Scientists found a fossil of a two-headed reptile:
This animal was a choristoderan, an extinct reptile that reached a length of one metre in adulthood and was characterised by a long neck - two in this case.
The animal’s spinal column divided in two at the point where the neck emerges from the body. This formed two long necks that ended in two skulls.
Original post by Alex
If you intend to buy a dog and have not yet decided which breed you will get, you have better pay attention to some important points with respect to the dog intelligence. Click on the image to get familiar with a dog intelligence according to S. Coren, the author of “The Intelligence of Dogs” book. -Kiril-
Original post by Kiril Kasev
1. God Throws Dice.Einstein was one of the founders of quantum mechanics. His explanation of the photoelectric effect showed that light itself is quantized, and it was this work that won him his Nobel in 1921 (He didn’t get it for relativity, which was more controversial.) Yet as quantum mechanics developed, he refused to believe what became a central tenet: that all events could be described only in terms of probability. Einstein summarized this by his famous statement, "God does not throw dice." According to quantum mechanics, two absolutely identical radioactive atoms will probably decay at different times. Einstein believed that there must be something hidden inside the nucleus, a hidden variable that was different for the two. Very sensitive statistical tests performed by experimentalists have shown that he was wrong. There aren’t any hidden variables, at least not the simple kind.
When Einstein developed his theory of gravitation, usually called general relativity, he found a problem. The universe, which he thought was static, could not be static according to his equations. Instead of predicting that the universe was changing, he modified his equations to introduce a cosmological constant that would support his theory. When physicist Edwin Hubble discovered that the universe was not static but was expanding, Einstein called his cosmological constant "the greatest mistake of my life".
Einstein effectively abandoned his cosmological constant when he learned of Hubble’s discoveries. Ironically, calling this a mistake made for the second greatest mistake of his life! In the late 1990s Saul Perlmutter and his group at Berkeley discovered that the cosmological constant was not zero but was causing the universe to accelerate. Their result was soon confirmed by another group. So, had Einstein stuck to his guns, he could have been given credit for predicting one of the great scientific findings of the last 10 years - the accelerating universe.
Einstein spent the latter decades of his life trying to find a unified field theory that would illuminate a connection between gravity and electricity. In 1920, when he was in his forties, he decided to devote his career to unifying the theories of gravity and electromagnetism. He was so far ahead of his time that his major effort in this problem was doomed to failure. Although his work is full of mathematical insights, Einstein passed away before realizing his error. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, physicists Steven Weinberg, Abdus Salam, and Sheldon Glashow (and others) finally succeeded where Einstein couldn’t - in unifying electromagnetism with the weak force - not the gravitational force that Einstein had worked on. The weak force is the force that makes for most radioactivity. It wasn’t even known at the time Einstein began his work, so he couldn’t have guessed that he was unifying the wrong forces.
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From mental_floss’ book Condensed Knowledge: A deliciously Irreverent Guide to Feeling Smart Again, published in Neatorama with permission.
Be sure to visit mental_floss‘ extremely entertaining website and blog!
Original post by Alex
I found this a few years ago in a science museum. The exhibit displays, in a pleasant fashion, the magnetic fields around solenoids caused by the frequency of music that is being fed through it….
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Original post by John
Christopher Null (Wired) has announced a list of the 10 most life-altering devices of the modern era. Click on the image to get additional information about these items and how they have changed our way of life. -Kiril-
Original post by Kiril Kasev
Most of the times, chirps of crickets are love songs to attract mates. However, at times, they can also lure death:
The parasites, called Ormia ochracea, burrow into their amorous hosts and then, after a week or so of feeding on organs, tear their way out, killing the cricket as they emerge. Researchers have known this for some time, and in fact it has caused the wings of one species of cricket, in Hawaii, to evolve to the point that they cannot produce the traditional mating sound.
Scientists now find the danger posed by the parasites can rewire cricket love lives, drastically altering how males sing and females respond when parasites are around.
"It’s a complex tradeoff we see here. If you’re a male and don’t sing, you’re less likely to get females but more likely to live longer, and if you do sing, you attract both females and parasites," explained animal behaviorist Jane Brockmann at the University of Florida at Gainesville.
Original post by Alex
Click on the images to visit the image bank Science-Art, specialized on science, nature and medical images.
Images copyright @ Nicolle Rager Fuller & Gary Raham.
Original post by hahanu
