Texting could be the next frontier in pain medication. Text messaging during surgery can reduce a patient’s need for narcotics, according to a new study from the journal Pain Medicine. 

Before being given anesthesia, nearly 100 patients in the hospital for minor surgery in Montreal were asked to either play Angry Birds, text a friend, text a research assistant hired for the study, … Read More → "Texting a stranger during surgery can reduce your need for meds"

Potentially good news for those who want to zip around our solar system, and beyond, at speeds approaching that of light — and maybe even faster.

NASA, according to NASASpaceFlight.com, is quietly claiming to have successfully tested a revolutionary new means of space travel that could one day allow for such insane speed, and to have done it in a hard vacuum like that of … Read More → "Is NASA one step closer to warp drive?"

This is a video taken off the coast of Australia of a spider crab colony migrating in a giant pyramid (technically just a big lump) formation to better defend themselves against predators.
via Geekologie

… Read More → "Spider crabs migrating in massive pyramid formation"

IEEE Spectrum has already reported on the race to build the first robot taxis. We noted in a February article that Google has a working prototype, Uber has begun working on robocars with Carnegie Mellon University, and Nissan has announced plans to work with NASA to “demonstrate proof-of-concept remote operation of autonomous vehicles … Read More → "Robot taxis will reshape urban landscapes"

Yes, scientists at the University of Reading, UK say the best way to treat earworms is to chew gum. 

Why we get earworms in the first place isn’t entirely clear, but one likely culprit is the brain’s auditory cortex, which processes sound. Dr. Philip Beaman, an associate professor of cognitive science at the University of Reading, says the brain& … Read More → "How chewing gum prevents songs from getting stuck in your head"

This is not a trick question: Is a chimpanzee a person? If you asked the average human being that question, you’d probably get a quick “no.” In the eyes of the law, however, that’s still an open question.

Last week, a New York Supreme Court judge submitted a court order that appeared to give two research chimpanzees the writ of habeas corpus—the right to challenge unlawful … Read More → "When is an animal a legal person?"

Believe it or not, police have a real problem with identifying suspects who are identical twins — unless you’re willing to spend a month sequencing genes, DNA samples are all but useless. They may be far more effective in the future, though, as British researchers havedeveloped a technique that melts DNA to identify what few differences exist. The team has determined that heating genes will break hydrogen bonds that form due to a person’s environment … Read More → "Police can spot differences between identical twins by melting DNA"

7. FRÉDÉRIC CHOPIN

Romantic composer Frédéric Chopin died in Paris in 1849, and most of him is buried in that city’s Pere Lachaise, but he asked for his heart to be buried in his native Poland. His sister carried it back to their home country, where it is preserved in alcohol (some say cognac) within a crystal urn inside a pillar at the Church of the Holy Cross in Warsaw. In 2014, scientists conducted a late-night examination of the heart … Read More → "10 people whose hearts were buried separately from the rest of them"

German car manufacturer Audi has reportedly invented a carbon-neutral diesel fuel, made solely from water, carbon dioxide and renewable energy sources. And the crystal clear ‘e-diesel’ is already being used to power the Audi A8 owned by the country’s Federal Minister of Education and Research, Johanna Wanka.

The creation of the fuel is a huge step forward for sustainable transport, but the fact that it’s being backed by an automotive giant is … Read More → "Audi has successfully made diesel fuel from carbon dioxide and water"

Tim Bavington—an artist based in Las Vegas, Nevada—is not the first artist who tries to paint music but he might be the most precise at it. He came up with a color-coded chord wheel that helps him translate notes into colors so he can make paintings that are exact visualizations of his favorite songs.
via Gizmodo

… Read More → "Guy invents color-coded chord wheel to translate music into paintings"