31
Stanford engineers' breakthrough heralds super-efficient light-based computers
Light can transmit more data while consuming far less power than electricity, and an engineering feat brings optical data transport closer to replacing wires.
Topics /
Science & Space
The most popular blog posts about science & space on Hacker News. 73 posts.
32
Intellectual pursuits may buffer the brain against addiction
Mice engaged in stimulating activities were less likely to seek out cocaine
33
Retire This Idea: Scientific Knowledge Structured as “Literature”
In my view, what's most outmoded within science, most badly in need of retirement, is the way we structure and organize scientific knowledge itself. Academic literature, even as it moves online, is a relic of the era of typesetting, modeled on static, irrevocable, toothpaste-out-of-the-tube publication. Just as the…
34
35
New Horizons enters safe mode 10 days before Pluto flyby
New Horizons decided to put on a little 4th of July drama for the mission's fans. It's currently in safe mode, and it will likely be a day or two before…
36
37
Lab explosions and accidents
If you're working on serious projects there are often serious risks. A lot of these can be mitigated by preventative measures and safety ge...
38
Ceres' Deepening Mysteries
Even as we discover more about Ceres, some mysteries only deepen. Mission Director Marc Rayman gives an update on Dawn as it moves ever closer to its next…
39
40
Telomere extension turns back aging clock in cultured human cells, study finds
Researchers delivered a modified RNA that encodes a telomere-extending protein to cultured human cells. Cell proliferation capacity was dramatically increased, yielding large numbers of cells for study.
41
A metabolic master switch underlying human obesity
In a promising new approach to preventing or even curing obesity, researchers at MIT and Harvard Medical School have unveiled a new pathway that controls human metabolism by prompting adipocytes, or fat cells, to store fat or burn it away.
42
43
After 100 Years, Ramanujan Gap Filled (2013)
History of mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan’s lost notebooks and an exploration of solutions to those equations using Mathematica.
44
Links between coffee and health
Research at Harvard and elsewhere has repeatedly tied coffee consumption to health benefits.
45
To save on weight, a detour to the moon is the best route to Mars
A new MIT study suggests that a human mission to Mars may lighten its launch load considerably by refueling on the moon.
46
Ocean acidification may cause dramatic changes to phytoplankton
A new study finds that increased ocean acidification will dramatically affect global populations of phytoplankton: Some species will die out, while others will flourish, which will affect marine food webs.
47
Chemical flavorings found in e-cigarettes linked to lung disease
A Harvard study links chemicals used in flavored electronic cigarettes to cases of severe respiratory disease.
48
Why it takes so long to get data back from New Horizons
As I write this post, New Horizons is nearing the end of a weeklong optical navigation campaign. The last optical navigation images in the weeklong series…
49
50
World's first white laser
Researchers at ASU have proven that semiconductor lasers are capable of emitting over the full visible color spectrum, which is necessary to produce a white laser.
51
52
Start Using Landsat on AWS
My colleague Jed Sundwall wrote the guest post below to show you how one of the newest AWS Public Data Sets is being put to use. — Jeff; You can now access over 85,000 Landsat 8 scenes through our newest Public Data Set: Landsat on AWS. The scenes are all available in the landsat-pds bucket […]
53
Introducing Amino: Desktop Bioengineering for Everyone
Archived MIT Admissions blog post 'Introducing Amino: Desktop Bioengineering for Everyone,' published October 13, 2015. Preserved for historical context; not maintained as current admissions policy.
54
Ebola whole virus vaccine shown effective, safe in primates
An Ebola whole virus vaccine, constructed using a novel experimental platform, has been shown to effectively protect monkeys exposed to the often fatal virus.
55
56
Death Is Optional: A Conversation with Yuval Noah Harari and Daniel Kahneman
KAHNEMAN: Could you elaborate on these possibilities? I mean, what's the distinction between predicting and setting up a range of possibilities?
57
58
The Discovery of Statistical Regression
We explore the hotly contested history of the crowning jewel of statistics.
59
Perfect colors, captured with one ultra-thin lens
No need for color correction—Harvard physicists’ flat optics, using nanotechnology, gets it right the first time
60
