Surprising Science

Despite recent medical developments, our understanding of the brain is still quite incomplete.

Researchers in Illinois have created the world’s first prosthetic controlled entirely by the user’s mind.

Children not only need to nap, but should be encouraged to nap.

Analysis of the first scoop of topsoil picked up by NASA’s Curiosity rover reveals a composition that includes two percent water. It could mean one less worry for future human visitors. 

While the primary purpose of Stir’s Kinetic Desk is to encourage workers to stand regularly, extra built-in features let them track their sitting and standing times and may eventually connect to wearable sensors.

The tragic event compelled nonprofit tech company Ushahidi to create a rough draft of a tool that eventually can be used by even the simplest cell phones. They’ve posted the code online in hopes that others will help finish it.

The device employs the same technology NASA uses to locate Cassini’s position in deep space. With it, searchers can find people buried under as much as 30 feet of crushed material.

Granted, it’s simple and extremely slow compared to its silicon-based counterparts, but its existence marks a major step in the quest towards making ever faster and more efficient computers.

For the first time, a new computer model links climate change to the increased frequency and strength of storms. Scientists estimate the number could increase by as much as 40 percent in the eastern US by 2070.

Scientists have succeeded in creating conditions that cause photons, which don’t have mass, to behave like molecules, which do. The interactions between them resemble those that might happen with two lightsabers, and could help advance quantum computing.

To test the effects of microgravity on astronauts traveling on extended space missions, the agency will pay qualified candidates who are willing and able to stay (mostly) horizontal for 70 days straight.

The 141-year-old magazine announced that it will no longer allow readers to comment on its Web site, citing research to back up its claim that the tone of the discussions hindered the championing of science.

For couples with lots of cash, agencies will provide a American surrogate who will carry a child to term. Once that child turns 21, they can apply for visas that will allow the whole family to emigrate to the US.

Conceived of by former Trader Joe’s president Doug Rauch, the store will offer affordable foods that, while technically “expired,” are still perfectly edible. He says it’s one solution to the growing problem of food waste.

According to a research firm, Chinese could be consuming 5 million extra metric tons’ worth of packaged food by 2015. The reasons mirror America’s past; the potential consequences mirror America’s present and future.

Scientists are using brain scan technology to hone individuals’ ability to control the direction and precision of their own thoughts.

According to recent neurological insight, the muse is more apt to reward long periods of sustained concentration than intermittent fits of vision.

Research shows that a good night’s sleep—seven hours or more—results in better and more prolonged exercise sessions later that day.

Information technology will change health care in ways similar to how Amazon changed the landscape of the retail industry.

More than anything else, eating an excessive number of calories is what makes people fat.

Ironically, what are called “compatibility genes” give each person their individuality.

Behavior that would constitute psychosis in adults may be (an unpleasant) part of children’s natural emotional development.

New industry figures show that, as the country still struggles in the grip of an economic crisis, bike sales have outnumbered car sales for the first time.

An Oxford University study found that up to half of US jobs are at risk of becoming computerized in the next 20 years. Industries with greatest impact include transportation, administrative support, and, perhaps surprisingly, service.

A University of Texas-Austin study showed that test subjects presented with a comments section that had a “Respect” option tended to select it more often for comments that opposed their own viewpoint.

And by “dreams” they’re talking about the ones you have when you sleep: SHADOW provides tools to help users remember, record, and, if desired, share their dreams.

The company has announced the launch of Calico, which will most likely take advantage of Google’s formidable search tools to help put more focus on aging and related diseases.

A team of researchers is working on 3D-printing different organ cells, connecting them with a tiny circulatory system, and putting the whole thing on a two-inch chip, creating a “test subject” that’s steps up from animals or single-organ cell groups.

University of California-Irvine scientists combined a protein found in a chameleon-like squid with graphene to create a material that could be used to hide people and objects in infrared light.

Never mind Comet ISON: If all goes well, in January the European Space Agency’s Rosetta probe will “wake up” in preparation for a rendezvous with Comet 67-P, currently hanging out in the vicinity of Jupiter.