Apr 09 Electric Knifefish Charged With Sixth Sense Electric eels generate enough voltage to stun their prey, but they're not the only electric creature in the water. Researchers at Johns Hopkins University believe that the so-called weakly electric knifefish uses its electric field as a sixth sense… Continue reading
Apr 05 Slime Molds: No Brains, No Feet, No Problem In a study released last week, computer scientist Selim Akl of Queens University demonstrated that slime mold is fantastically efficient at finding the quickest route to food. When he placed rolled oats over the country's population centers and… Continue reading
Apr 04 Watch ‘Solar Suitcase’ Sheds Light on Darkened Delivery Rooms After witnessing the consequences of power outages in Nigeria's health facilities, obstetrician Dr. Laura Stachel came up with a solution: a suitcase containing elements to produce and store solar energy. Spencer Michels reports on the life-saving device that aims to… Continue watching
Apr 04 Solar Suitcase: Saving Lives with Solar Power By Dave Gustafson Dr. Laura Stachel and her husband founded We Care Solar to help bring light to the estimated 300,000 hospitals and clinics in the developing world that don't have reliable sources of electricity. Our slideshow highlights Stachel's work toward equipping remote… Continue reading
Apr 03 Slime Molds, Revealed By Rebecca Jacobson, Inside Energy The slime mold takes on hundreds of shapes, sizes, and colors. Some varieties are the size of dinner plates, while others are only visible through a microscope. Continue reading
Apr 02 An Interactive History of the Texas Drought By Saskia de Melker Click on the map above for an interactive version. Recently, PBS NewsHour reported from Texas in collaboration with the public media project StateImpact Texas to look at how dry conditions have caused towns to struggle with extreme… Continue reading
Apr 02 Seeing Beyond the Visual Cortex Blindsight is a condition that results from damage to the primary visual cortex, the part of the brain responsible for vision. Even though the injury causes vision loss, other parts of the brain continue to unconsciously process visual information. Continue reading
Mar 29 Colo. Nonprofit Helps Quake Victims Rebuild With Better Techniques Buildings vulnerable to collapse are everywhere. A skyscraper built on a parking garage in San Francisco could have too much open space with too few structural walls. Sand mixed into concrete for a house in Mexico might contain… Continue reading
Mar 29 The Dos and Don’ts of Earthquake-Resistant Construction By Justin Scuiletti Here are some tips on building a home that could withstand an earthquake. Continue reading
Mar 28 What a Baking Pan and Hairspray Taught Us About Earth’s Ancient Atmosphere What can fossilized raindrop impressions preserved in 2.7-billion-year-old volcanic ash tell us about the ancient Earth's atmosphere? Can they help resolve a great astrophysical puzzle? A study released online Wednesday in the journal Nature suggests they can at least… Continue reading