What Aperture Does, In Two Photos
Curious about why you’d want to pay attention to that f/number on your camera settings? Consider: Same subject, same lens, same camera, very different image.
"technology"
Ivanpah – solar thermal sets record in the desert
According to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), America has doubled the amount of energy produced using solar technologies over thelast five years.Last week, a massive new solar resource was dedicated in southern California...
Mystery of Mars ‘Doughnut’ Rock Solved
About a month ago an intriguing pair of images from NASA’s Opportunity rover on Mars showed a curious rock that had seemingly appeared our of nowhere during the course of 12 days.
Why the world needs more Leo Szilards
The body of men and women who built the atomic bomb was vast, diverse, talented and multitudinous. Every conceivable kind of professional – from theoretical physics to plumber – worked on the Manhattan Project for three years over an enterprise that spread across the country and equalled the US automobile industry in its marshaling of [...]..
Photo Friday: All lights are not created equal
At the California Lighting Teaching Center (CLTC) in Davis, California, researchers explore light from many angles. This rack of light emitting diode (LED) lightbulbs on display at the CLTC shows how different designs and bulbs can create wide varieties of light...
Eat Small: Why our Big Fish Problem is leading to big fish problems
The following is an excerpt from Patrick Mustain’s post on the Food Matters blog: We like big fish. And thats a problem, according to Andy Sharpless, CEO of the ocean conservation organization Oceana, and co-author (along with Suzannah Evans) of the book The Perfect Protein...
Consumers Must Stop Insisting on Mammograms and Other Ineffective Cancer Tests
The evidence keeps mounting that mammograms and other tests for cancerwhich contribute to the sky-high costs of U.S. health caredo not save lives.
How Hackers Take Down Web Sites [Video]
Many of the Web sites we visit every day are under cyber attack by malicious hackers looking to disrupt business transactions, discourage people from using a particular online service or exact payback for some real or perceived slight...
Landslides in a Changing Climate
A video showing the aftermath of a rockfall in South-Tyrol remembers us that even small mass movements can have disastrous – or even deadly – effects.
Public Domain Treasures: The CDC’s Electron Micrographs Are Free To Use
You may know about the vital public health services performed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). But did you know that the CDC is also a fount of free images?
Guest Post: Energy innovation – do niche markets really matter?
ByStijn van Ewijk In an ever changing world, technological innovation allows us to adapt, survive and thrive. Innovation can impact us adversely as well – the steam engine brought the industrial revolution and with it economic growth and prosperity as well as environmental pollution and inequality.In order to reap innovation’s full benefits, we should try [...]..
Up Close and Personal With a Humpback Whale
Wow. I’m not sure what impressed me more – the humpback vocalizations or the fact that this ‘Crazy Cameraman’ must have nerves of steel.
NYC Apartment – 420 square feet, eight rooms, with solar
A New York Cityapartment – 420 square feet and eight “rooms.” Also equipped with a bit of solar power with battery energy storage to charge up your cell phone and power a light or two...
How Many More Coal Ash Spills?
What is the largest type of trash produced in the U.S.? It’s not whatever you’re thinking, most likely. It’s coal ash. Burning coal produces more than 100 million metric tons of coal ash per yearthe gray or black sooty aftermath of our fossil fuel habit...
Can Brain Implants Solve the Valentine’s Day Dilemma?
February is the most anxious month. Every year at this time, I agonize over the Valentine’s Day Dilemma. What should I do to show my girlfriend, “Emily,” how much I love her?...
The Impact of TED Talks
With over a billion views, TED (Technology, Entertainment, and Design) talks are a huge business. There are two main TED conferences a year the TED conference and the TEDGlobal, and a large number of satellite conferences (TEDx) all over the world...
“The Perfect Theory”: The Story of General Relativity, and What Makes Something a Science
Pedro Ferreira’s book “The Perfect Theory: A Century of Geniuses and the Battle over General Relativity” essentially tells us what other people did with Einstein’s general theory of relativity after he developed it...
How Radioactive Is Our Ocean?
Help U.S. marine scientists monitor the spread of radiation across the Pacific Ocean from Japan’s damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant
Are “Big Brain” Projects Really Worth Billions?
When does it make sense to throw vast sums of money at a single problem? The question animates a lot of debate in science policy circles, and it was a topic of discussion among scientists and policymakers at the World Economic Forums annual meeting in Davos...
Share This: Chain Letters and Social Networks
Chain letters hit the right chord of shock, or trigger the right degree of anxiety, which prompts the reader to share the stories or information they contain. To this end, chain letters are actually really well suited to social media because so little effort on the part of the reader is required to pass them on...
