Science

NASA is plotting a daring robotic mission to Jupiter’s watery moon Europa, a place where astronomers speculate there might be some form of life. The space agency set aside $15 million in its 2015 budget proposal to start planning some kind of mission to Europa. No details have been decided yet, but NASA chief financial Continue Reading →

When we first broached the Great Smiley Debate a few weeks ago, the question was whether or not a dash-as-nose was appropriate, necessary, or a bastardization of the simple purity of two dots paired with a gentle curve. But a new, equally contentious controversy emerged in the Kinja discussion: Should the parenthesis open towards the Continue Reading →

Given Imaging Ltd. has won US approval for an ingestible pill camera that can help doctors screen the large intestine for early signs of colon cancer. The Israeli company’s technology uses a battery-powered camera to take high-speed photos of the intestinal tract over eight hours. The images are transmitted to a recording device on the Continue Reading →

Jellyfish are popular attractions at aquariums, with their see-through bodies and floating lifestyle. Keeping hungry jellyfish fed, however, can be a challenge. Fish and shrimp-based protein sources can be expensive, inconvenient, and may ultimately be unsustainable. That’s why P. Zelda Montoya and Barrett L. Christie, two aquarists from the Dallas Zoo and Children’s Aquarium, decided Continue Reading →

Rosetta, the first spacecraft built to orbit a comet and land a probe on these icy nomads, is now waking up after more than two years of slumber, and videos filmed as part of an international competition will help greet the spacecraft after it awakens. Comets are some of the most primitive building blocks of Continue Reading →

Google is testing out a contact lens product that is designed to help measure glucose levels in tears in an attempt to manage a patient’s diabetes. An outcome from the company’s Google[x] department, the prototypes are capable of generating a reading once per second. Google is also in talks with the US Food and Drug Continue Reading →

A clear, bandage-like sensor could eventually make everything from fabrics to our fingers smart. Dr. Yong Zhu and a team of North Carolina State University researchers created an ultra-thin, flexible sensor that could be used in clothing, on the body, any in other ordinary objects to track things like strain, pressure, human touch, and bioelectronic Continue Reading →

Middle and High School astronomy courses rely on visualization, particularly when it comes to seeing the “images” in constellations and orbital trajectories. This five app bunch is perfect for students who want to more clearly see the planets and stars, as well as learn the history, present and future of space programs. Gravity App ($7.99 iPad) Continue Reading →

Would a pocket-sized cholesterol monitor keep you from Super Sizing your next meal? Scientists from Cornell University have created the smartCARD, which lets you check your cholesterol through your iPhone. The smartCARD – which stands for smartphone Cholesterol Application for Rapid Diagnostics – clips onto the top of your phone over the camera. It features Continue Reading →

The Turing test is one of the oldest ideas for imagining machine intelligence. Dreamed-up by computing legend Alan Turing, the idea is genius in its simplicity — if the average person can’t distinguish a particular machine from a real person through conversation, then that machine is said to possess thought. Each year, chat bots are Continue Reading →