When contemplating a high-technology device, one can often realize how much the design and the different pieces have been optimized for the goal they try to achieve. It does not have to be a modern-day technological device; think for example in a classic, mechanical clock: all its parts are assembled in a clean and neat […]
Michelangelo famously claimed he merely carved out sculptures he saw trapped inside the stone. His genius involved a powerful internal vision that he masterly imposed on external matter. We can think of Michelangelo’s conception of sculpture when we look at human babies acquiring language, because babies, like sculptors, carve out the language they hear in […]
The depth of the ocean is directly related to the behavior of the tectonic plates. Studies conducted so far have assumed that the sea floor depth depends solely on its age. However, these results do not match the experimental measurements. The work developed by Adam and Vidal shows that the convective flow of the underlying […]
It is well known that an accurate and energetic laser shot can melt, ionize and excite the material in which the light is focused, creating very bright plasmas after the interaction. Valuable information can be obtained from the light emitted by the plasma, such as the elemental composition of the material itself or the environment […]
Alfred Russel Wallace (1823-1813) is especially known as one of the discoverers of evolution by natural selection. However, among his various contributions to the development of modern biology we can also consider the British naturalist as the father of biogeography: the study of the spatial distribution of organisms over the surface of the planet. Wallace’s […]
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Zircon grains came from ancient continent Grains of zircon found on the island of Mauritius may have come from the crust of an ancient continent beneath the Indian Ocean. The grains formed almost 2 billion years ago, but the island is only 65 million years old. New Scientist Trond H. Torsvik, Hans Amundsen, Ebbe H […]
All of us know that animals use camouflage and mimicry as strategies to protect themselves from predators. Many examples have become famous with many TV documentaries showing, among others, foxes and rabbits that in higher latitudes are white to be confused with the snow and thus, to become harder to be distinguished and caught. Insects […]
When the general media report news about genetics, there is a deplorable tendency towards gene determinism. Headlines in the vein of “Gene for X discovered”—where X is anything from a physical trait to a complex behavior—are regrettably common, and almost always incorrect. That’s why I face this article with some trepidation. Because, you see, there […]
Orcas or killer whales (Orcinus orca) are widely distributed and feed on a large array of prey —fish, seals and sometimes whales—. These powerful predators are highly adaptable, cooperative and live in stable matriarchal social groups of related animals. Each prey species they feed on requires special hunting skills and there have been observational reports […]
Humanities & Social Sciences • Science • Technology • Weekly Selection
“Native” water once existed on the Moon A new analysis of lunar soil samples from NASA’s Apollo missions has found evidence that the moon in its early days may have contained “native” water. The findings, which were published in the journal Nature Geoscience, go against prevailing theories that the moon formed from the debris of […]