SAN DIEGO, Kalifornia (PNN) - August 31, 2016 - A team of scientists at the University of Kalifornia, San Diego (UC San Diego) has found a simple but effective way of encouraging stem cells to regenerate bone tissue. With successful animal tests already in the bag, the findings could have a big impact on the treatment of bone defects, and for healing traumatic bone injuries.
Stem cells coaxed into regenerating bone while leaving out tumors
Study suggests dogs know what you're saying
BERLIN, Germany (PNN) - August 30, 2016 - Scientists have found evidence to support what many dog owners have long believed: man’s best friend really does understand some of what we’re saying.
Researchers in Hungary scanned the brains of dogs as they were listening to their trainer speaking to determine which parts of the brain they were using.
They found that dogs processed words with the left hemisphere and used the right hemisphere to process pitch - just like people.
Star in a jar: space-age fusion machine underway
CULHAM, England (PNN) - August 30, 2016 - For more than half a century now, the world's top scientists have been trying to build a fusion device that would essentially replicate and miniaturize the power of the Sun. This so-called “star-in-a-jar” vision would provide the Earth with clean, safe and practically limitless energy - forever.
The exoplanet next door
Astronomers have discovered evidence of a small, rocky planet orbiting our nearest star – and it may even be a bit like Earth. Nobody knows whether the planet, called Proxima b, could ever sustain life. The little planet orbits our sun’s nearest neighbouring star, Proxima Centauri, making it the closest exoplanet ever found.
Is Earth being contacted by aliens?
Mystery radio signals coming from a sun-like star baffle scientists.
LONDON, England (PNN) - August 29, 2016 - A spike in radio signals coming from the direction of a sun-like star has excited astronomers.
The signals seem to be originating from a star known as HD 164595 in the constellation Hercules, around 95 light years away.
Should we bring the woolly mammoth back to life?
SANTA BARBARA, Kalifornia (PNN) - August 26, 2016 - While a real-life Jurassic Park may not be opening any time soon, bringing back more recently extinct species, like the woolly mammoth or the dodo, is a distinct possibility. But while scientists in the movie "were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should," real-world scientists are now considering the latter. With various “de-extinction” projects in the works right now, researchers at University of Kalifornia, Santa Barbara have published a paper analyzing the ecological benefits, risks and responsibilities of reintroducing once-extinct species into modern ecosystems.
Scientist says we may all be living in a computer simulation controlled by an evil genius
SYDNEY, Australia (PNN) - August 2, 2016 - It's a question that has baffled humans long before The Matrix; do we exist and what if we are living in a simulation?
While we have yet to have a definitive answer, one expert has waded through this philosophical quagmire to explain arguments about whether we are just a brain in a vat.
Solar cell sucks up CO2 and spits out burnable fuel on the other side
CHICAGO, Illinois (PNN) - July 29, 2016 – Re-creating a plant's ability to use sunlight to turn carbon dioxide into fuel, something known as artificial photosynthesis, is one of the holy grails of green energy research. Researchers have now edged closer toward this dream technology, developing what they describe as a game-changing solar cell that produces hydrocarbon fuels in the lab, with potential applications ranging from large-scale uses on Earth to providing power on Mars.
Manned multicopter - expanding the flight envelope
A Swedish entrepreneur inventor has deceloped a gasoline-powered flying carpet that actually works! Amazing!
Metal foam obliterates bullets
Composite metal foams are tough stuff. Tough enough to turn an armor-piercing bullet into dust on impact. Given that these foams are also lighter than metal plate, the material has obvious implications for creating new types of body and vehicle armor - and that’s just the beginning of its potential uses. Afsaneh Rabiei, a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at North Carolina State, has spent years developing composite metal foams and investigating their unusual properties.