Materials scientist and engineer Mark Miodownik shows how using some washing up liquid, pineapple juice and a dash of super strong vodka you can physically separate out the DNA molecules from your saliva. Thanks Leo! [BBCWorldwide]
Scientists at New York University have successfully synthesized a chromosome of yeast. It may not sound much, but it’s arguable the most complex DNA synthesis to date and the closest step towards doing so with animals. It’s now four years since the J Craig Venter Institute created a synthetic cell of bacteria, something it described […]
In ‘How Big Is The Universe?’ ROG astronomer Liz shows us the expanding nature of the Universe and how this affects the light reaching us from distant galaxies, some of which will remain forever hidden from our view. [Beakus]
From Youtuber Spumwack: Science and videogames! Together! Minecraft can be a great tool for visualizing complicated subjects, such as the speed of light (aka “c”). Using a straight track and simple math, we can see how the universe might be limiting speeds for very fast things, such as light. The “doors” metaphor is admittedly, imperfect. […]
Many of us spend hours a day on the Internet, and whenever we have a question, it’s easy to go to Google to quickly look up information. Is this changing the way our memory works? Anthony is here to explain how living in a world of constant information is affecting us. [DNews | Via LS]
This week on the Mental Floss show, the charming Emily Graslie of The Brain Scoop talks about some mind-blowing and unfortunately (and sometimes not so unfortunately) extinct lifeforms. [Mental Floss]
Professor Homayoon Kazerooni is a robotics engineer at the University of California, Berkeley with more than 40 patents to his name. His research on exoskeletons relies on more than just ingenuity and engineering expertise, it’s also an example of how inspiration can play a part in the innovation process, the simple desire to help other […]
We’ve all be thirsty – but what exactly does your body go through if you deprive it of water? How long could you really last? [AsapSCIENCE]
According to Marvel, Thor’s Hammer weighs 42.3lbs, but there’s a lot of people out there thinking otherwise, namely those who think that Mjolnir was made from the stuff of a dying star when in fact it was forged inside a dying star. Big difference there. But if the hammer was indeed made from the material […]
So, anti-gravity hoverboards don’t exist yet, but if you really want to float above the ground, there’s a few options available for you: A personal hovercraft, a maglev vehicle, or an ionocraft… which would unfortunately require millions of volts to operate. Bummer. [SciShow]