science saturday

I want to start today’s roundup by noting that doing this the day after April Fools is tough, because scientists have diabolical senses of humor, and I’m not generally smart…

Most of the links this week will deal with the earthquake and tsunami in Japan. The biggest issue I have personally with nuclear power is that while things don’t often…

NASA’s Glory satellite fails to reach orbit. It was supposed to study the effect atmospheric particles have on the climate. This is the second time this has happened which might…

Sulfuric acid doesn’t dissolve a corpse quite as quickly as the mafia claims. From China a fossil of a walking cactus. A frigging walking cactus. Space Shuttle Discovery launched for…

The Secret Service has done a study on US assassinations, and there’s some really interesting findings available. Here’s yet another way a hacker can use your public information against you.…

There’s a lunar core? I thought it was just a hunk of rock. Ever seen a solar eclipse from space? Now you can. The Russians are about to drill into…

Watching high speed laser welding with an x-ray camera–what part of that description isn’t awesome? Solving the Pioneer anomaly. Voyager is approaching the boundaries of the solar system. Lunar eclipse!…

Fake eyes can affect behavior. This study is new, but the results aren’t surprising. They’re still cool, though. Reproductive scientists have used stem cells to create mice with two dads.…

Radioactive mercury splits unevenly during fission. It’s a completely new form of asymmetric fission. This picture of the Nile at night from the International Space Station is nothing short of…

It still amazes me that scientists can even find planets in other systems, but to figure out that this one was once part of another galaxy is incredible . Scientists…

Sorry this is late–the line for early voting was longer than I expected. That’s a good thing, though, so I’m fine with this being a little late if you are.…

The Mars Rovers Spirit and Opportunity succeeded beyond everyone’s greatest hopes. Now, NASA is building a new Mars rover named Curiosity, which is much larger and heavier than the earlier…