But pretty cool. Behold, metallic oxygen. It’s red.

And I wouldn’t bet against someone coming up with a use for it. Or something like it:

…high-pressure techniques have already been used to create ultrahard materials such as diamond. Other chemicals, such as nitrogen and carbon monoxide, form solid polymers under pressure that store a lot of energy. If similar structures could be retained at atmospheric pressure, they might make excellent rocket fuel, suggests McMahon.

[Via Geek Press]

But pretty cool. Behold, metallic oxygen. It’s red.

And I wouldn’t bet against someone coming up with a use for it. Or something like it:

…high-pressure techniques have already been used to create ultrahard materials such as diamond. Other chemicals, such as nitrogen and carbon monoxide, form solid polymers under pressure that store a lot of energy. If similar structures could be retained at atmospheric pressure, they might make excellent rocket fuel, suggests McMahon.

[Via Geek Press]

But pretty cool. Behold, metallic oxygen. It’s red.

And I wouldn’t bet against someone coming up with a use for it. Or something like it:

…high-pressure techniques have already been used to create ultrahard materials such as diamond. Other chemicals, such as nitrogen and carbon monoxide, form solid polymers under pressure that store a lot of energy. If similar structures could be retained at atmospheric pressure, they might make excellent rocket fuel, suggests McMahon.

[Via Geek Press]

Polar bear genitals are shrinking.

Are they sure it isn’t just the cold water? I always have that problem. At least that’s the excuse I use.

Oh, and speaking of sucky science jobs, measuring polar bear privates has to be right up there.

Faye Flam wonders if we really got it on with Neanderthals. But what’s really funny is the Freeper thread about the story (warning–not work safe–Helen Thomas photoshops involved).

There is more than one way to extend the total work and leisure enjoyed during one’s life. In addition to living longer, one can sleep less if it doesn’t degrade the rest of the hours. Not too much research on the latter. Here’s a gem in this week’s Economist; the good news:

With the help of Chiara Cirelli, who also works at the University of Wisconsin, Dr Tononi has created a mutant fruit fly that sleeps only two or three hours a night. (A normal fly sleeps between eight and 14 hours.)

The bad news:

…though the mutant fly is capable of learning things, it forgets them within minutes. Healthy flies retain learned information for hours or even days.

Would you trade your memory like in Johnny Mnemonic, Memento or Paycheck for an extra six hours every day? It’s like living an extra 25 years.

…in a cheater’s world. And here’s a related essay by Arnold Kling on scientific statements and empiricism versus group trust cues.

…and I can take you out of it.” Remember that old parent’s words of…well, if not wisdom, certainly effectiveness? Well, it may turn out that an asteroid brought dinosaurs into being. Guess it just shows that, either way, you shouldn’t mess with Ma Nature.

I’ve observed before how insular paleontology and geology can be, and how hard it was for Alvarez to get his theory accepted, because earth scientists couldn’t (or didn’t want to) imagine extraterrestrial events having such an impact (literally) on the evolution of the planet and his life. The fact that this theory seems to be taken seriously shows that we’ve started to get over that.

Oh, and because I’m reading an interesting book on the subject, extra points to anyone who knows who Wilkes Land is named after, without looking it up (and no, “Wilkes” is not a sufficient answer).

…and I can take you out of it.” Remember that old parent’s words of…well, if not wisdom, certainly effectiveness? Well, it may turn out that an asteroid brought dinosaurs into being. Guess it just shows that, either way, you shouldn’t mess with Ma Nature.

I’ve observed before how insular paleontology and geology can be, and how hard it was for Alvarez to get his theory accepted, because earth scientists couldn’t (or didn’t want to) imagine extraterrestrial events having such an impact (literally) on the evolution of the planet and his life. The fact that this theory seems to be taken seriously shows that we’ve started to get over that.

Oh, and because I’m reading an interesting book on the subject, extra points to anyone who knows who Wilkes Land is named after, without looking it up (and no, “Wilkes” is not a sufficient answer).

…and I can take you out of it.” Remember that old parent’s words of…well, if not wisdom, certainly effectiveness? Well, it may turn out that an asteroid brought dinosaurs into being. Guess it just shows that, either way, you shouldn’t mess with Ma Nature.

I’ve observed before how insular paleontology and geology can be, and how hard it was for Alvarez to get his theory accepted, because earth scientists couldn’t (or didn’t want to) imagine extraterrestrial events having such an impact (literally) on the evolution of the planet and his life. The fact that this theory seems to be taken seriously shows that we’ve started to get over that.

Oh, and because I’m reading an interesting book on the subject, extra points to anyone who knows who Wilkes Land is named after, without looking it up (and no, “Wilkes” is not a sufficient answer).