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Author Archives: Stephen Ornes

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

Brain to brain

By Stephen Ornes / March 15, 2013

Scientists connected the brains of two rats using computer chips and computers. One animal later signaled the other rat’s brain. Credit: K. Zhuang, Lab.of M. Nicolelis, Duke Univ.

Rats brains signaled each other through computers

Posted in Brain & Behavior | Tagged artificial limbs, brain, brain activity, Brazil, cognition, computer chips, computers, cyborgs, Duke University, getinvolved, Lee Miller, microchips, Miguel Nicolelis, mind meld, nerve signaling, neuroscience, North Carolina, Northwestern University, rats, signals, topstories

Flower power

By Stephen Ornes / March 11, 2013

Scientists report that bees and flowers appear to have a charged communication. In addition to a flower’s color and scent, its electric field may also bring in bees, a new study shows. Credit: Emily Krieger

Electric field around flowers may help bees find nutritious blooms

Posted in Animals, Plants | Tagged bees, biology, charge, Daniel Robert, electric field, electric potential, electricity, entomology, flowers, getinvolved, nectar, negative charge, Pollination, positive charge, sensory biology, Stephen Buchmann, University of Arizona at Tucson, University of Bristol

Bad for breathing

By Stephen Ornes / March 8, 2013

Researchers have connected exposure to high levels of pollutants called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, or PAHs, to a greater likelihood of having asthma and allergies. Caption: Photo courtesy of the EPA

New study connects pollution to several common diseases that affect the lungs and airways

Posted in Body & Health, Environment & Pollution | Tagged air pollution, allergy, asthma, biochemistry, cells, combustion, getinvolved, immune system, immunity, inflammation, Kari Nadeau, lungs, medicine, Ohio University, PAHs, Pollution, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, Stanford University, swelling, T-regs, T-regulatory cells, Todd Rambasek, topstories

Quake, quake, go away

By Stephen Ornes / March 1, 2013

An earthquake caused widespread damage to San Francisco in 1989. Scientists are designing a new type of seismic shield that may help protect buildings from tremors. Credit: J.K. Nakata/USGS

French engineers report success in the first test of an underground seismic shield

Posted in Technology & Engineering | Tagged cloaking, Duke University, earthquake, electromagnetic radiation, engineering, getinvolved, Grenoble, Imperial College London, Institut Fresnel, Invisibility, John Pendry, light, light waves, Marseille, metamaterials, microwaves, Sébastien Guenneau, seismic waves, shields, topstories

Fancy feather gene

By Stephen Ornes / February 15, 2013

This Indian fantail, one of 350 breeds of rock pigeons, has a tuft of feathers called a peak crest. Scientists recently pinpointed the gene mutation responsible for this feather formation. Credit: Michael Shapiro

A tweak in a single pigeon gene causes a distinct feather formation

Posted in Animals | Tagged birds, cells, crests, DNA, feathers, genes, genetic mutations, genetics, getinvolved, Michael Shapiro, University of Utah

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