Talk about a long-distance call! Astronomers have stumbled across a mysterious radio signal that appears to have traveled from not just from outside of our solar system – but beyond even our Milky Way galaxy.

The largest cosmic ear in the world, the 305-metre-wide Arecibo radio dish in Puerto Rico, picked up a momentary burst of radio waves on Nov. 2, 2012. The signal itself was quite modest – nothing more … Read More → "Long-distance call from across the universe leaves astronomers baffled"

New York City has not only provided the backdrop for a countless songs, but it’s also birthed entire genres of music. So when you start to plot where each of these moments happened, you’re soon left with a pretty exciting guided tour of one of the world’s biggest cultural capitals. YouTube links Read More → "Explore New York City according to the music it inspired"

One rocket scientist has turned his attention to cookware, designing a new set of pots and pans that are touted as nearly double the energy efficiency of your ordinary round cookware. What’s different? The addition of fins.

The new pots were designed by Oxford University professor of engineering Thomas Povey, who has developed what he calls the Flare Pan. With this pan, which is being sold through maker Lakeland, comes a promised 40-percent decrease … Read More → "Rocket scientist adds fins to pans and nearly doubles their efficiency"

Car sharing has grown in popularity in recent years thanks to the internet and smartphones. But now the city government of Helsinki, Finland, wants to take that idea to its logical endpoint: replacing most privately owned cars by 2025 with a comprehensive route-planner app that would also offer access to all of the city’s shared-transportation options, plus weather forecasts. As The Helsinki Times  … Read More → "Finland’s largest city wants to replace cars with apps"

Robots tend to be either very rigid or very soft, but neither extreme is ideal; ideally, machines could both squish themselves into tight spaces and remain sturdy for strength-dependent tasks. They just might, thanks to a team-up between MIT and Google’s Boston Dynamics. The two have developed a composite material that can switch between hard and soft states on the fly. The design mates a … Read More → "MIT’s new material opens the door to squishable, shape-shifting robots"

A 200-year-old bottle of naturally carbonated water has been found, according to Discovery News. The perfectly preserved stoneware vessel was recovered from a shipwreck in the Gulf of Gda?sk near the Polish coast, and is dated between 1806 and 1830.

Underwater archaeologist Tomasz Bednarz told Discovery News this … Read More → "Ancient seltzer bottle recovered from Polish shipwreck"

Planning to make it big in the music industry by releasing a hit album? Dream On. A long forgotten PC Mag article resurfaced this week to remind us that the music industry had changed drastically over the last decade. According to Activision chief Bobby Kotick circa 2008, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith “generated far more in revenues than any Aerosmith album ever has.” The game in question has sold over … Read More → "Aerosmith made more money from video games than from any one of its own albums"

If Angry Birds is known for anything, it’s an ability to keep youthful eyes glued to the screen for extended periods of time. But a new study conducted at Georgia Tech has shown that teaching a robot how to play the video game keeps kids slinging those wingless birds through the air for even longer, a finding that could help in the rehabilitation … Read More → "Teaching robots to play Angry Birds helps children’s rehabilitation"

Yet the Public Naming of Planets and Planetary Satellites Working Group has come through. About a year ago, it determined that exoplanet names should follow the rules that govern the naming of minor planets in the Solar System. And it suggested that any group that wanted to run a non-commercial naming campaign (meaning, you can’t charge to name a planet) should get in touch. A year later, the … Read More → "Public to get to vote on names for exoplanets"

Current tests for Alzheimer’s include expensive tests using brain PET or MRI imaging. But two studies have shown that a simple eye test can detect Alzheimer’s accurately at very early stages—just by looking at subjects’ retinas.

As you probably already know, Alzheimer’s causes the loss of neurons … Read More → "A simple eye test could accurately detect Alzheimer’s"