A November contest at the American Museum of Natural History gave programmers a chance to develop ways to manage a glut of data.
Read MoreWhy Spiderman can’t exist: Geckos are ‘size limit’ for sticking to walls
Latest research reveals why geckos are the largest animals able to scale smooth vertical walls — even larger climbers would require unmanageably large sticky footpads. Scientists estimate that a human would need adhesive pads covering 40 percent of their body surface in order to walk up a wall like Spiderman, and believe their insights have implications for the feasibility of large-scale, gecko-like adhesives.
Read MoreTicks that transmit Lyme disease reported in nearly half of all US counties
Lyme disease is transmitted by the blacklegged tick (Ixodes scapularis) and the western blacklegged tick (Ixodes pacificus), and the range of these ticks is spreading, according to new research.
Read MoreSpaceX launches Jason-3 satellite to monitor sea levels
Jason-3, a U.S.-European oceanography satellite mission with NASA participation that will continue a nearly quarter-century record of tracking global sea level rise, lifted off from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California Sunday at 10:42 a.m. PST (1:42 p.m. EST) aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.Jason-3 is an international mission led by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in partnership with NASA, the French space agency CNES, and the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites.”Jason-3 will take the pulse of our changing planet by gathering environmental intelligence from the world's oceans,” said Stephen Volz, assistant administrator for NOAA's Satellite and Information Service.
Read MoreDog Nutrition
Article written by Fusion Cafe Inc. Feeding one’s dog is a serious matter, and should not be taken lightly regardless of if the pet is a newborn puppy or is […]
Read MoreTrying to quit smoking using eCigs? Might actually make it harder!
Electronic cigarettes are widely promoted and used to help smokers quit traditional cigarettes, but a new analysis from UC San Francisco found that adult smokers who use e-cigarettes are actually 28 percent less likely to stop smoking cigarettes.The study — a systematic review and meta-analysis of published data — is the largest to quantify whether e-cigarettes assist smokers in quitting cigarettes.The findings will be published online January 14 in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine.“As currently being used, e-cigarettes are associated with significantly less quitting among smokers,” concluded first author Sara Kalkhoran, MD who was a clinical fellow at the UCSF School of Medicine when the research was conducted. She is now at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School.
Read MoreDeadly amphibian fungus may decline, study finds
A new study offers a glimmer of hope for some amphibian populations decimated by the deadly chytrid fungus: climate change may make environmental conditions for the fungus unsuitable in some regions and potentially stave off the spread of disease in African amphibian populations struggling to adapt to changes brought about by global warming.
Read MoreWhat is 10 miles across, but powers an explosion brighter than the Milky Way?
Right now, astronomers are viewing a ball of hot gas billions of light years away that is radiating the energy of hundreds of billions of suns. At its heart is an object a little larger than 10 miles across. And astronomers are not entirely sure what it is. If, as they suspect, the gas ball is the result of a supernova, then it’s the most powerful supernova ever seen.
Read MoreChimp friendships are based on trust
It almost goes without saying that trust is a defining element of genuine human friendship. Now, a new report suggests that the same holds true among chimpanzee pals. The findings suggest that friendship based on trust goes way, way back, the researchers say.
Read MoreRats pose health threat to poultry, humans
Rats can absorb disease agents from their local environment and spread them, according to a new study. The results also indicate that the threat rats pose to the health of poultry and humans has been underestimated.
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