Drones: Spying on us since 1976

Paleofuture recently unearthed a police drone -- from 1976. The Westland Wisp was a prototype surveillance drone designed for police work. Foreshadowing future drones, it could transmit regular video (and maybe infrared) images back to a control station. After the Wisp, Westland made two more drone helicopters, the Wideye and the Sharpeye. more

For the first time, a paralysed patient has regained control of his arm thanks to a neural implant

HUGE NEWS: 23-year old quadriplegic Ian Burkhart has regained control of his arm thanks to a microchip implanted into his brain. Let's just take a moment to think about how amazing science is: story

For the first time, a paralysed patient has regained control of his arm thanks to a neural implant

Turns out these viral 'Gollum' pictures were real

Viral Chinese ‘Gollum’ monster picture turns out to be genuine photograph – of a sci-fi actor taking a loo break  more

Ultra-Telephoto Zoom Lens

Ultra-Telephoto Zoom Lens

Germany can now produce half its electricity from solar power

GOOD NEWS: Germany produced a record 50.6% of its energy with solar panels in the first two weeks of June. more

The light from a torch is enough to power these smart curtains

A new material made out of carbon nanotubes responds to light and doesn't need batteries. Scientists have made a new material out of carbon nanotubes that moves in response to as little light as that from a torch. more

Double red rainbow

This double red rainbow was photographed over a Greek sunset by Manolis Thravalos. The optical phenomena that caused it make it even more beautiful: source

by Manolis Thravalos

TAKE ACTION to demand strong legislation and help end the enslavement of millions of children in India

“At the age of ten, Mintu had developed some kind of resistance to minor assaults and beatings….his employer began poking him with a stick and burning him with iron rods.” source

Clawed Leather Gloves

Booboo, The famous Guinea Pig

This is Booboo, The (apparently) famous Guinea Pig via INature

A perfectly reasonable explanation for a perfectly terrifying mummy that opens and closes its eyes

Why Does This Mummy Appear To Open And Close Her Eyes? 

Italian researchers have debunked morbid claims that a child mummy in Sicily opens and closes her eyes every day.

Recorded in time lapse photos and videos, the creepy phenomenon has been the subject of various speculations for some years. This week, Italian newspapers again reported that Rosalia Lombardo, a two-year-old girl who died of pneumonia in 1920, moves her eyelids several times during the day, slightly opening them to reveal intact blue eyes.

One of the world’s best preserved mummies, Rosalia is the most famous among some 8,000 thousands mummies lining the catacombs beneath the Capuchin convent in Palermo, Sicily. more at Discovery News

This snake sure knows how to fish

This snake sure knows how to fish

15 Year Old Maldives Girl Sentenced To 100 Lashes For Being Raped!

A 15-year-old girl, who has been repeatedly raped by her stepfather, sits in a courtroom during his trial.
The evidence is clear, there is no question that this crime took place. That this man, in a position of trust and confidence in her life, violated her sexually again, and again, and again.

And so she herself is sentenced. Because the girl lives in the Maldives. And the island paradise destination that Australians look longingly at photos of in travel agency brochures…. is subject to Sharia Law.
And under Sharia Law, it is a crime to have premarital sex.

So the girl, a victim of horrific rape, is sentences to 100 lashes as punishment for her ‘crime’. more

President Mohamed Waheed

PLANET SUICIDE | Study says Earth on brink of mass extinction event

A landmark study by an international group of scientists has concluded that planet Earth is on the brink of a mass extinction event comparable in scale to the one that wiped out the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. The researchers found that extinction rates are currently 1000 times higher than normal due to deforestation, global climate change, and the depletion of ocean fisheries. Reuters's Ben Gruber reports. source

Legal highs make Uruguay a beacon for marijuana research

A year ago, biophysicist Nelson Bracesco was studying yerba mate, a popular caffeine-laden infusion brewed in South America. But a legal about-face in his home country has given his research an edgier focus. Last December, attempting to head off violent crime associated with drug trafficking, Uruguay became the first country to legalize the production, sale, and use of marijuana for both recreational and medical purposes; the government finalized key regulations last month. Legally unshackled, Bracesco and his colleagues at the medical school of Uruguay's University of the Republic (Udelar) in Montevideo are launching a lab dedicated to marijuana's chemistry, genetics, medical uses, and side effects.

Marijuana activists light up in Montevideo. Matilda Campodonico/AP PHOTO

Flying to work?

myCopter is a small commuter helicopter designed to help you avoid city traffic. Researchers want you to change your car for a mini-helicopter. more

Fish-eating spiders are real, and they cover most of the planet

This is the stuff of nightmares. Spiders that can eat fish TWICE their size exist on every continent except Antarctica, scientists have discovered: more

New device pulls water from thin air

A mat made of billions of carbon nanotubes can suck water out of thin air - even in the driest places on Earth. The advance, which takes a cue from the wings of the Namib Desert beetle, could one day help harvest much-needed water in the world's arid regions.

The sand in Okinawa is made up of tiny stars

The "stars" are the exoskeletons of foraminifers, a marine protozoa that once lived on the ocean floor and has washed up, most famously on Hoshizuna Beach in Okinawa, Japan. Some biologists suggest some of the fossils could be as old as 550 million years old! via Scribol

SHOULD YOU HOVER OR COVER THE TOILET SEAT?

Public bathrooms can be pretty gross - but should you be worried about contamination? We break down the science to find out if your tush is in trouble.

Will Human Teleportation Ever Be Possible?

Lately it seems like the research world has launched into a full-throttle game of “what superpower would you choose?” For those who desire invisibility, engineers are developing exotic materials that can bend an object’s light completely out of view. For would-be telepaths, neurobiologists are working on ways to read one person’s brain wave patterns and transmit them into another person’s head. more

School Principal Accused Of Forcing Students To Walk For Hours As Punishment

A school principal from North Carolina is under investigation for allegedly giving elementary students a form of corporal punishment. The students were allegedly forced to walk for hours in the summer heat with no breakfast, no water as a form of punishment for not wearing their school uniforms. The said punishment was given to them by their school principal. via Oddity World

13-Year-Old Girl Burned Alive By Her Own Father For Walking Home With A Boy

A 13-year old girl from Tunisia was burned alive by his own father for walking home with a male classmate. The father burned his own daughter to death as a form of punishment and it was considered as a honor crime. According to the father, his daughter brought shame to their family by walking home with a boy and it is necessary to punish his daughter for doing the said "mistake". via Oddity World

New technology makes decayed teeth repair themselves

No more fillings! Scientists have developed a technique that triggers the tooth’s natural repair process to reverse decay - and it could be available within three years: more

There’s a scientific reason your iPhone headphones are always tangled

It turns out Apple's headphones are pretty much designed to tie themselves up in knots. read more

Game of Thrones exposed: How molten gold would really kill you

To celebrate the season finale of Game of Thrones, we're exploring the science behind one of the show's most creative and gruesome deaths (season one spoilers).

Threesome Sex In A Car Ends In Crash

A threesome fun between a man and two women in a parked car goes dangerously wrong. The threesome ended suddenly when the man accidentally released the handbrake, causing the car to roll down a hill and crash into a tree. The crash caused the two women to have multiple serious injuries. via Oddity World

New touchscreen technology can tell the difference between a fingertip, a knuckle, a fingernail and a stylus

Called 'Fingersense', this new touchscreen technology can recognise four different types of inputs, giving you the versatility of a computer mouse on your mobile device. via WIRED

The new type of computer can process 640 terabytes of data in one billionth of a second

HP is developing a new type of computer called The Machine that's six times more powerful than an existing server, and consumes 80 times less energy. more

Engineering students have made roof tiles that break down pollutants when exposed to sunlight

Titanium dioxide breaks down smog particles in the air, and students in the US have shown that in one year, one roof coated in it can break down the smog from a car that's driven 17,000 km. And every day, 21 tonnes of smog could be eliminated by one million treated roofs. read more

The famous shipwreck on Navagio beach in Zakynthos, Greece

The famous shipwreck on Navagio beach in Zakynthos, Greece.. have you seen it from this angle before?

Crabeater seal teeth are probably the strangest in the entire animal kingdom

Crabeater seal teeth are probably the strangest in the entire animal kingdom. The odd shapes work as a sieve, filtering out microscopic organisms (the seals' main food source) from sea water. via io9

Woman Discovers Her Niece's Plans Of Murdering Her Through Facebook

A woman got the shock of her life when she founds out that her 19-Year old niece is plotting to kill her with the guys she meets online through Facebook. Her niece, Marissa Williams was arrested due to solicitation of murder. Marissa admitted of talking to guys online asking them to help her to murder her aunt and her family. via Oddity World

Inside of a camel's mouth

It might look like a Sarlacc pit from Star Wars, but that monstrosity is the inside of a camel's mouth. Those fleshy projections protect the camel's cheeks from getting scratched by the dried leaves and sticks it feeds on. via mental_floss

Remember this little cutie? She's not so little anymore!

Madonna's daughter Lourdes is graduating from high school this month. See what she looks like all grown up: link

Cops Severely Beat 70-Year-old Man During a Diabetic Attack Because They Thought He Was Drunk

On January 4th of this year in San Antonio a 70-year old diabetic was brutally assaulted by police at a traffic stop because they had suspected him of being drunk. However, the man was not drunk, but was actually feeling ill and experiencing a diabetic attack. full story

Scientists Link Selfies To Narcissism, Addiction & Mental Illness

The growing trend of taking smartphone selfies is linked to mental health conditions that focus on a person’s obsession with looks.

According to psychiatrist Dr David Veal: “Two out of three of all the patients who come to see me with Body Dysmorphic Disorder since the rise of camera phones have a compulsion to repeatedly take and post selfies on social media sites.” read more

Humpback whale found dead near Pajaro Dunes

An adult humpback whale was found dead on the beach near Pajaro Dunes Thursday night, and researchers are trying to determine its cause of death.

The roughly 45-foot whale was spotted after dark near the waterline at Palm Beach, said Teri Sigler, the marine mammal stranding coordinator at Long Marine Laboratory in Santa Cruz. full story

No Need To Baptize Aliens, They Are The Gods Of The Bible

In a recent sermon, Pope Francis said he would happily welcome aliens in the Vatican and baptize them if they wanted to join his flock.

"There will be no need to baptize 'aliens' when they decide to come back” declared Rael, “they are the ones who created all religions on earth and who were mistakenly taken for gods. Instead of offering them to be baptized, he will have to acknowledge that they are the gods he has been praying to all along.” source

A megalodon tooth stuck in a whale vertebrae

A megalodon tooth stuck in a whale vertebrae. This is the most badass fossil in existence.

Brazilian Wandering Spider

World's deadliest spider; the poison in one bite can kill 225 mice.DA

Meet the Jesus Christ Lizard

The basilisk lizard is also called the Jesus Christ lizard for its amazing ability to run on water. Abundant in the tropical rain forests of Central America, When threatened, they can drop from a tree into the water and sprint, upright, about 5 feet (1.5 meters) per second across the surface of the water.

To accomplish this, they have long toes on their rear feet with fringes of skin that unfurl in the water, increasing surface area. As they rapidly churn their legs, they slap their splayed feet hard against the water, creating a tiny air pocket that keeps them from sinking, provided they maintain their speed. They can move along the surface like this for 15 feet (4.5 meters) or more. (National Geographic) (Pic: Stephen Dalton)

-Arun

 

These grooves in the bedrock were scraped away by a glacier thousands of years ago