Synthetic DNA substitute gets its own enzymes, undergoes evolution
On Earth, all life is dependent upon the nucleic acids, DNA and RNA. But researchers Including those who are wondering how to detect life somewhere other than Earth, have wondered...
Moving day for Discovery
We covered the space shuttle Discovery's return home earlier this week, and Ars returned to get pictures of the ceremony handing the shuttle over to the Smithsonian.
Discovery is ferried to Washington-Dulles Airport via NASA...
The week in science, with an extra helping of optical illusions
Some rather unusual stories topped this week in science news. For starters, a physicist described how he convinced a judge that his apparent running of a stop sign was an...
Asteroid takeout—a one-billionaire mission to bring a 500-ton asteroid to Earth by 2025
Visiting (and eventually mining) asteroids is viewed by space development advocates as an imperative stepping stone to making our way out into the solar system. One group of President Obama's...
Hiding in the Higgs data: hints of physics beyond the standard model
The good folks at the LHC have not been shy about sharing their results. Indeed, at the end of last year, the bigwigs at CERN called a press conference to announce...
57 Years Later, Einstein Still Relevant – “Relatively” Speaking
Today is the 57th anniversary of Albert Einstein’s death. We’ve all heard of him. We all know the equation for his Special Theory of Relativity (E=mc2), though very few people can actually explain what the heck it means in a practical manner. We al...
Welcome, Discovery!
"Think we’ll be able to see it from here?"
Working three miles from Washington-Dulles Airport meant that my coworkers and I had a pretty good chance of seeing Discovery, especially from the top floors of our...
Evolution in motion: organisms once stuck to rocks can now evade predators
Not to belittle sharks—they have their own week, after all—but the most voracious eaters in the oceans may not even have a spine. Sea urchins are omnivores and, when they...
Tupac ‘hologram’ merely pretty cool optical illusion
Hip-hop fans are dropping their collective jaws as word of the Tupac "hologram" is ricocheting around the Internet. As seen in the five-minute video, a three-dimensional Shakur is seen, shirtless, moving...
Watchers, carers, and administrators: the smart homes of tomorrow
How smart should a smart home be before it's worthy of the name? To date, perhaps the term has been too readily applied to homes that are merely high-tech. Automated systems,...
This iOS App Blows Your Mind In Four Dimensions [Review]
If, like many people, you find Mondays just too much to cope with, you might want to avoid today’s app. It’s not the sort of thing that’s going to make your Monday feel...
