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"Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the eyes and brains of 27 astronauts who have spent prolonged periods of time in space revealed optical abnormalities similar to those that can occur in intracranial hypertension of unknown cause, a potentially serious condition in which pressure builds within the skull."

For Tobias ...(sorry for the German)

coming soon to a garden near you: Snail Sensor Networks

How could we live without??

A new blob-like robot described in the journal Advanced Robotics uses springs, feet, "protoplasm" and a distributed nervous system to move in a manner inspired by the slime mold Physarum polycepharum. Watch it ooze across a flat surface, The Blob style: Skip to 1:00 if you just want to be creeped out by its life-like quivering.

Something for the plant folks... assuming you have enough travel budget...

It is a nice conference indeed, I've been to many of the previous editions (they changed the name of the conference this year)...

There are few certainties in plant biology. But, surely, leaves are green and designed to engage in photosynthesis. Well, it ain't necessarily so. Underground leaves of Philcoxia trap and digest nematodes...discovering a new carnivorous plant.

See also video

http://arxiv.org/abs/1104.4141

New research reported in San Diego on March 27 at the 243rd National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS) provides further support for the idea that comets bombarding Earth billions of years ago carried and deposited the key ingredients for life to spring up on the planet. "Our research shows that the building blocks of life could, indeed, have remained intact despite the tremendous shock wave and other violent conditions in a comet impact," Blank said. "Comets really would have been the ideal packages for delivering ingredients for the chemical evolution thought to have resulted in life.

"That's why silicon chips operate at temperatures hot enough to fry eggs." I stopped reading after this sentence... is the remaining part of the article equally scientifically (in)accurate?

"inherently difficult problem" is exaggerated but interesting experiment nevertheless; any volunteers to put their brain under voltage ?

Solution to the problem looks easy when you see it, but note it requires thinking out of the box (literally), and I guess this is the main reason of its difficulty. What ACT could do is to check if the procedure increases one's average score in the astronaut test.

From my favourite, "applied science" series... "If you've ever had one too many and tumbled into bed with a vision, only to be greeted in the morning by a sight you'd gnaw off your own arm to escape, take heart". [Edit] Ah, and before you suggest this is AFD hoax, here's the ref: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22260359

waderoush writes "The San Diego Zoo has built a world famous reputation as a tourist destination, for helping to rescue the California Condor, and maybe (if you're old enough) for Joan Embery's appearances with Johnny Carson. Now the zoo is using its expertise to drive innovation by establishing a n...

Discover the surprising flightmovements in slow-motion

Taking a look at some of the plants that push the boundaries in the botanical world.

Find yourself in an area without breathable air? No problem... just use this!

isn't it strange that one single gene mutation can enable or disable such a complex behavioural pattern? anything to take advantage of in our gate study (Guido?)

The laws of thermodynamics must apply to self-replicating systems. Now one physicist has worked out how