Author Archives: César Tomé
MI weekly selection #336
New crater spotted on Mars ranks among largest seen to date
The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has observed a fresh crater on the Red Planet, NASA officials say. The space agency released an image that shows a hole gouged on the […]
MI weekly selection #335
Robotics, seals used to figure out reason for Antarctic sea ice holes
Researchers used robotic floats and tagged elephant seals to learn why huge holes called polynyas are opening up in Antarctic ice. Strong storms and a higher salt content […]
MI weekly selection #334
Dragonfish teeth owe translucence to nanoscale structures
Nanoscale structures make the teeth of deep-sea dragonfish translucent so they’re invisible to prey. The sharp, thin teeth are obscured in the dragonfish’s mouths due to the way the nanostructures minimize the scattering […]
MI weekly selection #333
CO2 used as water alternative in fracking experiment
Researchers in China have used carbon dioxide instead of water in a fracking process that could potentially be more environmentally friendly. CO2 was used in five wells drilled in […]
MI weekly selection #332
New tool helps scientists visualize stem cell division
A tool developed by the Allen Institute for Cell Science can help scientists see what a human stem cell looks like when it’s dividing. The Integrated Mitotic Stem Cell is a colorful […]
MI weekly selection #331
E. coli variant created with synthetic genome
An artificial version of Escherichia coli was created with a synthetic genome. Researchers built the genome piece by piece because “the bacterial chromosome is so big, we needed an approach that would […]
MI weekly selection #330
Oxygen shifts linked to animal evolution during Cambrian explosion
The rise and fall of atmospheric oxygen levels during the Cambrian explosion have been linked to the evolutionary changes in animal biodiversity at the time. Researchers looked at changes in organic […]
MI weekly selection #329
Bright gamma-ray flashes found around pulsars
Extremely bright gamma-ray flashes known as Cherenkov emissions have been detected circling around pulsars, created when charged particles moving in a sense faster than light travel through the pulsar’s surrounding quantum vacuum. “This is […]
MI weekly selection #328
Universe is expanding faster than once thought
The universe’s expansion rate is faster than previously believed. Researchers used the Hubble Space Telescope and observations by the Araucaria Project to determine that the universe is expanding roughly 10% faster than earlier […]
MI weekly selection #327
Researchers create computers in human cells
The human body’s similarity to a computer inspired researchers at ETH Zurich to use CRISPR gene editing to build dual-core processors in human cells. The development could lead to the creation of biocomputers to […]