Floating solar panels helped cut diesel use and also created a haven for salmon. (Picture source: Mowi.com) A salmon farm off the coast of Chile has found an unexpected benefit after replacing diesel generators with floating solar panels. While the project was launched to cut emissions and reduce fuel use, the new system also created…
Carl Friedrich Gauss (Image: Wikipedia) Most people assume that if an idea sounds complicated, it must also be profound. Carl Friedrich Gauss, one of the greatest mathematicians in history, was not convinced. “When a philosopher says something that is true then it is trivial,” he observed. “When he says something that is not trivial then…
Imagine placing a flat piece of plastic on a warm surface and watching it fold itself into a fully functional robot without human hands, motors or complex assembly. It may sound like science fiction, but researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) demonstrated exactly that with a tiny, origami-inspired robot designed to assemble itself…
Brazil is dealing with one of its worst dengue fever outbreaks in years, and scientists are trying something unusual to bring the numbers down. Instead of just relying on vaccines and mosquito spray, health teams are releasing genetically modified mosquitoes into several cities, hoping these lab-bred insects will help shrink the population of disease-spreading mosquitoes…
Seagrass meadows could help nourish millions, new study finds Underwater fields of seagrass could play an important role in fighting malnutrition among vulnerable coastal communities, according to new research published in Cell Reports Sustainability. The study was carried out by scientists from Stockholm University and Project Seagrass. It found that fish caught in seagrass meadows…
Are Milky Way’s coldest stars actually alien megastructures? New study explores Some of the coldest objects currently listed as stars in the Milky Way may not be stars at all. A new study by astrophysicist Amirnezam Amiri from the University of Arkansas suggests that these extremely cold objects could instead be giant energy-harvesting structures built…
Most new dinosaur species are announced after researchers uncover multiple bones or even an entire skeleton. The discovery of Uragasaurus kalasinensis proves that this is not always necessary. Scientists have identified the giant long-necked dinosaur from a single, exceptionally well-preserved vertebra found in northeastern Thailand. Despite the limited fossil material, the bone preserved a unique…
This endangered British butterfly has 20% less genetic diversity, study finds The British swallowtail butterfly is the UK’s only native swallowtail and largest native butterfly. It may look similar to other swallowtails found across Europe, but its DNA tells a different story.A new study has found that the British swallowtail, also known as Papilio machaon…
For years, scientists thought Greenland sharks were basically blind. These deep-sea creatures live in the freezing dark waters of the Arctic and often have parasites clinging to their eyes, so it seemed obvious that their vision was pretty much gone. But a new study from researchers at the University of California, Irvine, says that assumption…
Two people can look at the exact same run of bad luck and walk away with completely different conclusions. One decides the world is chaotic and nothing can be predicted. The other starts looking for the pattern hiding underneath the noise. Abraham de Moivre, the French mathematician who spent much of his career pricing gambling…
