STEM

Sci-fi fantasies have long predicted that we might live on the moon. But while the lack of atmosphere poses a problem for lunar living, there may be an even bigger sticking point: new research suggests that the moon’s surface is itself toxic to humans. For obvious reasons, long-term human exposure to the moon’s environment has Continue Reading →

It’s taken more than six years of development, but a new imaging system for the Palomar Observatory’s 200-inch Hale Telescope finally started capturing images last month, and promises to aid significantly in the search for planets outside our solar system (otherwise known as exoplanets). With the suitably mysterious name of “Project 1640,” the new instrument Continue Reading →

After spending 3 years at sea and traveling up to 300 kilometers away from home, a rainbow trout can swim straight back to its original hatching ground, following freshwater streams inland and rarely heading in the wrong direction. This remarkable feat of navigation likely relies on many senses; the fish have superb eyesight and smell. Continue Reading →

The idea that Internet is about to do to college what it’s done to journalism and entertainment seems to be coming dangerously close to conventional wisdom in certain elite circles. Here’s blogger/economist Tyler Cowen yesterday at the Aspen Ideas Festival: Look at the music industry. It’s been completely overturned by the Internet. My vision of Continue Reading →

Peru’s distribution of more than 800,000 low-cost laptop computers to children across the country easily ranks as one of the world’s most ambitious efforts to leverage digital technology in the fight against poverty. Yet five years into the program, there are serious doubts about whether the largest single deployment in the One Laptop Per Child Continue Reading →

Scientists at CERN have today announced that they’re 99.99% sure that they’ve found a new sub-atomic particle, and that it is likely to be the elusive Higgs boson – often referred to as the “God Particle”. That’s all well and good, but what does it all mean? Let’s break it down. What is the Higgs Continue Reading →

Pizza is so good that most of us would be happy to eat it breakfast, lunch and dinner, if it weren’t for the fact that it was more than a little unhealthy. But now a scientist has created what he claims is the first nutritionally balanced pizza—and it’s OK to eat it three times a Continue Reading →

[wpaudio url=”https://media.shellypalmer.com/wp-content/images/usrn/120601_SHELLYPALMER_GEN_BED.mp3″ text=”Click to play … ” dl=”0″] Now that SpaceX has ushered in the era of privatized space travel.  Where do we go from here?  Yesterday, Dragon, SpaceX’s Appolo-like space capsule successfully splashed down in the Pacific Ocean just off Baja California.  The flight was monitored by NASA, SpaceX and every other organization that Continue Reading →

NASA was hacked 13 times last year, resulting in major breaches of sensitive government data. Hackers working from Chinese IP addresses gained full access to NASA’s files, employee credentials and system logs. Unencrypted laptops were also stolen containing codes for controlling the International Space Station. Continue Reading →

[wpaudio url=”https://media.shellypalmer.com/wp-content/images/usrn/120305_SHELLYPALMER_GEN_BED.mp3″ text=”Click to play … ” dl=”0″] According to a report by TechCrunch, Google is working on an answer to Apple’s personal assistant Siri. The company is developing software called Google Assistant that takes voice commands to help you accomplish real-life goals. Unlike Siri, Google will let developers integrate Assistant into third-party apps. In Continue Reading →