that chimpanzees are not as good at understanding us, or what we want, as dogs are.
The animals were put to an extremely simple test – a human pointed at an obj... |
10 February 2012
16:06 UTC |
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Though I personally find it a bit obvious, a team of psychologists from the Kansas State University has recently determined that couple that engage in rewarding conversations experience far less stress and anxiety, as well as increased levels of overall satisfaction.
Team leader Dr. Brenda McDaniel conducted the in... |
10 February 2012
15:55 UTC |
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For hundreds of years, the Chinese have been practicing a martial arts and training exercise called Tai Chi. After becoming interested in this routine, experts at the Oregon Research Institute were able to demonstrate that it can contribute to alleviating the symptoms of Parkinson's disease.
This condition aff... |
10 February 2012
15:31 UTC |
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A video posted on YouTube yesterday, February 9, by user Vihart (a self-described professional mathemusician at the Khan Academy) introduces a very weird fractal number to the world. It is designated by the word Wau, after an ancient Greek letter, and the letter F is used to indicate it.
As Vihart explains, there i... |
10 February 2012
15:00 UTC |
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In an article I wrote yesterday about the supermassive black hole at the core of the Milky Way, I presented a theory suggesting that the X-ray flares produced by Sagittarius A* are caused by asteroids falling through the event horizon. Here are more details of that study. Now, the image in this post is a rendition t... |
10 February 2012
14:46 UTC |
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A group of scientists at NASA is strongly considering the possibility of constructing what they refer to as a waypoint tended by humans on the far side of the Moon. This structure would serve as a relay and resupply base for space missions probing deeper within the solar system.
Top NASA officials say that the cons... |
10 February 2012
13:45 UTC |
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Researchers at the Case Western Reserve School of Medicine say that the drug bexarotene – commonly used against skin cancer – can help address early-stage Alzheimer's disease. The substance acts on neural plaques made from beta amyloid proteins.
In all patients suffering from this neurodegenerative ... |
10 February 2012
13:09 UTC |
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Yesterday, February 9, authorities in the United States gave the go-ahead for the construction of two new nuclear reactors in the state of Georgia. This is the first time the building of nuclear reactors is authorized in the United States, since the Three Mile Island nuclear accident three decades ago.
North Americ... |
10 February 2012
10:38 UTC |
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By comparing pictures and computer models of areas neighboring fault lines – taken both before and after a major earthquake occurs – scientists can now gain a deeper understanding of how these sectors of Earth's crust move and interact during seismic events.
Such investigations could come in very h... |
10 February 2012
09:55 UTC |
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The computer processor aboard the NASA Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) experienced a small glitch about three days after the mission launched. Now, scientists say that they were able to figure out what went wrong, and correct the error. The event is unlikely to cause any damages or delays to the mission.
The MSL is a ... |
10 February 2012
08:59 UTC |
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Two planetary exploration missions headed for Mars may have to go on without the participation of the American space agency, if analysts' predictions come true. They say that the budgets NASA gets for planetary exploration will receive deep cuts in fiscal year 2013.
US President Barack Obama's federal bud... |
10 February 2012
08:35 UTC |
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