In the frigid, inky ocean depths beneath permanent ice shelves, life tends to move pretty slowly. But a recent expedition to the seafloor under a newly thawed Antarctic ice sheet has revealed an unexpected invertebrate invasion. Some of Earth’s strangest species, a group of ghostly pale sponges made of glass, have set up shop there in a hurry, upending much of what scientists know about these exotic creatures.

Thanks to changes … Read More → "Retreating Antarctic ice fuels surprising glass sponge invasion"

Earth is often referred to as the “blue planet,” or “pale blue dot,” due of course to the abundance of liquid water on its surface (about 70 percent is covered by water). But now astronomers have found another blue planet, and on this world, instead of water, it likely rains glass — and sideways at that, thanks to the planet’s unfathomably strong 4,500 mile-per-hour winds. The gigantic, Jupiter-sized … Read More → "Blue-colored planet that rains glass uncovered by NASA’s Hubble space telescope"

Game creator and physics teacher Scott Isler first came up with the idea for a board game that teaches kids about how atoms come together from subatomic particles while working at an after-school program for third and forth graders. The art, by Thomas Conrad Rigby, is described as “retro-futuristic” and is inspired by “the optimism of ST:NG-era science fiction along with spectacular current advances in virtual user interfaces.” In other … Read More → "Antimatter Matters, the quantum physics board game, makes assembling atoms into a competition"

The next NASA Mars rover, a twin probe to its current Curiosity rover, will undertake the first part of a long-sought dream of planetary scientists: a sample-return mission from the Red Planet.

In December, a surprise announcement from NASA unveiled that it had selected a 2020 Mars mission that would reuse spare parts and plans from its highly successful Curiosity rover. Little was said at the time about … Read More → "Next Mars rover is first step toward bringing samples back to Earth"

We all have to work for a living. Some of us just get more attention for what we do. During World War II, Albert Einstein did part-time work developing weapons for the US Navy. The National Archives has some of the cards he used to punch in and out of work.
via Neatorama

Read More → "Albert Einstein’s time cards"

Some memories just won’t die — and some can even be transferred to a whole new brain. Researchers at Tufts University have determined that a small, yellow worm known as a planarian, which has long been studied for its regenerative properties, is able to grow back a lot more than just its body parts: after the worm’s small, snake-like head and neck … Read More → "Worms regrow their decapitated heads, along with the memories inside"

NASA scientists have unleashed a new robot on the arctic terrain of Greenland to demonstrate that its ability to operate with complete autonomy in one of Earth’s harshest environments. Named GROVER, which stands for both Greenland Rover and Goddard Remotely Operated Vehicle for Exploration and Research, the polar robotic ranger carries ground-penetrating radar for analysis of snow and ice, and an autonomous system that is operated over an Iridium satellite connection. All of … Read More → "NASA’s polar robotic ranger passes first test in one of Earth’s harshest environments (video)"

Range anxiety is real for electric vehicle (EV) drivers. But it will soon be a thing of the past for EV owners in the Netherlands.

Fastned, a Dutch electric vehicle charging network company, has chosen ABB to provide more than 200 DC fast-charging stations that will blanket the country of more than 16 million people. The chargers will all be within 50 kilometers of each other.
via Read More → "Netherlands builds nationwide electric vehicle fast-charging network"

… Read More → "I wore a bionic leg, and I never wanted to take it off again"

I want to get one thing out of the way first:

According to my rough calculations, if an aircraft carrier sank and got stuck against the drain, the pressure would easily be enough to fold it up and suck it through. Cooool.

Just how far away is this portal? If we put it near the Earth, the ocean would just fall back down into the atmosphere. As it … Read More → "How quickly would the oceans drain if a circular portal 10 meters in radius leading into space was created at the deepest spot in the ocean?"