Home » Science » Page 33

Science

First game of chess against a computer was played in 1952 by Alan Turing. Because there were no computers powerful enough to actually run the program Alan Turing “ran” the program manually on a piece of paper

Turochamp Alan Turing at age 16 Alan Turing was an English mathematician, computer scientist, logician, cryptanalyst, philosopher and theoretical biologist. Turing was highly influential in the development of theoretical computer science, providing a formalisation of the concepts of algorithm and computation with the Turing machine, which can be considered a model of a general-purpose computer. […]

First game of chess against a computer was played in 1952 by Alan Turing. Because there were no computers powerful enough to actually run the program Alan Turing “ran” the program manually on a piece of paper Read More »

Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is being eaten alive by millions of venomous sea stars known as crown-of-thorns starfish (COTS). Scientist have developed a new robot to hunt and kill these sea stars—a murderous, autonomous underwater vehicle called RangerBot. It kills with a single shot of bile

RangerBot: Programmed to Kill Australia’s Great Barrier Reef can’t catch a break: on top of contending with pollution, hurricanes, and back-to-back-to-back bouts of coral bleaching, the world’s most iconic reef is being eaten alive by millions of prickly, venomous sea stars known as crown-of-thorns starfish (COTS). But in a matchup befitting a sci-fi movie, scientists

Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is being eaten alive by millions of venomous sea stars known as crown-of-thorns starfish (COTS). Scientist have developed a new robot to hunt and kill these sea stars—a murderous, autonomous underwater vehicle called RangerBot. It kills with a single shot of bile Read More »

Squirrels were originally placed in US cities as a way to reconnect city dwellers with nature

Squirrels Were Purposefully Introduced to American Cities This story appears in the February 2018 issue of National Geographic magazine. Squirrels aren’t natural city slickers. In 1856 the sight of one in a tree near New York’s city hall so shocked passersby that a newspaper published a report about the “unusual visitor.” Around that time, the

Squirrels were originally placed in US cities as a way to reconnect city dwellers with nature Read More »

Einstein failing a math exam is a myth. He failed the entrance exam to Zurich Polytechnic because he did poorly on botany, zoology and language sections.

Did Einstein really fail math? In 1905, Theodore Roosevelt was inaugurated as the 26th president of the United States, Franklin D. Roosevelt married Eleanor and the World Series matched the New York Giants against the Philadelphia Athletics. And, for four glorious months, Albert Einstein authored four papers that changed our understanding of the way the

Einstein failing a math exam is a myth. He failed the entrance exam to Zurich Polytechnic because he did poorly on botany, zoology and language sections. Read More »

As a child, Einstein’s Uncle Jakob introduced him to algebra and called it “a merry science”. He compared algebra to hunting a little animal. You didn’t know the name of the animal, so you called it “x”. When you finally caught the animal you gave it the correct name

Algebra (Mathematics Curriculum) What Is Algebra? Algebra is a branch of mathematics that uses letters and other symbols to represent numbers. Dictionary Definition The Oxford English Dictionary defines algebra as “the part of mathematics in which letters and other general symbols are used to represent numbers and quantities in formulae and equations.” Here is an

As a child, Einstein’s Uncle Jakob introduced him to algebra and called it “a merry science”. He compared algebra to hunting a little animal. You didn’t know the name of the animal, so you called it “x”. When you finally caught the animal you gave it the correct name Read More »

While scientists were analyzing prehistoric worms recovered from permafrost, two 40,000 year old nematodes ‘revived’ and began moving and eating, making them the oldest multi-cellular life alive on Earth.

Ancient Roundworms Allegedly Resurrected From Russian Permafrost The permafrost of Russia’s Siberian heartland has yielded an array of impressive finds in recent years. Last September, a local resident wandering along the banks of a river in the republic of Yakutia discovered the roughly 50,000-year-old remains of an extinct lion cub almost perfectly preserved by the

While scientists were analyzing prehistoric worms recovered from permafrost, two 40,000 year old nematodes ‘revived’ and began moving and eating, making them the oldest multi-cellular life alive on Earth. Read More »

Figs are considered an animal product by many vegans. Female wasps crawl into figs, lay their eggs and die. The mother wasp is enzymatically digested by the fig.

Why Aren’t Figs Considered Vegan? Sorry if this ruins figs for you. Like those of dumplings and sandwiches, the definition of veganism isn’t set in stone. Some practitioners eschew honey and sugars refined with animal-bone char, since both involve products derived from animals. Others avoid Italian aperitifs like Campari dyed with carminic acid, which is

Figs are considered an animal product by many vegans. Female wasps crawl into figs, lay their eggs and die. The mother wasp is enzymatically digested by the fig. Read More »

In 1962 two US scientists discovered Peru’s highest mountain was in danger of collapsing. When this was made public, the government threatened the scientists and banned civilians from speaking of it. In 1970, during a major earthquake, it collapsed on the town of Yangoy killing 20,000.

Yungay, Peru Cemetery in Yungay The remnants of Yungay’s cathedral after the landslide On May 31, 1970, the Ancash earthquake caused a substantial part of the north side of a mountain, Nevado Huascarán, to collapse and an unstable mass of glacial ice about 800 meters across at the top of Nevado Huascarán to fall. This

In 1962 two US scientists discovered Peru’s highest mountain was in danger of collapsing. When this was made public, the government threatened the scientists and banned civilians from speaking of it. In 1970, during a major earthquake, it collapsed on the town of Yangoy killing 20,000. Read More »

MIT has genetically modified trees to glow in the dark in the hopes of creating a literally green source of light for the future.

Engineers create plants that glow Imagine that instead of switching on a lamp when it gets dark, you could read by the light of a glowing plant on your desk. MIT engineers have taken a critical first step toward making that vision a reality. By embedding specialized nanoparticles into the leaves of a watercress plant,

MIT has genetically modified trees to glow in the dark in the hopes of creating a literally green source of light for the future. Read More »

Elephants are a keystone species. They carve pathways through impenetrable under brush shaping entire ecosystems as they create pools in dried river beds and spread seeds as they travel.

keystone species A keystone species is an organism that helps define an entire ecosystem. Without its keystone species, the ecosystem would be dramatically different or cease to exist altogether. Keystone species have low functional redundancy. This means that if the species were to disappear from the ecosystem, no other species would be able to fill

Elephants are a keystone species. They carve pathways through impenetrable under brush shaping entire ecosystems as they create pools in dried river beds and spread seeds as they travel. Read More »