Many years ago a teacher asked me, "Hoosker, if a tree fell in the forest, and no one was there, would it make a sound?"
After several minutes of contemplating the question I replied "Yes, but only if you made me aware of it falling. If you hadn't told me about it, then it actually never would have existed, then No."
Turns out, I may have been on to something. picked by hoosker 2 months ago

Some scientists believed the T.Rex evolved to its enormous size, then its arms shrank, when they were no longer needed. A new discovery though, shows that the tiny-armed killing machine may have evolved from a much smaller killing-machine-with-tiny-arms.

(As a special bonus, check out the religious debating going on in the comments.) picked by Bingo 2 months ago

Two male squirrel monkeys were given gene therapy and now the normally color blind animals are able to distinguish between shades of red and green in color vision tests. In normal situations, female squirrel monkeys can see a full range of colors, but males cannot see red or green. picked by Bingo 2 months ago

1001 (ish) ways to open a bottle of beer. I've tried about 4...

Site is German, but so are some of the best beers picked by davethefish 2 months ago

Until recently, anthropologists believed that evolutionary pressure on humans eased after the transition to a more stable agrarian lifestyle. But in the last few years, they realized the opposite was true. picked by karenben 2 months ago

Those of you with children, or taking care of children know they like to taste everything, especially if it smells good. I got an email at the office that illustrates the dangers of alcohol based hand sanitizers and curious children. Another source picked by suebe 2 months ago

Listening to sounds with our eyes closed seems to wire together a direct connection to the regions of our brains that process emotions picked by stinkobinko 2 months ago

One out of five male black bass in American river basins have egg cells growing inside their sexual organs, a sign of how widespread fish feminizing has become. picked by proverb 2 months ago

Dr. Norman Borlaug, the Nobel Prize-winning scientist and father of the "green revolution" who was credited with saving 1 billion lives from famine, died in Dallas at age 95.

Dr. Borlaug died late Saturday night at his home from complications of cancer, said Kathleen Phillips, a Texas A&M University spokeswoman. picked by Bingo 2 months ago

fake video evidence can dramatically alter people's perceptions of events, even convincing them to testify as an eyewitness to an event that never happened. picked by stinkobinko 2 months ago

The smell of recent death or injury that repels living relatives of insects has been identified as a truly ancient signal that functions to avoid disease or predators, biologists have discovered. picked by stinkobinko 2 months ago

there is growing evidence that animals share functional parallels with human conscious metacognition -- that is, they may share humans' ability to reflect upon, monitor or regulate their states of mind. picked by stinkobinko 2 months ago

Blame your brain for sabotaging your efforts to get back on track after splurging on an extra scoop of ice cream or that second burger during Friday night’s football game. picked by stinkobinko 2 months ago

From the impressive language and dialect of prairie dogs to the “beyond-human-hearing” rumbles of elephants to the numerous distinctive cries of chickens, animal communication truly is a testament to the intelligence of these creatures. picked by kakana 2 months ago

we have succeeded in producing a battery that weighs almost nothing and that has set new charge-time and capacity records for polymer-cellulose-based batteries. picked by kakana 2 months ago

The winner: Cabeus A, a relatively flat, 60-mile wide crater on the moon's south pole that may hold water ice in its permanently shadowed top soil. picked by kakana 2 months ago

The researchers say they have determined that the eagle — which lived in the mountains of New Zealand and weighed about 40 pounds — was a predator and not a mere scavenger as many thought. picked by kakana 2 months ago

The study found that fresh food goes through around a two-week distribution chain as it is bagged and packaged and delivered to sellers.
Whereas frozen food, the study said, is frozen shortly after being harvested. picked by Bornbad 2 months ago

"This was a critical invention for early humans. They might have used this fiber to create parts of clothing, ropes, or baskets—for items that were mainly used for domestic activities," says Bar-Yosef. "We know that this is wild flax that grew in the vicinity of the cave and was exploited intensively or extensively by modern humans." picked by stinkobinko 2 months ago

Researchers in Stockholm have managed to prove that fossils from animals and plants are not necessary for crude oil and natural gas to be generated. This means, on the one hand, that it will be much easier to find these sources of energy and, on the other hand, that they can be found all over the globe picked by stinkobinko 2 months ago

The Y chromosome can talk to itself and can actually maintain a genetic conversation with the X chromosome. Now Scientists are predicting the decline of the Y Chromosome. It's not going away quietly and may be bent on revenge. picked by stinkobinko 2 months ago

There is no doubt that coal is bad for the environment. The problem is coal is indispensable. No other fuel matches its promise of cheap and abundant energy for development. How to solve this problem is the $64,000 question. picked by 2manyusernames 2 months ago

Look around. You'll see that flowering plants are a evolutionary success story. They make up most of the plant species, dominate many ecosystems, and are the source of much of our food. Yet their evolution is still a mystery picked by 2manyusernames 2 months ago

Caught on camera - the first time the great tit has been seen eating a bat
A Hungarian cave has turned out to be a larder of highly unusual food for great tits. picked by kakana 2 months ago

Thanks to the Hubble Space Telescope we know the universe is 13.7 billion years old. The HST has helped scientists determine the process of how planets are born and detected the first organic molecule on a planet outside our solar system. These first snapshots from the newly repaired Hubble showcase the 19-year-old telescope's improved vision. picked by equinox 2 months ago