NPR– When you think archeology, you think shovels, brushes, brooms and other time-honored tools used to uncover archeological treasures. Now a new way to peer beneath the Earth’s surface may have made an exciting find: more pyramids, buried deep under an ancient Egyptian city. By studying infrared images taken by NASA satellites, Sarah Parcak and her team from the University … Read More
new discoveries
Alien Planets Outnumber Stars, Study Says
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5/18/11 NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC– If you look to the stars tonight, consider this: No matter how innumerable they may seem, there are far more planets than stars lurking out there in the darkness, a new study suggests. The study uncovered a whole new class of worlds: Jupiter-like gas giants that have escaped the gravitational bonds of their parent stars and are … Read More
Scientists Find Molecular Switch For Skin Growth
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BIO SCHOLAR– Scientists have discovered a regulator of gene activity that tells epidermal stem cells when it”s time to grow more skin, as well as a “crowd control” molecule that can sense cell crowding and turn the growth off. The study, in mice and in human cancer cells, provides clues to new therapeutic strategies for cancer, particularly squamous cell carcinoma, … Read More
A Brave New World of Fossil Fuels on Demand
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THE GLOBE AND MAIL INC – In September, a privately held and highly secretive U.S. biotech company named Joule Unlimited received a patent for “a proprietary organism” – a genetically adapted E. coli bacterium – that feeds solely on carbon dioxide and excretes liquid hydrocarbons: diesel fuel, jet fuel and gasoline. This breakthrough technology, the company says, will deliver renewable … Read More
34,000-Year-Old Life Found Still Alive In Death Valley
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HUFFINGTON POST – 34,000 year-old bacteria were found in Death Valley… alive. A new paper published in the January 2011 edition of GSA Today tells the story of the bacteria, which remained in a virtual “suspended animation” for millennia. “They’re alive, but they’re not using any energy to swim around, they’re not reproducing,” Brian Schubert, the bacteria’s discoverer, told OurAmazingPlanet. … Read More