Science

Speed of Light Upset May Be Result of Loose Wire

Staff / Truthdig Feb 23, 2012 Remember the announcement that shocked the physics world last September? Scientists claimed to have measured a neutrino traveling faster than the speed of light -- a feat that would have undone Einstein, if, that is, the measurement proves not to have been the result of a bad connection between a GPS unit and a computer, as researchers now suspect. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Study: Men May Stick Around for More Than 5M Years

Staff / Truthdig Feb 23, 2012 What a relief to know that men might not be an endangered species with a potential expiration date in only 5 million years, according to a new study published, appropriately (if heavy-handedly), in a journal called Nature. The issue boils down to a predicted, but now contested, process of genetic decay targeting the man-specific Y chromosome. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Early Astronauts Were Lucky to Survive the Unknown

Staff / Truthdig Feb 21, 2012 Fifty years ago, John Glenn sat in a little metal capsule rocketing around the Earth, while down on the ground NASA scientists thought his eyes might change shape. (more) Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Scientists Create Magnetic Soap to Cope With Oil Spills

Staff / Truthdig Jan 24, 2012 Researchers have invented a kind of soap that can be magnetically corralled to help clean up toxic spills. The feat is accomplished by infusing more mundane suds with tiny iron particles that join together and react to magnets. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

The Amazing Spider-Goat!

Staff / Truthdig Jan 17, 2012 This is the kind of scientific story that's a little "ooh" with some "ew!" mixed in, too: Scientists at Utah State University have cleverly combined goat and spider genes to make a normal-looking strain of goat that happens to be able to produce extra protein in its milk that can be made into spider silk. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

New Bill Would Put Taxpayer-Funded Science Behind Pay Walls

By Lena Groeger, ProPublica Jan 12, 2012 Right now, if you want to read the published results of the biomedical research that your own tax dollars paid for, all you have to do is visit the digital archive of the National Institutes of Health. But a new bill in Congress wants to change that. Dig deeper ( 4 Min. Read )

Study Says Moderate Marijuana Smoking Doesn’t Hurt Lungs

Staff / Truthdig Jan 11, 2012 Before you rush out and follow Snoop Dogg's lead, you might read the fine print about a new NIH-funded study about moderate long-term marijuana use and its effects (or lack thereof) on lung function. On the other hand, the study makes a strong case for giving up cigarettes and rolling a joint. Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

NASA: The World Won’t End in 2012

Staff / Truthdig Jan 3, 2012 Sorry, all you Mayan-influenced doomsday enthusiasts, but it's looking to some of the great minds over at NASA as though 2012 isn't going to be particularly apocalypse-friendly as such. Ancient augury versus contemporary astronomy: Who will prevail? Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Scientists List Their Favorite Discoveries of 2011

Staff / Truthdig Dec 31, 2011 Increasingly chaotic weather, potentially habitable planets and closing in on the elusive Higgs boson are just a few of the developments observed and discoveries made by the scientific community in 2011. The editors at LiveScience asked university scientists to describe what they think were the most important advances of the year. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Scientists Make Killer Flu Virus Even Deadlier

Staff / Truthdig Dec 28, 2011 More than half of the people infected with H5N1 -- the bird flu virus -- are dead, so it's a damned good thing the virus isn't airborne. That is, until now. U.S.-funded researchers in the Netherlands have successfully engineered a viral H5N1 strain that can spread through the air, realizing fears of a potentially weaponized germ that infects easily and kills half its victims. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Chasing Down the ‘God Particle’

Staff / Truthdig Dec 13, 2011 Do you know the story of the Higgs boson? It is also called the "God particle" in scientific circles, although certain conservatives would probably not approve, and it has been a kind of physicists' Holy Grail for decades. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

BP Accuses Halliburton of Destroying Gulf Spill Evidence

Staff / Truthdig Dec 6, 2011 Halliburton just seems to pop up wherever trouble can be found, such as the Bush White House (through Dick Cheney's chummy history with the company) and also in the ecopocalypse that was the Gulf of Mexico oil spill in April 2010. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )