Archive for the ‘MSNBC Technology’ Category
Ancient Greeks pre-empted Monty Python
Friday, November 14th, 2008For those who believe the ancient Greeks thought of everything first, proof has been found in a 4th century AD joke book featuring an ancestor of Monty Python's Dead Parrot sketch where a man returns a parrot to a shop, complaining it is dead.
Elusive microbe fertilizes oceans
Friday, November 14th, 2008An unusual microorganism discovered in the open ocean may force scientists to rethink their understanding of how carbon and nitrogen cycle through ocean ecosystems.
Homo erectus fossil challenges evolution ideas
Friday, November 14th, 2008The fossil of a wide-hipped Homo erectus found in Ethiopia suggests females of the pre-human species swayed their hips as they walked and gave birth to relatively developed babies with big heads, researchers said on Thursday.
Tech puts JFK conspiracy theories to rest
Thursday, November 13th, 2008A team of experts assembled by the Discovery Channel has recreated the assassination of John Fitzgerald Kennedy. Using modern technology, the team determined that the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository was the most likely origin of the shot that killed the 35th president of the United States.
Bird-like dinosaur sat on eggs
Thursday, November 13th, 2008An animal that looked like a big bird, had feathers like a bird, laid eggs like a bird and behaved like a bird was, in fact, a dinosaur, according to paleontologists who just linked such a dinosaur with a nest full of neatly arranged eggs.
Ancient Celtic coin cache found in Netherlands
Thursday, November 13th, 2008A hobbyist with a metal detector struck both gold and silver when he uncovered an important cache of ancient Celtic coins in a cornfield in the southern Dutch city of Maastricht.
Scientists determine the fishiest election ever
Thursday, November 13th, 2008A school of fish recently held the aquatic equivalent of a two-party election to choose a leader. There was no electoral college involved, and the outcome wasn't even close.
Mystery solved: How bleach kills germs
Thursday, November 13th, 2008Bleach has been killing germs for more than 200 years but U.S. scientists have just figured out how the cleaner does its dirty work.
1,200-year-old church uncovered in Syria
Thursday, November 13th, 2008Archaeologists in central Syria have unearthed remnants of a 1,200-year-old church believed to be the largest ever discovered in this Mideast country, an antiquities official said Thursday.
Arctic ice melt sparks plankton blooms
Wednesday, November 12th, 2008Record summer sea ice losses in the Arctic Ocean are now leading to bursts of ocean life in the newly open waters, say researchers watching the north polar sea from space.
Wild birds learn foreign ‘languages’
Wednesday, November 12th, 2008Birds may be bilingual, trilingual or better, suggest new findings that birds in the wild can learn the vocalizations of other species.
You’ll need a microscope to see ‘nanobama’
Wednesday, November 12th, 2008President-elect Barack Obama is larger than life these days. Except, that is, at the University of Michigan, where he has become remarkably small.
Evolution in action: Lizards losing limbs
Wednesday, November 12th, 2008Some slender Australian lizards called skinks have gone from being five-fingered to legless (like most snakes) in just 3.6 million years, a new study finds. That's a blink of an eye in geologic time.
Offshore wind power could alter ocean currents
Wednesday, November 12th, 2008Generating wind power at sea may disturb ocean currents and marine ecosystems, according to a new study.