Rats controlled by implants in their brains could one day be used to search for landmines or the buried victims of earthquakes. Researchers have created 5 of these ?ratbots? and succeeded in steering them through an obstacle course by remote control. Dr. Sanjiv Talwar, of the State University of New York, says the ratbots can reach places inaccessible to humans or machines.
read more
Tens of thousands of penguins are starving to death in Antarctica because a vast iceberg has devastated the regional food chain. The B15 iceberg, which covered about 4,400 square miles when it calved in March 2000, has blocked much of the Ross Sea, preventing the growth of microscopic plants known as phytoplankton that are crucial to the entire ecosystem.
Blooms of phytoplankton, which are the first link in the Antarctic food chain, are down by 40 per cent in what is normally one of the continent?s most biologically productive areas, with dramatic consequences for larger species. Thousands of penguins have already died from a shortage of the fish called krill, which feed on phytoplankton and form a major part of the birds? diet.
read more
The scientific desire to search for life on Mars is coming into conflict with the need to prevent any such life from endangering the astronauts or the Earth. The National Research Council (NRC) is recommending that safety take precedence over research and that missions to Mars should try to avoid encountering any possible life forms there. The NRC is part of the National Academy of Sciences, an independent agency chartered by Congress to provide advice to the government on scientific issues.
read more
Stanford University students are being traumatized by squirrels. The campus squirrels have begun bizarre suicidal death leaps into the path of oncoming student bikers.”Yesterday, I was riding my bike along Escondido Road, when all of a sudden, my friend Katie screamed at me,” says Vauhimi Vara. “When I turned around, it turned out I had almost biked over a dead squirrel … It was quite traumatic.”
“It’s really hard to even ride your bike on campus,” says Katie Founds. “They’re always leaping in front of you.”
“It’s pretty scary, actually,” says Walter Shen. “They got these huge claws … like Spiderman up the walls.”
read more