Weeds as a Terrorist Weapon

February 9, 2012
Weed control has become a matter of national security. Along US southern coastal rivers, most particularly Texas' Rio Grande, an invasive species of plant known as giant reed is encroaching on the water, overrunning international border access roads, and creating... continued

Discovery of a Perfect Planet

February 9, 2012
An Earth-like planet recently spotted outside our solar system is the first that atromomers have found that could support liquid water and harbor life. Liquid water is what astronomers look for, and the newly found planet is located at the... continued

How to Read Someone’s Mind

February 9, 2012
"Contactees" commonly report that aliens "talked to them inside their heads," meaning they communicated with them telepathically. Often these people communicate with them right back, the same way, and a whole conversation takes place inside two heads. Soon, human-to-human speech... continued

Some Fat is GOOD Fat

February 8, 2012
Not all fat is the same: The GOOD kind of fat is what's called "brown fat," because it helps you LOSE weight. Fat people have less of it than thin people. Older people have less of it than younger people.... continued

Why Red Means Stop All Over the World

February 8, 2012
It's interesting to consider why the color red sends the same message everywhere: danger, hot, stop. It also means dominance--athletes wearing red (as the Giants did in the recent Superbowl) seem to win more often. It could be explained because... continued

The End of Privacy

February 8, 2012
The concept of privacy may have become a thing of the past. Your cell phone is tracking you, there are spies on Facebook, streetlights are eavesdropping on us, and even the TOYS we play with are spying on us! The... continued

Famous Facebook Last Words

February 8, 2012
If you want your last words to be remembered, put them on Facebook. The Facebook app "If I Die" makes sure you can still send out your last wishes and post messages to your friends even years after you die... continued

How to be Instantly Smarter

February 8, 2012
The idea of a simple, cheap and widely available device that could boost brain function (no more late nights studying for exams?) sounds too good to be true, but it may be a reality. Neurologists are coming up with brain... continued

A Gigantic Gas Cloud will Engulf the Milky Way

February 8, 2012
A giant cloud of hydrogen gas, discovered in 1963, is moving at more than 150 miles per second per second and is about to collide with the Milky Way, leading to a huge process of star formation. But this doesn't... continued

Animals on the Move!

February 7, 2012
While in some cases, climate change is causing animals to locate to new places, it's mostly regular migration: Every fall, tiny hummingbirds face high winds and bad weather to migrate from Canada and the northern United States to as far... continued