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Researchers develop new genetic method to pinpoint individuals' geographic origin / UCLA Newsroom

Understanding the genetic diversity within and between populations has important implications for studies of human disease and evolution. This includes identifying associations between genetic variants and disease, detecting genomic regions that have undergone positive selection and highlighting interesting aspects of human population history. Now, a team of researchers from the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science, UCLA's Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and Israel's Tel Aviv University has developed an innovative approach to the study of genetic divers

Submitted by: mirandolina - Category: Science - 0 Comments

20 Diggs

What You Need to Know About Sunscreen In One Infographic

We've mentioned how to apply sunscreen for the best protection before, but nothing beats an infographic for creatively conveying a wealth of information.

Submitted by: ryturnofthejedi - Category: Science - 0 Comments

28 Diggs

Do the Easter Island Heads Really Have Bodies?

Photos have been circulating that show bodies being unearthed beneath the famous Easter Island head statues. Are they real?

Submitted by: Marcochaoui - Category: Science - 0 Comments

75 Diggs

Medical Treatments From 200 Miles Up

NASA discovered early on in its space missions that certain microbes become more virulent in microgravity. For example, Salmonella bacteria change their gene expression and become three to seven times more virulent in low-gravity environments. A company was able to use the data from space to create a Salmonella vaccine, which is currently being tested by the FDA. Other companies are sending microbes to the station, developing a pneumonia vaccine and a MRSA vaccine for staph infections. Japanese scientists are studying protein-crystal growth in space. If protein is crystallized in space, it gr

Submitted by: mirandolina - Category: Science - 1 Comments

55 Diggs

Genetically Modified Bugs Glow Red and Self-Destruct, but Can They Keep Away Disease?

It's a pristine spring morning on the remote tip of Big Pine Key, 30 miles north of Key West. The lone paved road is surrounded by dense brush and wetlands that give way to the Gulf of Mexico. On this particular Tuesday,

Submitted by: jonz334 - Category: Science - 3 Comments

81 Diggs

Tractor beams could be real possibility according to scientists

The Millennium Falcon was pulled into the Death Star, leading to odd YouTube videos and a generation wondering if any of this could ever actually happen. Well, scientists have followed through on testing the Bessel beam and now say a tractor beam is a very real possibility for the future.

Submitted by: mklopez - Category: Science - 1 Comments

112 Diggs

Scientist: Evolution debate will soon be history

Richard Leakey predicts skepticism over evolution will soon be history. Sometime in the next 15 to 30 years, the Kenyan-born paleoanthropologist expects scientific discoveries will have accelerated to the point that "even the skeptics can accept it."

Submitted by: alnorte - Category: Science - 12 Comments

60 Diggs

Organic Carbon Found on Mars -- From Volcanism Not Biology

Molecules containing large chains of carbon and hydrogen--the building blocks of all life on Earth--have been the targets of missions to Mars from Viking to the present day. While these molecules have previously been found in meteorites from Mars, scientists have disagreed about how this organic carbon was formed and whether or not it came from Mars.

Submitted by: Picrover - Category: Science - 5 Comments

179 Diggs

Thousands of invisibility cloaks trap a rainbow

Many people anticipating the creation of an invisibility cloak might be surprised to learn that a group of American researchers has created 25 000 individual cloaks.

Submitted by: Kaostricks - Category: Science - 0 Comments

65 Diggs

At the Edge of NGC 891: APOD May 26th 2012

This sharp cosmic portrait features NGC 891. The spiral galaxy spans about 100 thousand light-years and is seen almost exactly edge-on from our perspective. In fact, about 30 million light-years distant in the constellation Andromeda, NGC 891 looks a lot like our Milky Way. At first glance, it has a flat, thin, galactic disk and a central bulge cut along the middle by regions of dark obscuring dust. The combined image data also reveals the galaxy's young blue star clusters and telltale pinkish star forming regions...

Submitted by: michde - Category: Science - 0 Comments

62 Diggs

Heartbreaking Video: Deaf Girl Hears Herself For The First Time

Sammie Hicks' video diary documents her cochlear implant surgery.

Submitted by: thatedguy - Category: Science - 13 Comments

97 Diggs

Are You Smarter Than a 2nd Grader?

A 7 year-old asks Neil deGrasse Tyson what would happen if two black holes collide.

Submitted by: mirandolina - Category: Science - 5 Comments

80 Diggs

ISS Robotic Arm Completes 1st-Ever Hookup with SpaceX's Dragon --Launching Commercial Space Era

The International Space Station's crew reached out today with a robotic arm to grab SpaceX's Dragon cargo capsule and brought it in for the orbital outpost's first-ever hookup with a commercial spaceship.The unmanned capsule is carrying 1,000 pounds of supplies on this unprecedented test flight. If the long-range plan unfolds as NASA hopes, U.S. astronauts could be shuttled back and forth on the Dragon or similar spacecraft within just a few years.

Submitted by: rob0t - Category: Science - 1 Comments

115 Diggs

Why Do Beans Make You Fart?

Beans, beans, the musical fruit...

Submitted by: mklopez - Category: Science - 13 Comments

144 Diggs

The Endangered Waters Beneath Our Feet: America's Most Tapped Aquifers

Last week, the conservation organization American Rivers released its annual list of the nation’s most-endangered rivers. I got to thinking, what if we had a sister list of most-endangered aquifers? After all, water from underground meets 20 percent of U.S. water demand for drinking, crop irrigation and everything else. It also provides the…

Submitted by: socialpyramid - Category: Science - 3 Comments

108 Diggs