News about PaperPanda, Open Access, and Research
Scientists have built the tiniest antenna ever made – just five nanometers in length. Unlike its much larger counterparts we’re all familiar with, this minuscule thing isn’t made to transmit radio waves, but to glean the secrets of ever-changing proteins. The nanoantenna is made from DNA, the molecules carrying genetic instructions that are around … Read more
By David Robson Dario Mitidieri/Getty Images “WHILE there is infection in disease and sorrow, there is nothing in the world so irresistibly contagious as laughter and good-humour.” So wrote Charles Dickens in A Christmas Carol. He was in London in the 1840s, but these words ring true in any time or place. Laughter is one … Read more
“Talking about your office, the Planetary Defense Coordination Office, you’ve got the patch there. In fact, I was observing a little Latin phrase at the bottom, what does that say?” “‘Hic Servare Diem,’ which means ‘Here to save the day.’” That exchange, between a NASA commentator and a scientist in the agency’s planetary science division, … Read more
Reinhard Dirscherl/ullstein bild via Getty Images “A YEAR of tackling great challenges.” In the title of our review of the year, “tackling” is the operative word. Two great challenges have dominated the past 12 months: the ongoing covid-19 pandemic, and efforts to address climate change, as embodied by the COP26 summit held in Glasgow, UK, … Read more
NEW ORLEANS—Scientists are getting faster and faster at linking climate change to extreme weather events. If an extreme heat wave, storm or flood occurs tomorrow, scientists could determine in a few days whether it was made worse by climate change. That has some scientists thinking: Why not do it for every disaster as soon as … Read more
Many science fans were freaking out this week when NASA confirmed that its Parker Solar Probe had become the first spacecraft ever to ‘touch the Sun’ back in April. But if you thought that was mind-boggling, hang on to your seat, because there’s actually time-lapse footage of the spacecraft’s view as it swoops into the … Read more
Imagine setting off in a rocket and leaving Earth. Leaving the solar system. Leaving our galaxy. Breaking through the edge of the observable universe and leaving our cosmos behind (which would be impossible, as you’d have to go faster than the speed of light, but work with me here). Now you are cruising through the unfathomable void … Read more