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Here is your customized Phys.org Newsletter for week 18:
Highly religious people are less motivated by compassion than are non-believers
"Love thy neighbor" is preached from many a pulpit. But new research from the University of California, Berkeley, suggests that the highly religious are less motivated by compassion when helping a stranger than are atheists, agnostics and less religious people.
Al Qaeda suspect's porn film found to contain treasure trove of secret documents
A suspected member of the Al Qaeda terrorist group, arrested in May last year in Germany, was found with a memory stick hidden in his underwear. Police discovered the stick contained a password-protected folder with pornographic videos inside it, but suspicious computer forensic experts thought there must be more. After weeks of analysis, they determined that one of the pornographic videos contained concealed documents detailing Al Qaeda operations and plans.
Darwinian selection continues to influence human evolution
New evidence proves humans are continuing to evolve and that significant natural and sexual selection is still taking place in our species in the modern world.
Bird-like robot perches on a human hand (w/ Video)
(Phys.org) -- Among the many challenges of designing flying robots is getting them to land gracefully. By taking a cue from birds, a team of engineers has developed a flapping-wing flying robot that can land by perching on a human hand.
French company uses wind turbine to create fresh water
(Phys.org) -- French company Eole Water has announced that they have developed and are now in the process of selling wind turbines that have been modified to produce fresh drinking water. Company reps say the new turbines should be a boon to remote communities that have limited access to fresh drinking water.
Scientists watch black hole feast on unlucky star
Scientists have witnessed the rare spectacle of a supermassive black hole devouring a star that had ventured too close -- an event that occurs about once in 10,000 years, they reported on Wednesday.
'Faster-ticking clock' indicates early solar system may have evolved faster than we think
Our solar system is four and a half billion years old, but its formation may have occurred over a shorter period of time than we previously thought, says an international team of researchers from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and universities and laboratories in the US and Japan..
SNOPA to employers seeking passwords: Access denied
(Phys.org) -- A Bill has been introduced in Washington to stop employers and schools from demanding access to people’s social network accounts. On Friday, Rep. Eliot Engel (D-NY) presented SNOPA, which stands for the Social Networking Online Protection Act. Under SNOPA, employers can’t ask current workers or new job applicants for access to their social networking accounts. If employers ignored the ruling they would pay $10,000 as civil penalty. The ban on such information demands would also apply to schools.
Rogue stars ejected from the galaxy are found in intergalactic space
It's very difficult to kick a star out of the galaxy.
Nicotine vaccine prevents nicotine from reaching the brain
If smoking a cigarette no longer delivers pleasure, will smokers quit? It's the idea behind a nicotine vaccine being created by MIT and Harvard researchers, in which an injection of synthetic nanoparticles prompts the immune system to create antibodies. The antibodies bind to incoming nicotine molecules so that they're too large to cross the blood-brain barrier. If the brain doesn't know you're smoking, you don't experience the normal smoking kick.
Scientific evidence proves why healers see the 'aura' of people
Researchers in Spain have found that many of the individuals claiming to see the aura of people –traditionally called "healers" or "quacks"– actually present the neuropsychological phenomenon known as "synesthesia" (specifically, "emotional synesthesia"). This might be a scientific explanation of their alleged "virtue". In synesthetes, the brain regions responsible for the processing of each type of sensory stimuli are intensely interconnected. This way, synesthetes can see or taste a sound, feel a taste, or associate people with a particular color.
What is your dog thinking? Brain scans unleash canine secrets in Emory study
When your dog gazes up at you adoringly, what does it see? A best friend? A pack leader? A can opener?
Antarctic waters changing due to climate: study
The densest waters of Antarctica have reduced dramatically over recent decades, in part due to man-made impacts on the climate, Australian scientists said Friday.
Four white dwarf stars caught in the act of consuming 'earth-like' exoplanets
University of Warwick astrophysicists have pinpointed four white dwarf stars surrounded by dust from shattered planetary bodies which once bore striking similarities to the composition of the Earth. The scientists publish their results in a paper in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.
British police get 360 degree accident scene camera
(Phys.org) -- When car accidents happen, typically road closures soon follow. This is because police need to study the scene to try to determine what happened, who was at fault, etc. Part of that investigation involves measuring things such as length of skid marks, distance between vehicles, or even how much a car compressed during impact; all of which takes a considerable amount of time while still leaving room for errors. Now, a new way of recording accident scenes is being used by police in Essex England. It’s the RIEGL VZ-400 - part camera, part scanner that is able to faithfully record an accident scene in a 360° panorama.
Research breakthrough takes supercomputing out of the lab
In the age of high-speed computing, the photon is king. However, producing the finely tuned particles of light is a complex and time-consuming process, until now.
International team to demonstrate first heralded single-photon generation from a silicon chip
An international consortium of researchers has overcome an important barrier to the generation of single photons using a tiny, chip-scale device constructed from the most widely used material underpinning modern electronics: silicon. Their findings could hasten the advent of devices for quantum communication, ultra-low-power computing and other technologies now that all three basic components (sources, controllable circuits and detectors) of a quantum transceiver have been demonstrated using silicon photonics.
SpaceX Falcon 9 Set for Critical Engine Test Firing on Monday, April 30
On Monday, April 30, SpaceX (Space Exploration Technologies) is all set to conduct a critical static engine test fire of the Falcon 9 rocket at the firm’s launch pad on Cape Canaveral, Florida.
Graphene-based terahertz devices: The wave of the future
People use electromagnetic energy every day … watching television, listening to the radio, popping corn with a microwave, taking an X-ray or using a cellphone. This energy travels in the form of waves, which are widely used in electronic and wireless devices.
Mars Rover starts its 9th year
Eight years after landing on Mars for what was planned as a three-month mission, NASA's enduring Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity is working on what essentially became a new mission five months ago.
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