Good news for all you sad Muggles wandering around all visible and everything — scientists say that they're a step closer to developing the technology that will give the power to make things and people (!) invisible. Researchers have demonstrated that they're now able to use artificially engineered materials that redirect light around three-dimensional objects, making them
disappear into thin air, Harry Potter-style.
OK, it's not magic — the reason we can see objects is because they scatter the light that hits them, beaming some of it back to the eye.
I'm not gonna lie — I totally yawned while watching this clip . . .
Even if you're not totally
on board with the pet cloning idea, you'd have to have a cold, cold heart not to at least melt at these pictures. I mean, baby puppies of any sort are awwww-worthy in my book.This is Bernann McKinney from Hollywood, California holding up a clone of her late pitbull terrier, Booger, at the Seoul National University animal hospital in Korea on August 5. Five clones were created by South Korean scientists in the world's first commercial cloning of a pet dog .
Not only do
your pets have a dominant hand, but researchers think that octopuses do too. In a month-long observational project,
UK scientists are testing their theory that intelligent creatures have a dominant arm (in this case, tentacle) used to feed and investigate. Researchers will record which tentacle the Octopuses use to pick up objects, hoping to reduce stress levels in captivity.
Insurance companies have incorporated climate change assumptions into their disaster probability calculations, thus withdrawing coverage or charging staggering rates on parts of the US East and Gulf coasts.
According to the Wall Street Journal, there is a
scientific consensus about rising sea temperatures, and practically a consensus that the temperature is tied to greater hurricane activity. But, science has not definitively concluded how or if this will impact the US coastal area now facing rising premiums.
A British woman will soon give birth to a
baby guaranteed to be free of hereditary breast cancer. Out of 11 embryos, five were free of the breast cancer gene, and two were implanted in the mother.
The father had the gene, and his sister, mother, grandmother, and cousin all had cancer.
Am I the only pet owner who's tried to shove a bowl of water under my pup's dangling tongue . . .
Google Co-founder Books Space Flight
According to Reuters: Google cofounder Sergey Brin wants to go to space and has made a $5 million down payment to book a seat on a future orbital space flight with Space Adventures, the space tourism company said on Wednesday. The company said it was creating an Orbital Mission Explorers Circle of members who will each contribute $5 million to pay for the company to launch its first private mission to the International Space Station.
It's a big day for alien watchers and sci-fi fans (okay, scientists too.) Overnight, Britain declassified a whole spaceship full of files for the first time detailing hundreds of sightings of unexplained objects in the skies over Britain.
Green men with big heads. That's so space-ist. Not quite but according
to the investigator at the Ministry of Defense, "while there's no evidence of little green men in these files, they should be of immense interest to skeptics and believers.
Scientists may be one step closer to
creating designer babies, with the first genetically modified human embryo. Despite the scientists' assurances that the work was concentrated strictly on stem cell research, the fact that scientists have genetically altered a human embryo is alarming to many.
Concerned citizens worry that if scientists continue to develop that capability, they may be enticed to eventually insert desirable genes — such as intelligence or athleticism.
