Recent studies have shown that musicians have a perceptual advantage for what is called “speech-in-noise.” This discovery was made by neurobiologists at Northwestern University in Chicago. This is the first actual evidence that has been proven true. In this study musicians were able to precept certain vocals in with a noisy background better than non-musicians. To read more about [...]
Entries from November 14th, 2009
Trees Help the Occurance of Wildfires
November 14th, 2009 · No Comments · Biology
Normally when there is wildfire and it is burning up many acres of land, most people refer to this as a bad thing. However, a recent discovery shows that the tress that are being burned contribute to wildfires. It was shown that wildfires rids the land of trees competitors. Thus adding to the tree population. [...]
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Turning Trash Into Gas
November 13th, 2009 · No Comments · Biology, Chemistry
Turning Trash Into Gas “General Motors is the world’s largest maker of ethanol-gasoline Flex Fuel Vehicles. Coskata is a leading developer of flexible ethanol. Project Lighthouse is Coskata’s state-of-the-art ethanol refining facility, a demonstration that efficient, affordable and flexible conversion technology is ready today to help reduce our country’s dependency on oil in an economically and [...]
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Link Found Between Birdsong and Human Speaking
November 13th, 2009 · No Comments · Biology
Scientists have been studying finches’ use of syllables to understand how humans use and develop new vocabulary. They have studied the brains of finches and how they develop. Both humans and finches use syllables to communicate. However, the difference is humans use thousands compared to the several dozen used by finches. Syntax refers the the [...]
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Discovery In Worms Points To More Targeted Cancer Treatment
November 12th, 2009 · 2 Comments · Biology
It is impressive what scientists study. In this case they are testing worms. What they discovered might be a potential cure for cancer. It sound far-fetched, but just think about it a second. A human and a worm look very different, but in a cellular perspective they look pretty much the same. So the [...]
The Link Between Birdsong And Human Language
November 12th, 2009 · No Comments · Biology
Scientists have been studying about Bengalese finches. They’ve been studying the use of their sets of syllables and communication. Scientists are one step closer into figuring out how humans develop their vocabulary. They have researched and developed a model of neurons in the bird’s vocal center. Both human and finches adapt themselves to syllables for [...]
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Skunk’s Strategy Not Just Black And White
November 12th, 2009 · No Comments · Biology
Researcher Jennifer Hunter says that predators that have experience with skunks stay away from them because of there black and white fur and their distinctive body shape. She wanted to know why predators knew that when they saw a skunk they knew to stay away. To test her findings she took a stuffed skunk and [...]
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Beyond Light
November 12th, 2009 · No Comments · Physics
With recent studies, researchers have found that light can be pushed into smaller spaces than ever expected before. Researchers have found that by shrinking the size of the optical fiber the light travels through, the light itself also shrinks. Scientists previously thought that the light reaches an “ultimate point” where that light can no longer [...]
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Star Trek Like Replicator?
November 12th, 2009 · 1 Comment · Physics
A group of engineers working at NASA’s Langely Research Center have created and electron beam device that makes metal parts, one layer at a time. You start by drawing the part you want to build, than you push a button, and the device creates the part. They call it the Electron Beam Freeform Fabrication or, [...]
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Shrimp Eyes Inspire New Technologies
November 11th, 2009 · 3 Comments · Biology, Physics
Scientists have previously known that the mantis shrimp has highly sophisticated eyesight; however, they are now finding real-world applications mimicking this eyesight. These shrimp can see in twelve different colors, as opposed to three colors for humans. They can also see different kinds of light, which create sharp 3-D images. The shrimp’s eye cells are similar [...]
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