NOC the talking whale learns to imitate human speech
A captive white whale that made unusual mumbling sounds when he was in the presence of people may have been trying to mimic his human companions, scientists have found.
An acoustic analysis of the sounds made by a beluga whale called NOC has revealed remarkable similarities to human speech patterns, indicating that the whale was trying to “reach out” to his human captors, scientists believe. Although there are anecdotal accounts of whales sounding like “ children shouting from a distance”, this is the first time that scientists have produced hard evidence that they are capable of trying to imitate human speech. One of the first indications that NOC was able to sound like a human was when a diver swimming alongside him in his pen came to the surface and asked his colleagues “who told me to get out”? Note: See here to hear an audio sample. |  |
Evidence of pesticide harm to bees is now swarming
Here we go again. Yet more research has been published in the world's most prestigious, peer-reviewed journals showing that extremely widely-used pesticides have very damaging effects on bees, yet the only response from the government is inaction.
The new paper, published in Nature, shows that bumblebees foraging naturally and exposed to realistic doses of pesticides suffer in two key ways. First they are about twice as likely to die: two-thirds of the bees are lost when exposed to two pesticides compared to only a third when not exposed. Second, the exposed bees are half as successful in gathering food. |  |
Egypt’s ‘collapsing’ pyramids
My first introduction to working in Egypt was a project in Cairo’s historic old quarter, following the 1992 earthquake that caused widespread and devastating damage. Cintec International won the contract to repair and reinforce a number of badly affected structures, with work commencing in 1998.
The project consisted of some 15 notable mosques and maqaads, successfully strengthened using Cintec’s patented anchoring systems. Most of the essential work was completed by early 2005, with ongoing localised repairs still being undertaken as and when required.
The project consisted of some 15 notable mosques and maqaads, successfully strengthened using Cintec’s patented anchoring systems. Most of the essential work was completed by early 2005, with ongoing localised repairs still being undertaken as and when required.
'Atlantis in the Sand' : Unlocking the Mysteries of Petra
The ruins of the ancient city of Petra lay hidden until 1812, when a Swiss explorer stumbled upon them in modern-day Jordan. Two centuries later, a new exhibition in Basel brings together some 150 artifacts that shed light on how this mysterious culture of spice traders carved a luxurious oasis into the rocks of the desert.
In the stifling heat, the intruder squeezed his way through the Siq, a narrow gorge flanked by steep rock walls. The man walked through the dark gorge for 1.2 kilometers (0.75 miles). Suddenly, he laid eyes on a magnificent scene. |  |
Breakthrough in world's oldest undeciphered writing
The world's oldest undeciphered writing system, which has so far defied attempts to uncover its 5,000-year-old secrets, could be about to be decoded by Oxford University academics.
This international research project is already casting light on a lost bronze age middle eastern society where enslaved workers lived on rations close to the starvation level. "I think we are finally on the point of making a breakthrough," says Jacob Dahl, fellow of Wolfson College, Oxford and director of the Ancient World Research Cluster. |  |
New analysis provides fuller picture of human expansion from Africa
A new, comprehensive review of humans' anthropological and genetic records gives the most up-to-date story of the "Out of Africa" expansion that occurred about 45,000 to 60,000 years ago.
This expansion, detailed by three Stanford geneticists, had a dramatic effect on human genetic diversity, which persists in present-day populations. As a small group of modern humans migrated out of Africa into Eurasia and the Americas, their genetic diversity was substantially reduced.
This expansion, detailed by three Stanford geneticists, had a dramatic effect on human genetic diversity, which persists in present-day populations. As a small group of modern humans migrated out of Africa into Eurasia and the Americas, their genetic diversity was substantially reduced.
Can your body sense future events without any external clue?
EVANSTON, Ill. --- Wouldn't it be amazing if our bodies prepared us for future events that could be very important to us, even if there's no clue about what those events will be?
Presentiment without any external clues may, in fact, exist, according to new Northwestern University research that analyzes the results of 26 studies published between 1978 and 2010.
Presentiment without any external clues may, in fact, exist, according to new Northwestern University research that analyzes the results of 26 studies published between 1978 and 2010.
Big Bang and religion mixed in Cern debate
Some of Europe's most prominent scientists have opened a debate with philosophers and theologians over the origins of everything.
The event, in Geneva, Switzerland, is described as a search for "common ground" between religion and science over how the Universe began. It will focus on the Big Bang theory. The conference was called by Cern, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, in the wake of its Higgs boson discovery. |  |
Grim exhibition shows role of grave robbers in medical science
It was the skeletons that apparently had four legs or three arms that startled the archaeologists, not the mere fact of finding masses of human bones in the back yard of one of London’s most famous teaching hospitals.
It was the skeletons that apparently had four legs or three arms that startled the archaeologists, not the mere fact of finding masses of human bones in the back yard of one of London’s most famous teaching hospitals.
It was the skeletons that apparently had four legs or three arms that startled the archaeologists, not the mere fact of finding masses of human bones in the back yard of one of London’s most famous teaching hospitals.
Cat discovers 2,000-year-old Roman catacomb
Rome may not exactly be short of catacombs, but one discovered this week is more deserving of the name than the city's countless other subterranean burial chambers. For Mirko Curti stumbled into a 2,000-year-old tomb piled with bones while chasing a wayward moggy yards from his apartment building.
Curti and a friend were following the cat at 10pm on Tuesday when it scampered towards a low tufa rock cliff close to his home near Via di Pietralata in a residential area of the city. "The cat managed to get into a grotto and we followed the sound of its miaowing," he said. |  |
GM mouse created to detect landmines
Scientists have genetically modified mice to enable them to sniff out landmines. They hope the GM mouse, known as MouSensor, could one day become a useful tool to help deal with the dangerous legacies of past wars.
More than 70 countries are contaminated by landmines, a constant reminder of previous conflicts. "Long after wars have ended, communities are still impeded from going back to their normal, daily activities because of all these mines still affecting their land," said Charlotte D'Hulst of Hunter College, New York, who led the team that developed the MouSensor. |  |
Rock used as a DOORSTOP turns out to be a four-billion-year-old meteorite
Eastern Kentucky University has acquired a 33-pound meteorite from an eastern Tennessee family that used the space rock as a doorstop and flower bed ornament over the years.
The meteorite was initially found in a cow pasture near Tazewell, Tennessee, in the 1930s by Tilmon Brooks, the late grandfather of Donna Lewis, a school secretary in Pineville, Kentucky. Tests at the University of Tennessee concluded that the meteorite likely came from a known meteorite strike that had first turned up evidence in Tazewell in 1853. EKU's Department of Physics and Astronomy Chairman, Jerry Cook, announced that the meteorite would makes its debut at the Kentucky Academy of Science annual conference on campus over the weekend. |  |
Class War: Why Poor Parents Are More Likely to Get Busted for Pot
Recently, the New York Times published an op-ed by an art dealer and father from San Francisco titled “Pot for Parents.” It was just the latest of a growing number of pieces (Jezebel.com, NY Post , Huffingtonpost.com and Phillymag.com) published recently espousing the benefits of marijuana use for parents. These pro-pot missives share a carefree and cavalier tone, portraying marijuana use as an upscale diversion that ameliorates stress and leads to more patient and creative parenting. The “best part” of marijuana use, the “Pot for Parents” author writes, “is an amazing off-label benefit I call Parental Attention Surplus Syndrome” -- the ability to perform obligatory parental duties with genuine enthusiasm after using marijuana.
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Groundwater extraction triggered deadly Spain quake, study says
LONDON — Groundwater extraction from agriculture and industry that lowered a nearby aquifer helped spark a quake in Spain last year that killed nine people, according to a study published Sunday in Nature Geoscience.
The May 2011 earthquake in Lorca, with a magnitude of 5.1, was triggered after a 820-foot drop in groundwater from pumping since the 1960s ruptured the Earth's crust along the Alhama de Murcia fault line, according to the study led by Pablo Gonzalez of the University of Western Ontario.
The May 2011 earthquake in Lorca, with a magnitude of 5.1, was triggered after a 820-foot drop in groundwater from pumping since the 1960s ruptured the Earth's crust along the Alhama de Murcia fault line, according to the study led by Pablo Gonzalez of the University of Western Ontario.
Italian scientists guilty of manslaughter in 2009 earthquake
Seven scientists and experts on trial for manslaughter linked to an earthquake in Italy that killed more than 300 people have been convicted and sentenced to six years in prison, a court has ruled.
The victims of the earthquake in L'Aquila have also been awarded between €40,000 to €450,000 ($52,000 to $584,000 Cdn), said freelance journalist Megan Williams. Italian prosecutors say that the scientists gave inaccurate and incomplete information about whether smaller tremors before the April 2009 quake should have been grounds for an official warning. The 6.9 magnitude earthquake left 309 people dead and injured more than 1,500 others. |  |
3-D-printed airplane takes to the skies
3-D printers are already being used to create machine parts and small toys, but engineers have now used the technology to build an entire vehicle: a plastic, unmanned airplane that actually flies.
The plane, created by engineering students at the University of Virginia (U.Va.), has a 6.5-foot wingspan, and was made from assembled printed parts.
The team tested their creation during four flights in August and early September at Milton Airfield near Keswick, Va. The aircraft, which is only the third 3-D-printed plane known to have been built and flown, achieved a cruising speed of 45 mph.
The plane, created by engineering students at the University of Virginia (U.Va.), has a 6.5-foot wingspan, and was made from assembled printed parts.
The team tested their creation during four flights in August and early September at Milton Airfield near Keswick, Va. The aircraft, which is only the third 3-D-printed plane known to have been built and flown, achieved a cruising speed of 45 mph.
Favorites Emerge in the New Moon Race
Twenty-five teams are officially in the running for the Google Lunar X PRIZE (GLXP), the $30 million prize for soft-landing a privately funded unmanned spacecraft on the moon. As the 2015 deadline approaches, however, it has become clear which teams are the early leaders in the chase to pull off a feat achieved only by two world superpowers, and not since the 1970s.
"This is really a predictable watershed year for the competition," says Bob Richards, co-founder and CEO of Moon Express, one of the top contenders in the competition. Richards spoke to PM by phone as he drove to his team's headquarters at NASA's Ames Research Center in California's Bay Area. A rocket launch must be booked two years in advance, according to Richards, "so if you don't have a launch contract 24 months before the expiry of the prize, you're just not credible." . |  |
A new space age in desert
MOJAVE — Inside one of the bustling ramshackle hangars at the Mojave Air & Space Port, 23-year-old Kyle Nyberg is tightening dozens of stainless-steel nuts that make up the innards of the rocket sitting before him.
As the searing desert heat creeps in through an open door, beads of sweat form on Nyberg's brow. Dirt coats his baseball cap and his black gym shoes threaded with neon green laces. Some of his fingers are wrapped with ragged bandages. But the young aeronautical engineer is smiling. He knows the 12-foot rocket is set to blast off any day now. |  |
Sun unleashes solar plasma wave larger than Earth
A giant wave of super-hot solar plasma larger than the Earth erupted from the sun on Friday in a spectacular display captured by a NASA spacecraft.
The huge solar prominence occurred at 4:15 a.m. EDT (0815 GMT) and was recorded in amazing detail by the high-definition cameras aboard NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory before escaping the sun. "Once it started breaking away, the process only took 10 hours before it was out of sight," NASA media specialist Steele Hill explained in a photo description. "The prominence stretched out many times the size of Earth." Note: see also Space.com's video article 'Solar Flares: Storms On The Sun Can Make Our Electronics Go Haywire'. |  |
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