July 2010

A warmer ocean is a less green one

Phytoplankton numbers have fallen across the world over the last century, particularly towards the poles and in the open oceans.

Measuring Temperature by Counting Atoms: "Suppressed Fluctuations in Fermi Gases"

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Physicists count the number of atoms to measure temperatures that are a few billionths of a degree above absolute zero.

Earth is no Longer 'One of a Kind'

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Worlds of the approximate size of Earth appear to dominate our Milky Way.

See A Quasar Gravitationally Lens a Galaxy (for the First Time!)

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A quasar is observed to act as a gravitational lens for the first time, which allows an estimate of the mass of the galaxy hosting the quasar.

The Biggest Star We've Ever Found!

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A star with 265 times the mass of our Sun is discovered, the heaviest one discovered to date.

Researchers create 'lesbian' mice by deleting a single gene

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Deleting the FucM gene, which encodes an enzyme called fucose mutarotase, causes masculinization of the mouse brain, so that female mice lacking the gene avoid the advances of males and try to mate with other females instead.

Robins can literally see magnetic fields, but only if their vision is sharp

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Some birds can literally see magnetic fields with their eyes.

JAXA confirms acceleration of IKAROS solar sail by photon pressure

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Acceleration of the IKAROS spacecraft by solar pressure has been confirmed.

The Size of the Proton Measured with Lasers

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Using lasers on muonic hydrogen reveals that the size of the proton is slightly smaller than previously believed, which could have profound implications in the theory of particle physics.

Are we conscious or unconscious consumers?

Our brains may unconsciously evaluate products when we’re not attending to them.