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science

SCIENCE: Artificial Chameleon Skin – Weird and Cool

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Artificial Chameleon Skin

A team of chemists has created a substance that can change its color and stiffness, which they’re comparing to chameleon skin. The stretchy material is made up of strands of copolymers — complex, self-assembling large molecules that in this case are shaped like long dumbbells, with spherical bulges on each end. The way those copolymers react to mechanical stress allows them to vary their stiffness and color, the researchers wrote in a paper published Friday (March 30) in the journal Science. Like a chameleon, the substance doesn’t undergo any chemical changes when it changes color. Instead, those tiny bulges at … Read more

SCIENCE: Making Sculptures Out of Liquid

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liquid sculptures

liqu A mesmerizing new video shows scientists crafting dazzling, slinky-like sculptures made completely out of liquid — and the liquid structures can hold their shape for months. Researchers created the ghostly-looking sculptures by manipulating the properties of water and oil. Anyone who has ever tried to make salad dressing knows oil and water normally don’t mix; their molecules are simply more attracted to their own kind than to each other — unless, of course, you use a substance like mustard that can bring the sides together. When you do that, you can make oil and water stick together in solution, … Read more

SCIENCE: Researchers Discover a New Organ

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new organ

With all that’s known about human anatomy, you wouldn’t expect doctors to discover a new body part in this day and age. But now, researchers say they’ve done just that: They’ve found a network of fluid-filled spaces in tissue that hadn’t been seen before. These fluid-filled spaces were discovered in connective tissues all over the body, including below the skin’s surface; lining the digestive tract, lungs and urinary systems; and surrounding muscles, according to a new study detailing the findings, published today (March 27) in the journal Scientific Reports. Previously, researchers had thought these tissue layers were a dense “wall” … Read more

SCIENCE: Could Salt Stop Climate Change?

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salt - pixabay

Sprinkling large amounts of salt into the atmosphere could stave off climate change, a group of researchers has proposed. They’ve suggested that, because salt is highly reflective, it could potentially reflect sunlight back into outer space, helping to cool the Earth, they wrote in a report presented at the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference in Texas on March 21. But other climate scientists aren’t so sure. This idea falls into the category of geoengineering — a deliberate, large-scale attempt to change the environment as a means to counteract climate change. By Laura Geggel – Full Story at Live Science

U=(N/T)M*G: CAT

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Ah, another holy grail of science fiction and science has once again caught my eye and imagination in a interesting fashion. The culprit, this time, is time-travel. Sort of. Allow me to explain. It all starts with quantum physics. You know, that branch of science guilty of giving people headaches since it went mainstream with Schrödinger’s infamous half alive, half dead cat. Schrödinger thought it would be a grand idea to theorize about quantum entanglement with the great Einstein, even if it left him with a sour taste in his mouth. Well, some enterprising scientists went in another direction with … Read more

SCIENCE: Twin Telepathy – Is it Real?

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twin telepathy - pixabay

Twins, both fraternal and identical, have fascinated the world for millennia. They are often very close, and share not only genes but home environments, friends, clothes and, of course, secrets. However many identical twins — perhaps as many as one in five — also claim to share something more mysterious: a special psychic connection. About one out of every 30 babies born in the United States is a twin, and identical twins are especially interesting because they have the same genes and are alike in many ways. Brothers and sisters can be close, but some twins claim to know what … Read more

SCIENCE: Monsters in Real Life

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Frankenstein

People are fascinated by monstrous creatures, and popular culture and folklore are populated by bizarre beasts, from electrically reanimated corpses and giant, hairy humanoids to blood-guzzling vampires and amorous fish-men. Are any of these monsters even remotely possible in the real world? Not every monster is scientifically plausible, but many do have their foundations in the natural world’s real-life “monsters,” a group of experts reported here March 31 during the Future Con panel “Ack, Real Monsters.” They weighed in on what makes a monster and introduced the audience to some terrifying examples of animals that are just as strange and … Read more

FOR WRITERS: A Scientific Basis for Gender Identity

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crystal ball

FOR WRITERS Today’s writer topic comes from QSFer J. Scott Coatsworth: Our news article today: https://pixabay.com/en/dna-biology-medicine-gene-163466/ Suggests that scientists may have found a group of genes responsible for gender identity. Whether or not it’s true, it brought to mind a question. How would this change things for transgender, enby and gender fluid folks in society? Pull out your crystal balls and forecast the ramifications in society, good and bad. Join the chat

Scientists Discover Genes That Could Be Responsible For Gender Identity

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DNA - Pixabay

Scientists believe they have identified genetic variants that may play a role in gender identity, giving backing to gender dysphoria having a physical basis. This is the first time a panel of genes, including DNA, involved in the development of nerve cells and the manufacture of sex hormones, that could help explain why someone might experience their gender as different from what they were assigned at birth has been discovered, The Times reports. “It lends legitimacy, if that needs to be added, that transgender is not a choice but a way of being,” said geneticist Ricki Lewis. “I think people … Read more

Yes, There Are Zombie Raccoons

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zombie raccoons - pixabay

Raccoons acting like “zombies” have been scaring residents of one Ohio town, according to news reports. In recent weeks, police in Youngstown, Ohio have received over a dozen calls about raccoons acting strangely in broad daylight, according to local news outlet WKBN. One resident, Robert Coggeshall, told WKBN that he spotted a raccoon behaving very oddly last week while he was playing with his dogs outside. The raccoon “would stand up on his hind legs, which I’ve never seen a raccoon do before, and he would show his teeth and then he would fall over backward and go into almost … Read more