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Einstein’s Gravitational Waves Found, Black-Hole Models Led The Way

Einstein’s Gravitational Waves Found, Black-Hole Models Led The Way   http://bit.ly/1QcNsCd

Dazzling and Dangerous? Examining the History of the Exquisite Hope Diamond

Dazzling and Dangerous? Examining the History of the Exquisite Hope Diamond http://bit.ly/1Qc2vWE

The Hope Diamond is one of the most well-known diamonds in the world. This famous diamond has been on exhibition in the National Museum of Natural History (which is administered by the Smithsonian Institution), in Washington D.C., since 1958.

Nevertheless, the history of the Hope Diamond can be traced back several centuries, and a number of notable historical figures are involved in it. It is widely believed that the Hope Diamond is cursed, as bad luck has (supposedly) befallen a number of people who were connected to the diamond. A counter-claim also exists, which states that there is no evidence to support this popular belief, and that the curse was fabricated solely to arouse interest in the diamond.

The Rise of the Diamond The Hope Diamond is believed to have been formed deep beneath the earth’s surface, and was then carried upward by a volcanic eruption more than a billion years ago. Unlike ordinary diamonds, which are colorless, the Hope Diamond has a deep-blue color, as a result of trace amounts of an element known as boron within its crystal structure. Only one out of several hundred thousand diamonds have this deep-blue color. The diamond weighs 45.52 carats, and is the largest known deep-blue diamond.

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China’s Military Pivot to Africa just got Serious

 China’s Military Pivot to Africa just got Serious  http://bit.ly/1QcGNrO


Although lacking a detailed timeline, the agreement will come as a natural conclusion to what has been an ever tightening of relations between the two countries, dating back to China’s involvement in anti-piracy missions in the Gulf of Aden back in 2008.

However, unlike NATO countries and Japan who are also conducting anti-piracy missions in Djibouti, China currently has no permanent naval base in the region. According to the Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson, Hong Lei, “In fulfilling escort missions, [China] encountered real difficulties in replenishing soldiers and resupplying fuel and food, and found it really necessary to have nearby and efficient logistical support.”

Djibouti was the natural choice for the Chinese given that the former French colony already hosts a number of European outposts as well as Camp Lemonnier, the U.S. expeditionary base from where drone operations in Yemen and Somalia are conducted.



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Video: This is How Banana Peels Could Help Detect Cancer Non-Invasively

Video:  This is How Banana Peels Could Help Detect Cancer Non-Invasively  http://bit.ly/1PsleA0

When bananas start getting black spots all over them, they either become banana bread or trash, but the uses don’t stop there! Scientists have actually found that they might be useful in both detecting and treating skin cancer.

Those black spots contain tyrosinase, an enzyme also present in human skin, and in even higher amounts in people with melanoma, a potentially fatal form of skin cancer.

The disease causes telltale spots that are caused by a malfunction in the regulation of tyrosinase. This malfunction disrupts melanin, which gives skin its pigment. People with melanoma have a 10-year survival rate of 95% if the cancer is detected in stage 1, according to the American Cancer Society. But the survival rate drops to 43% by mid-stage 3.

A team of scientists at the Laboratory of Physical and Analytical Electrochemistry in Switzerland developed a cancer “scanner” and tested it on banana peel spots, which are approximately the same size as melanoma spots on human skin.

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Could These Reusable, Biodegradable Silicone Sandwich Bags Replace Ziplocs?

In December, the U.S. Senate unanimously voted to phase out the use of plastic microbeads in hand soaps, toothpaste, and other personal care products starting in 2017. These microbeads collect in waterways and eventually flow into the ocean. It’s a huge, positive step in the right direction, but it hardly makes a dent in the plastics problem.

It can seem like an overwhelming problem to “regular” people like you and me, who aren’t sure what to do about it apart from recycling, reusing, and cutting back on buying certain products. But one woman, an artist and product designer, is taking her love of the environment to a new level by creating reusable sandwich bags.

Kat Nouri recognizes the durability and creative possibilities of plastic, but she knows that it comes at a price.

“Plastic is a big part of our daily lives. There’s no denying it,” said Nouri. “But every time we use more of it, we’re harming ourselves and Earth.”

That’s why, in January, she launched Stasher, a line of sandwich bags made entirely of silicone, a natural substance made of sand, rock, and oxygen. The silicone bags work just like regular plastic bags – they’re pinch-press and air-tight – but unlike Ziploc bags, they’re completely biodegradable. They’re also petroleum-free and contain no PVC, latex, or phthalates.

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Antarctic Detector Firms Up Cosmic Neutrino Sighting

Researchers using the IceCube Neutrino Observatory have sorted through the billions of subatomic particles that zip through its frozen cubic-kilometer-sized detector each year to gather powerful new evidence in support of 2013 observations confirming the existence of cosmic neutrinos.

This photo illustration shows one of the highest-energy neutrino events of this study superimposed on a view of the IceCube Lab (ICL) at the South Pole. Evidence of the neutrinos heralds a new form of astronomy.

The evidence is important because it heralds a new form of astronomy using neutrinos, the nearly massless high-energy particles generated in nature’s accelerators: black holes, massive exploding stars and the energetic cores of galaxies. In the new study, the detection of 21 ultra high-energy muons — secondary particles created on the very rare occasions when neutrinos interact with other particles –provides independent confirmation of astrophysical neutrinos from our galaxy as well as cosmic neutrinos from sources outside the Milky Way.

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