India’s space program is positively chuffed about the success of its Chandrayaan-1 satellite mission. Though the mission looked like a big dud a couple of months ago when they lost contact with the satellite and had to abort the whole thing, data retrieved from its Moon Impact Probe has revealed the presence of water on the moon:
Posts Tagged ‘Science’
Idol Chatter: Nikola Tesla
Today marks the 153rd birthday of Nikola Tesla – a Serbian inventor, electrical engineer, and probably the world’s most famous “mad scientist.” Among his numerous inventions, Tesla is credited with pioneering the radio, the somewhat-terrifying Tesla coil (shown after the jump), early robots, and the popularization of alternating current (AC) power. He also had a feud with his former employer Thomas Edison, who allegedly refused to make good on a $50,000 bet that Tesla couldn’t develop an AC power source — his reason for not paying being that Tesla didn’t understand American humour. Tesla promptly quit and went to work for Edison’s competitor, where he continued to harnass AC power.
To heal and incapacitate?
It’s always shocking when a new technology is found to have a secondary use to its original, intended purpose. Some cancer researchers will likely be particularly surprised that their work might be about to find its way into battlefield arsenals or police patrol cars.
Most cancer treatments are pretty simple in theory: they seek cancerous cells and kill them before they have time to spread. NewScientist.com reports that a technique thought to be a promising cancer treatment is now being investigated as the basis for a Taser-esque weapon that stuns for longer periods, using short, nanosecond-long pulses of extreme voltage.
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Snakes on a (geometric) plane
As reported in the latest issue of Nature, a fleshy scientific biological phenomenon once existed that was as long as a school bus. (By all means, insert your joke here.)
Ground, breaking
DECEMBER 24, 1968:
“Oh, my God! Look at that picture over there! Isn’t that something…”
—Apollo 8 crew member Frank Borman
