How tall is the top of the world? Nepal wants to find out exact height of Mount Everest July 20, 2011
Nepal’s government has ordered a new measurement of Mount Everest to determine exactly how high the world’s highest mountain is, an official said Wednesday.

Noctilucent Clouds Over Edmonton: APOD July 20th 2011 July 19, 2011
Sometimes it's night on the ground but day in the air. As the Earth rotates to eclipse the Sun, sunset rises up from the ground. Therefore, at sunset on the ground, sunlight still shines on clouds above. Under usual circumstances, a pretty sunset might be visible, but unusual noctilucent clouds float so high up they can be seen well after dark. Normally too dim to be seen, they may become visible at sunset during late summer when illuminated by sunlight from below. Noctilucent clouds are the highest clouds known and thought to be part of polar mesospheric clouds. Pictured above earlier this month, a network of noctilucent clouds cast an eerie white glow after dusk, above the the city of Edmonton, in Alberta, Canada. Much about noctilucent clouds has been discovered only over the past few years, while how they form and evolve remains a topic of active research.

Science could have it all wrong. But... : Starts With A Bang July 19, 2011
Many of you are a little bit skeptical that I talk about things like the History of the Universe, Inflation, Dark Matter and Dark Energy like they are absolute certainties. After all, isn't it true that there are an awful lot of assumptions that we make in order for these things to be true?

Big Science: The 10 Most Ambitious Experiments in the Universe Today July 19, 2011
These ten awe-inspiring science projects range from the world's largest undersea observatory to the "ultimate microscope" to a Jupiter orbiter on a suicide mission--but they're all massive, often in both size and scope

University of Birmingham researchers develop antibacterial stainless steel. July 19, 2011
Answering the call of germphobes and their Stepford ladies-in-waiting everywhere, researchers at the University of Birmingham have devised a silver-infused technique of warding off unwanted bacteria.

Modeling Neuron Death with Real and Simulated Decapitations July 19, 2011
Researchers used EEG to track brain activity after decapitation and engaged in some rampant speculation about what it all means. Now, another group of researchers has used modeling to shine some light on physical mechanisms to explain brain signals that occur during and after neuronal death.

Scientists identify molecular basis for DNA breakage, a hallmark of cancer cells. July 19, 2011
The DNA encodes the entire genetic information required for building the proteins of the cell. Hence, DNA breaks disrupt the proteins and lead to changes in the cell function. These changes can lead to defects in the control of cellular proliferation resulting in cancer development.

Bacteria use Batman-like grappling hooks to 'slingshot' on surfaces July 19, 2011
Researchers have diagnosed a complex sequence of movements that make-up the "twitching" motility in bacteria with type IV pili (TFP). TFP act like Batman's grappling hooks that extend and bind to a surface to retract and pull the cell along. Using a high-speed camera and a novel two-point tracking algorithm, researchers also noticed the bacteria had the additional capability to "slingshot" on surfaces.

Loss of large predators has caused widespread disruption of ecosystems July 19, 2011
The decline of large predators and other 'apex consumers' at the top of the food chain has disrupted ecosystems all over the planet, according to a review of recent findings conducted by an international team of scientists and published in the July 15 issue of Science.

"Extinct" Rainbow Toad Found After 90 Years (w/PIC) July 19, 2011
A colorful, toxic toad that was last seen 87 years ago—and never photographed—has been rediscovered in the jungles of Southeast Asia.

The Faint Red Dot --Is This the Most Distant Known Object in the Observable Universe? July 19, 2011
A deep optical image of the afterglow of the gamma-ray burst GRB 090429B, arguably the most distant object known in the universe.The light from this object has been traveling towards us for about 13.2 billion years.

Why Does Time Fly? July 19, 2011
It's up to your brain how long a moment lasts

Google Searches May Influence What People Forget, Test Finds July 19, 2011
Internet searches are making information easy to forget, as more people rely on their computers as a type of “external memory,” a study of Harvard University students found.

New graphene discovery boosts oil exploration efforts, could enable self-powered microsensors July 19, 2011
Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have developed a new method to harvest energy from flowing water. This discovery aims to hasten the creation of self-powered microsensors for more accurate and cost-efficient oil exploration.

Last Shuttle Astronauts Bid Historic Farewell to Space Station July 19, 2011
NASA's final shuttle astronauts ever to visit the International Space Station undocked from the orbiting lab on Tuesday (July 19). The shuttle Atlantis spent more than 8 days docked at the station during the historic mission.

Something Called Science Claims The Internet Makes Us Dumb July 19, 2011
A new study has shown that our mental abilities may be deteriorating thanks to the easy access we have to online search engines. Bits of knowledge that we intuitively know will be available via Google or wikipedia (pornography and lists of Rainbow Brite episodes, respectively) don't get remembered, and instead essentially get replaced with mental links to those resources. This leaves extra room for the part of our brains that enjoys applying captions to pictures of cats.

Space shuttle's science brought payoffs to Earth July 19, 2011
Science from the space shuttle helped open Earth's eyes to the cosmos and sister planets. It created perhaps the most detailed topographical map of Earth. And it even is helping doctors understand, and sometimes fix, what's happening in our aging and ailing bodies.

Dawn spacecraft returns close-up image of asteroid Vesta July 19, 2011
NASA's Dawn spacecraft has returned the first close-up image after beginning its orbit around the giant asteroid Vesta. On Friday, July 15, Dawn became the first probe to enter orbit around an object in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.

How to be in two places at the same time July 19, 2011
An ambitious experiment to make a glass sphere exist in two places at once could provide the most sensitive test of quantum theory yet. The experiment will place a sphere containing millions of atoms – making it larger than many viruses – into a superposition of states in different places, say researchers in Europe.

[WTF IT'S A FULL MOON?] Vesta Vista: APOD July 19TH 2011 July 18, 2011
Is it just me or does it look like a big butt?

New scientific research reveals diamonds aren't forever July 18, 2011
In a paper published in the US journal Optical Materials Express this week, Macquarie University researchers show that even the earth's hardest naturally occurring material, the diamond, is not forever.

Hydrothermal Worm Viewed Under An Electron Microscope (PHOTO) July 18, 2011
This is not photoshop, no clever graphics, no movie scene... it's a hydrothermal worm. And it's a real creature.

How Intelligent Cars Will Make Driving Easier and Greener July 18, 2011
As long as we have cars, we will have traffic. But a new generation of smarter-car technology is helping drivers — and cars — manage trips more efficiently, preventing gridlock, avoiding wrecks and ameliorating 5 p.m. road rage

Last Chance to See a Space Shuttle in Night Sky … Ever July 18, 2011
Skywatchers located in the right spots have one last chance to see a NASA space shuttle in the night sky.

The Six Mega-trajectories of Biological Evolution --Are We Entering the Seventh? July 18, 2011
The six great mega-trajectories of the biological evolution on Earth: 1. From the origin of life to the ”Last Common Ancestor" 2. Prokaryote diversification 3. Unicellular eukaryote diversification 4. Multicellularity 5. Invasion of the land 6. Appearance of intelligence and technology.