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Author Archives: Stephen Ornes

The stuff of dreams

By Stephen Ornes / April 18, 2013

Scientists recently used a computer program to decode patterns of brain activity displayed during a dream. They found that a certain object was linked with a particular pattern, and that pattern was similar whether the object was seen while awake or asleep. Credit: iStockphoto

Computer program decodes dreams, finds similar brain activity patterns for objects seen while asleep or awake

Posted in Brain & Behavior | Tagged Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute International, brain, computers, dreams, fMRI, Frank Tong, getinvolved, Japan, Kyoto, mind, Nashville, neuroscience, sleep, Tennessee, topstories, Vanderbilt University, wakefulness, Yukiyasu Kamitani

Sound cloak

By Stephen Ornes / April 14, 2013

Caption: This strange-looking cage can hide an object inside it from being detected by sound waves. Credit: L. Sanchis et al

New device hides objects from sonar

Posted in Physics, Technology & Engineering | Tagged acoustics, cloak, echo, getinvolved, Invisibility, José Sánchez-Dehesa, noise cancellation, noise cancelling, sonar, sound waves, submarines, topstories

Fungi as carbon keepers

By Stephen Ornes / April 11, 2013

A recent study of forested Swedish islands found that tiny fungi in the soil store most of the carbon found in the forest floor. Credit: Photo courtesy of Karina Clemmensen

A common type of fungus stores most of a forest floor’s carbon underground

Posted in Environment & Pollution, Microbes, Fungi & Algae | Tagged carbon, carbon dioxide, ecology, Erik Hobbie, fungus, getinvolved, global warming, greenhouse gas, Karina Clemmensen, roots, soil, Sweden, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, trees, University of New Hampshire, Uppsala

No high notes for these blind fish

By Stephen Ornes / April 5, 2013

This southern cavefish is blind and, new research suggests, partially deaf. But don’t feel sorry for the little fish; it may just be adapting to a dark and noisy habitat. Credit: Matthew Niemiller

Cave dwellers that can’t see are also partially deaf

Posted in Animals | Tagged Adaptation, biology, blind fish, blindness, brains, cave fish, cavefish, caves, College Park, Daphne Soares, deaf, deaf fish, evolution, getinvolved, Kentucky, Martina Bradic, neurology, neuromast, New York University, pitch, sounds, Tennessee, topstories, University of Maryland, waves

New, older age for the universe

By Stephen Ornes / April 4, 2013

This map shows the energy left over from shortly after the Big Bang, as mapped by the Planck space telescope. The average background temperature is about 2.7 degrees above the coldest possible temperature (known as absolute zero). Red spots are slightly warmer, while blue spots are slightly cooler. Astronomers hope this map can help them learn more about the history of the universe.

Telescope peers back to see the first light after the Big Bang

Posted in Space | Tagged absolute zero, age of the universe, astronomy, astrophysics, Big Bang, cosmic background radiation, cosmology, energy, European Space Agency, George Efstathiou, getinvolved, inflation, Matthew Kleban, New York University, Planck space telescope, radiation, Richard Easther, temperature, University of Auckland, University of Cambridge, waves

Out-of-this-world atmospheres

By Stephen Ornes / March 29, 2013

This illustration depicts the planet HR 8799c (foreground) orbiting its star. Two other planets in the system can also be seen in the drawing.
Credit: Image courtesy of Dunlap Institute for Astronomy & Astrophysics; Mediafarm

Light from a distant, giant world offers clues to the gases in its atmosphere

Posted in Space | Tagged astronomy, atmosphere, Ben Oppenheimer, Earth, exoplanets, getinvolved, HR 8799, infrared, Jonathan Fortney, light, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Neptune, planets, Quinn Konopacky, radiation, Santa Cruz, Saturn, Smithsonian Institution, space, spectral lines, spectrometry, topstories, University of California, University of Toronto

Big squid: All one family

By Stephen Ornes / March 28, 2013

A giant squid is unloaded by fishermen at a wharf in Melbourne, Australia. Credit: David Paul/University of Melbourne

Genes show all giant squid belong to one, worldwide species

Posted in Animals | Tagged cells, Clyde Roper, Copenhagen, DNA, getinvolved, giant squid, M. Thomas Gilbert, Natural History Museum, North Atlantic Ocean, Ocean, Smithsonian Institution

Another buzz for bees

By Stephen Ornes / March 24, 2013

The caffeine in some flower nectar gives bees a memory boost, a new study shows. Credit: Image courtesy of Geraldine Wright

Blooms are more memorable when their nectar contains caffeine

Posted in Animals | Tagged bees, behavior, brain, caffeine, coffee, England, Gerladine Wright, getinvolved, honeybees, nectar, neuroscience, Newcastle University, Pollination, protection, stimulant, tea, topstories

Martian microbes, maybe

By Stephen Ornes / March 21, 2013

The first sample of Martian rock drilled by the rover Curiosity. Scientists say the rock provides evidence that microbes could have once lived on Mars. Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech, MSSS

Permission: press photo, NASA public domain

Billions of years ago, Mars could have been teeming with very small Martians

Posted in Space | Tagged aliens, astrobiology, California Institute of Technology, Caltech, chemicals, crater, Curiosity, elements, environment, extraterrestrial life, getinvolved, habitability, John Grotzinger, Mars, Martian water, Michael Meyer, minerals, NASA, planets, space, topstories

The AIDS virus that vanished

By Stephen Ornes / March 18, 2013

This photo shows HIV infecting a T-cell, which usually fights off infections in the human body. Credit: NIH/NIAID

Strong medicine may have rid a newborn of deadly HIV

Posted in Body & Health | Tagged acquired immune deficiency syndrome, AIDS, Boston, Daniel Kuritzkes, epidemiology, getinvolved, Harvard Medical School, HIV, human immunodeficiency virus, infection, infectious virus, Mississippi, topstories, vertical transmission, viral cure, virus

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