You are looking at ascanning electron microscope image taken by Annie Cavanagh and David McCarthy: a zebra fish larva 32 hours after hatching from its egg. Zebra fish are one of the fundamental cornerstones of research across fields including cancer, cardiovascular, immune system, infectious diseases and drugs. For example, the zebrafish model for tuberculosis provides fundamental insights into […]
Month: April 2014
Where Do Insects Go in Winter?
As cold-blooded creatures, insects are particularly susceptible to winter’s freezing temperatures. To survive, this class of animals has developed a wide variety of adaptations, including long migrations, creating their own anti-freeze and even purposely freezing portions of their bodies. Migration Perhaps the best-known migratory insect is the Monarch Butterfly. Each autumn, between August and […]
You may have thrown your 3D glasses away a long while back, but not this little critter. After all, this praying mantis has had his glued to his face by scientists in the name of “research.” In fact, this is what Newcastle University scientists in the UK are doing to try and understand the eyes […]
It’s not very often you get to see inside a US Air Force nuclear silo—but CBS recently got to take a peek for us. In this video, Lesley Stahl finds that they’re not quite as high-tech as you might like to think. This segment, which you can watch below, appeared on 60 Minutes, and it […]
Why Squinting Helps You See Better
Whether or not you knew what you were doing, there’s undoubtedly been a time when you found yourself squinting to get a better look at something you otherwise couldn’t see. Minute Physics’ newest video breaks down this wildly useful little phenomenon. Basically, there’s two different factors at play when scrunching up. First, your eye slightly […]
International drug smugglers and those with substantial rainy-day funds hidden under the mattress, take note! The Bank of England is withdrawing the £50 note featuring Sir John Houblon from circulation this Wednesday. Having been out in the wild for the last 20 years, the note (featuring the Bank of England’s first governor) is being phased […]
The Samsung Galaxy S5 proved to be a bit of a disappointment. Sure, it had a cleaner interface (not a hard feat to pull off considering the clutter of older versions of the TouchWiz UI), a nifty fingerprint scanner and some fitness-tracking smarts, but on the whole it fell short. That may be because Samsung’s […]
Ah, the great outdoors, how I loathe thee. What with all that sunshine, fresh air, and hordes of ravenous apex predators lurking around every trail bend. But if you do insist on communing with Mother Nature, here’s what you need to know to keep from becoming a part of the food chain. Surviving a […]
Skype just made group video calling available to all users for free instead of being locked under Premium. Looks like someone is catching up to Hangouts. [Skype]
West Sussex County Council is the latest authority to open the political hot potato of traffic speed limits up for debate, sending letters to voters to ask if a 20mph residential limit would be welcome in the town. Would it? Or would it only make driving anywhere a nightmare? At the moment, it’s down to local […]