When grieving the death of a family pet, people have been known to hold a ceremony in the back garden, perhaps putting an ‘RIP Fluffy’ plaque in the shrubs.

Some take it a step further, and have their beloved animal stuffed when they pass on.

But one Dutch schoolboy has really raised the bar. Following the death of his pet rat, Pepeijn Bruins had the animal … Read More → "Dutch boy turns his dead rat into remote-controlled, flying rodent"

Never have to re-plant your plants again once they outgrow their homes thanks to Fold Pot, a silicon rubber vessel that can double its capacity. All’s you have to do is add more soil – and water – as the plant matures, while the flexible layers mold and adapt to the plant’s new shape.
via Gear Culture

With a typical lifespan of around six weeks, the common fruit fly is one animal that could benefit from a slowing of the aging process. And that’s just what a team of biologists at UCLA have achieved by activating a gene called AMPK. Possibly of more interest to us higher life forms is the researchers’ belief that the discovery could help delay aging and age-related diseases in humans.

AMPK (adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase) is an … Read More → "Activating gene in key organ systems slows aging process throughout the body"

The typical ways in which patients get matched up with clinical trials aren’t exactly state of the art. At hospitals, clinical coordinators painstakingly sort through patient records, looking for people that fit the requirements of a given experimental treatment; meanwhile, patients bring their own Internet research to their doctors, asking if some new drug might help … Read More → "At the Mayo Clinic, IBM Watson takes charge of clinical trials"

Soft robots aren’t just supremely flexible; they can take quite a bruising, too. If you need proof, a team of Harvard and Cornell researchers has developed a rugged soft robot that can survive conditions which would wreck stiffer machines. As you’ll see in the video below, the automaton’s silicone shell has no trouble wading through snow, walking over fire and enduring the crush of a car’s tires.
… Read More → "Watch this soft robot walk through snow and get squished by a car"

Cliff House is a design concept for a five-story home that hangs off the face of a cliff. Entry to the modular structure is through the top floor garage, and the house is anchored to the cliff by steel pins. The Cliff House concept was designed by Modscape, an Australian company that specializes in prefabricated structures.
via Laughing Squid</ … Read More → "Cliff House, a five-story house that hangs off the edge of a cliff"

Certain forms of collaboration are supposed to be so sophisticated that only the smartest creatures—namely humans and perhaps a few close relatives—are capable of them. Yet this exclusive club has a new and unexpected member: a species of fish, a class of animals seldom associated with high-level intelligence.

As demonstrated in a series of experiments published today in Current Biology, coral … Read More → "Clever trout match chimpanzees in a cognitive challenge"

A research paper presented at the European Respiratory Society International Congress in Munich suggests that a simple, non-invasive breath test could be enough to detect the deadly disease.

Here’s how the researchers went about the experiment: 82 people, who had been referred for a full diagnostic test after an X-Ray … Read More → "Breath temperature might be enough to detect lung cancer"

Longleat Hedge Maze is located in the garden of the English stately home of Longleat, situated adjacent to the village of Horningsham and near the towns of Warminster in England. Designed and laid out in 1975, the maze has pathway length of 2.72 kilometers, sprawled out over 1.5 acres, and is made up of 16,000 English yews. It is the world’s longest hedge maze.

The maze has 8-foot tall hedges that winds around … Read More → "Longleat Hedge Maze: The longest hedge maze in the world"

Jack the Ripper, the scourge of Whitechapel and possibly the world’s most famous cold case, has reportedly been solved by a businessman and a forensic analyst, according to The Daily Mail.

The partner teamed up after businessman Russell Edwards obtained a shawl that … Read More → "Has forensic science finally unmasked Jack the Ripper?"