Science

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Planting trees no longer an option to mop up our increasing CO2 emissions

November 30, -0001 • 12:00 AM

Nations around the globe are stepping up, determined to uphold the 2015 Paris climate agreement of limiting the global warming to well below 2 degree Celsius, even as the United States infamously pulled out of it recently! Climatologists agree that the Paris climate deal sets an ambitious goal, which we can at best, strive to achieve. The sheer scale of reducing carbon dioxide (a major contributor of our warming planet) by curbing greenhouse gas emissions would take an unprecedented amount of...

Seven "Earth-ish" planets herald a new season in the search for alien life

November 30, -0001 • 12:00 AM

Astronomers found seven approximately Earth-sized, rocky planets about 40 light years (235 trillion miles) from us. They are named after TRAPPIST1, the small, dim, relatively cold star they orbit, plus a letter (b through h). The announcement came during a much-hyped press conference from NASA headquarters on 22 February. The more a planet seems similar to Earth, the more it captivates scientists (and the public), because it might have the right conditions for life to blossom. Now they found...

Swarms of robots go with the flow to reveal the mysteries of the ocean

November 30, -0001 • 12:00 AM

About 70% of Earth's surface is covered by oceans. Yet, they remain mysterious: we have more detailed maps of the surface of other planets than of the sea floor, and we know even less about the mechanisms ticking inside the intricate oceanic system. An interdisciplinary team of researchers from the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) Scripps Institute of Oceanography showed that swarms of small, autonomous robot probes could peer into the waters, shedding light on the interaction between...

Revolutionizing clean energy by recycling not-quite-so-rare earths

November 30, -0001 • 12:00 AM

Steel was the material of progress during the industrial revolution, while the twentieth century was the age of Mylar, Duraplex and other creatively named plastics. Nowadays, elements like neodymium and lanthanum constitute progress, sounding like they are straight out of sci-fi fictions. These and similar elements, collectively known as rare-earths, make up one of those lists awkwardly appended at the bottom of periodic tables. Thanks to high reactivity, resistance, as well as electric and...

Are we there yet- The long journey to Mars

November 30, -0001 • 12:00 AM

How close are we to the giant leap to Mars? Recently the partial success of the European Space Agency's (ESA) ExoMars mission starkly reminded us of how tough of a destination the Red Planet actually is. Ironically, in the weeks leading up to the event, there was considerable attention on planning to bring people to Mars. One reason was President Barack Obama's uplifting op-ed on the CNN website, where he anticipated NASA taking astronauts to Mars and safely back home by the 2030s, and "one day...

Nanomachines win Nobel Prize

November 30, -0001 • 12:00 AM

The 2016 Nobel Prize for Chemistry was awarded last month by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences to a trio of European scientists.Sir Fraser Stoddart, from Scotland, Dr. Jean-Pierre Sauvage, from France, and Dr. Bernard Feringa, from the Netherlands, will share the 8m Swedish kronor prize between them. The Nobel was awarded for the generation of the world's smallest machines. The machines created by the laureates are one thousand times smaller than a single strand of hair. In all living...

How interfering with your vision can shatter your recall of the way things look

November 30, -0001 • 12:00 AM

How do we recall our stored knowledge of the physical properties of objects? Do we "see" things all over again when asked simple questions about the way common and familiar things look? Do brain centers that process visual images fire up all over again when we think about the physical properties of things or is it a more abstract process? "Yes" to the last two questions, according to Pierce Edmiston and Dr. Gary Lupyan of the Department of Psychology at the University of Wisconsin at Madison....

Mars welcomes its latest orbiter ExoMars

November 30, -0001 • 12:00 AM

On 19th October 2016 the European-Russian mission ExoMars arrived at its destination. It delivered the Trace Gas Orbiter, or TGO and an experimental lander, called Schiaparelli. Not everything went quite as planned, but it was a success, said European Space Agency (ESA) executives in a press briefing. The good news is that TGO entered its orbit perfectly. From there, it will sniff the Martian atmosphere searching, among other things, for traces of life on the planet. It will also serve as a...

Looking through 'Smart' Windows

November 30, -0001 • 12:00 AM

Have you ever wanted a window that you could control how much light and heat it let in? Thanks to scientists at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California, this might now be possible! The researchers have created a new flexible smart material that can be incorporated into windows, sunroofs and many other glass surfaces, which will have the ability to control both heat and light from the sun. Dr. Delia Milliron, from the University of Texas, led the study, which has been recently...

Welcome to the neighborhood, Proxima b!

November 30, -0001 • 12:00 AM

Scientists of the European Southern Observatory (ESO, headquartered right here in Munich!) discovered a planet orbiting Proxima Centauri, the nearest star to us. If the solar system were a condo, this planet---called Proxima Centauri b or Proxima b for short---would be an apartment in the building across the street! Whether anyone lives there, however, is a completely different story. Unable to see the planet directly, the team of scientists used an ingenious system to find it, carefully...

Turning a new leaf in the search for lower emissions

November 30, -0001 • 12:00 AM

Carbon dioxide (or CO2) is probably the most notorious atmospheric public enemy. Being a potent greenhouse gas, it contributes heavily to global warming, ocean acidification and everything that comes with them. Understandably, then, scientists have tried a number of ways to reduce its amount, from burying it underground to (with surprising success) turning it into stone. However, the only sustainable solution to get CO2 levels under control is to produce less of it. In a study published in...

Bacteria Needed to Save Coral Reef

November 30, -0001 • 12:00 AM

We increasingly hear about how important bacteria are for our bodies and our health, but scientists are now becoming aware of bacteria's importance for protecting and maintaining coral reefs and protecting them against global warming. Our microbiome, or community of bacteria residing within us, is of fundamental importance to our health and day-to-day bodily functions. A recent study has shown that the coral microbiome could be just as important for coral daily health and long-term maintenance....

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Hospitals

Hospital and Clinic Directory

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Upcoming Events

Linkin Park Special Night

Didn't manage to get a ticket for Linkin Park? Or still not enough after the concert? Join us at CRASH on June 12th for our "IN THE END" Linkin Park Special + CORE NIGHT.All night long, we'll be playing Linkin Park's music, along with Nu Metal, Metalcore, and Alternative Rock from bands such as Limp...

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