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Here's Where Your Backyard Was 300 Million Years Ago

We may use terms like "grounded" and terra firma to mean stability and consistency but geology...

Convergent Evolution Cheat Sheet Now 120 Million Years Old

One tenet of natural selection is a random walk of genes but nature may be more predictable than...

Synchrotron Could Shed Light On Exotic Dark Photons

There are many hypothetical particles proposed to explain dark matter and one idea to explore how...

The Pain Scale Is Broken But This May Fix It

Chronic pain is reported by over 20 percent of the global population but there is no scientific...

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In the cultural war over climate change, which is mostly about drivers but looks like politics, other aspects of earth science get lost, like that pollution is plain bad.  The oceans may be acidifying faster today than they have in the last 300 million years and part of that reason is because the oceans act like a sponge to draw down excess carbon dioxide from the air.

'May' is one of those operative words scientists use that often get used colloquially to instill doubt, like how anti-science people on one side deny climate science and those on the other deny biological science.

The elusive antihydrogen atom has been manipulated using microwaves, providing the first glimpse of an "anti-atomic fingerprint." 

Antimatter is a staple of science fiction, but it also stands out as one of the biggest mysteries of science fact. Fundamental theories predict perfect symmetry between matter and antimatter, but the glaring absence of antimatter in our universe suggests there might be a difference. Enter microwave spectroscopy, one of the most sensitive techniques for probing the structure of atoms.

Researchers have completed the genome sequence for the gorilla, the last genus of the living great apes to have its genome decoded. The results confirm that our closest relative is the chimpanzee but much of the human genome more closely resembles the gorilla than it does the chimpanzee genome.

For the first time, scientists can compare the genomes of all four living great apes: humans, chimpanzees, gorillas and orangutans. This provides a unique perspective on our own origins and is an important resource for research into human evolution and biology, as well as for gorilla biology and conservation.  

The basis of the computing revolution is silicon but that popularity has led to e-waste.  We are okay with iPads being made in Chinese child labor sweat shops but we don't want to damage American landfills after we replace them.

A team from Tel Aviv University may have a solution; biodegradable transistors that are protein-based, essentially composed of organic materials found in...you.
Utopia is a perfect world where we can eat to our heart's content without without getting heart disease or diabetes or even cancer.  In mice, Utopia may be coming closer. Mice with an extra dose of a known anti-cancer gene called Pten lose weight even as their appetites grow. They also live longer - but not just because they aren't getting cancer.

One of the animals' youthful secrets is hyperactive brown fat, which burns energy instead of storing it. The findings add to evidence that tumor suppressors aren't designed only to protect us against cancer, the researchers say. They also point to new treatment strategies aimed to boost brown fat and fight aging.

A mini-medical machine could mean a new power scheme for cardiac pacemakers. Rather than use batteries, engineering researchers at the University of Michigan say they can use vibrations from heartbeats themselves. 

Their new device is designed to harvest energy from the reverberation of heartbeats through the chest and convert those to electricity to run a pacemaker or an implanted defibrillator. By taking the place of the batteries that power them today, the new energy harvester could save patients from repeated surgeries - the only way today to replace the batteries, which last five to 10 years.