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Human World

Messner (left) and Habeler.
Blogs | This Date in Science | May 08, 2013

This date in science: Mount Everest without supplemental oxygen

“I am nothing more than a single narrow gasping lung, floating over the mists and summits.”

Image Credit: Kapital
Blogs | May 07, 2013

Microbe-brewery: Favorite fermentation microorganisms

Brewer’s yeast and beyond; meet your microbial bartenders.

Image credit: NASA
Blogs | May 02, 2013

View from space: Southern California Summit fire

Satellite image of the Summit fire in southern California on May 1, 2013.

Photo copyright Daniel McVey
FAQs | May 02, 2013

How many stars can you see on a clear, moonless night?

If you step outside at night from a bright room, you won’t see many stars at first. It takes up to 30 minutes for your eyes to become “dark-adapted.”

Image credit: IBM
Blogs | Videos | May 01, 2013

Video: World’s smallest movie, made with atoms

IBM researchers made this short film by moving atoms.

Via moonsmuses.com
FAQs | May 01, 2013

Why do we celebrate May Day?

Happy May Day! A few words about this annual celebration, whose roots are in astronomy.

Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan
FAQs | Apr 30, 2013

How does radioactive wastewater harm the human body?

As Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant struggles to contain a flood of radioactive wastewater, a word about what makes radioactivity harmful to humans.

Social media web
Science Wire | Apr 29, 2013

Students’ attitudes to academic use of social media

New research has shown that university students behave very differently when using social media as part of their academic learning.

UGA researchers.  Image via Minh Phan.
Blogs | Apr 27, 2013

Social media used to study April 27, 2011 tornadoes in U.S. Southeast

University of Georgia researchers used a Facebook page to determine the trajectories of tornado debris.

SLAC
Science Wire | Apr 24, 2013

New battery design could help solar and wind energy power the grid

Researchers have designed a low-cost, long-life battery that could enable solar and wind energy to become major suppliers to the electrical grid.