New Study Claims Earth's 6th Mass Extinction is Underway
Earth’s sixth mass extinction event may already be underway and it may be worse than previously thought. The world has already seen five mass extinctions in the last 450 million years. End-Ordovician, 443 million years ago A severe ice age led to sea level decline of 100 meters, wiping out 60-70% of all species, predominantly...
Searching for Life Beyond Earth with the SETI Institute
Is E.T. real? Can we travel to Mars? How far away are the stars? Are there other worlds we can travel to, and what are they like? Can we discover life on other worlds? Intriguing questions like these motivate young people to pursue STEM careers and to gaze at the night sky and wonder: Are we alone in the universe? SETI Institute...
Double Launch Scheduled for SpaceX this Weekend
Once again, Elon Musk excited space enthusiasts everywhere with his announcement on Twitter that, if the schedule holds, there may be two Falcon 9 launches within 48 hours this weekend. This would kick off a two-week period where SpaceX could launch three separate rockets. Although Elon Musk and SpaceX are making leaps and bounds in the...
ACTE, Advance CTE Statement on President’s FY18 Budget
ACTE, Advance CTE Statement on President’s FY18 Budget Alexandria, VA – The following is a joint statement from the Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE) and Advance CTE in response to the $168 million cut to state grants for career and technical education (CTE) included in the President’s Fiscal Year 2018...
Michio Kaku Clears up God Discovery
Several months ago there was a flurry of headlines claiming that Michio Kaku had proven the existence of God. In this exclusive interview with the famous physicist, Kaku elaborates on what happened. I&T Today: You recently made a lot of headlines with your discoveries regarding the possible existence of a higher intelligence. Could...
Build a Robot? Win $1.5 Million
NASA, whose probe Juno made major headlines with its remote photography of Jupiter, is raising the stakes of robo-engineering with a competition that pits students from around the country against each other for a literally constructive purpose. The goal? Design an exploratory robot that can navigate otherworldly terrain worthy of one of...
You Show Me Your Amygdala and I’ll Show You Mine
Those who were old enough to watch Oprah in the ‘90s likely remember the popular paperback Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus. The book brought discussion about differences between male and female brains into the public sphere, claiming different biology leads to different behaviors. By the time I had my first sex ed. class,...
Safe Travels, Boaty McBoatface!
Boaty McBoatface is off on its maiden voyage. The autonomous underwater vehicle left Punta Arenas, Chile on March 17 and headed to the Orkney Passage to help scientists from the University of Southampton and British Antarctic Survey with their research. The passage is about 500 miles from the Antarctic Peninsula and plunges some...
3 Innovators Who Regretted their Creations
The general public may believe that innovators love each and every one of their creations. However, sometimes it's best to recall Doctor Victor Frankenstein and his horrid creation, the Frankenstein Monster. Dr. Frankenstein is known for having recoiled in fear and disgust from his abomination, going so far as to try and destroy...
An Inside Look at the Smashing Physics of CERN
Built by CERN and Buried nearly 570 feet beneath the ground, and stretching over 17 miles on the idyllic French-Swiss border, lies the largest, most powerful machine that humanity has ever produced. The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is a particle accelerator of unparalleled size and scope that seeks to shed light on some of the greatest...
The Ethics of CRISPR and Gene Manipulation
In the not-so-distant future, humanity is still imperfect. But there is one thing we’ve gotten down pat: the ability to ensure that babies are always born with the best traits possible. You no longer need braces to achieve a bright, even smile, and life-threatening illnesses that keep us down now have all but disappeared. If this...
Lisa Randall: Enlightened on Dark Matter
Dr. Lisa Randall is a scientist who is comfortable pondering the enigmatic reaches of the universe, and trying to make sense of it. She has been named one of Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people in the world, and is the Frank B. Baird, Jr. Professor of Science at Harvard University. She is the author of numerous books, including...
Beating Scientists at their own Game
When scientists want to design a new drug – say, one that combats the invasive proteins of HIV – they need to design new proteins to work inside the human body. Crafting new proteins is no small task. A small protein can contain 100 amino acids, with some human proteins possessing up to 1,000. This naturally results in an...
David Brin, Our Conversation with a Futurist
Like most science fiction authors, David Brin finds his mind chock-full of futuristic thoughts as well as story ideas. He delivers the goods constantly, as shown by his more than 25 sci-fi novels, several of them bestsellers. However, what separates Brin from many of his sci-fi peers is his commitment to and practice of advanced ideas in...
Should You Leave Your Electronics Out In The Cold?
Winter is here. And you know what that means - gearing up New Year's resolutions, getting ready for a mad dash to K Mart for some last minute shopping, and finding out how Ernest saved Christmas. However, something else comes to mind with the holiday season - bitter, freezing cold weather. And along with that comes the anxiety that goes...
Feathered dinosaur tail discovered in amber
If you're like me, you like your dinosaurs with scales (à la like in Jurassic Park). Despite their portrayal in popular culture, though, I'm sure most of us have heard that, in all likelihood, at least some dinosaurs had feathers; a theory that also follows the long-standing hypothesis that they're ancient ancestors to modern...
Physicist Michio Kaku on STEM Education
Superstar physicist Michio Kaku recently sat down Innovation & Tech Today for a sprawling interview on education and future tech for our stellar fall issue, which you can get at Barnes & Nobles everywhere. As one of the faces of popular science, Kaku is uniquely positioned to supply advice on how to engage young minds. I&T...
Measles eliminated in the Americas
The Americas is the first region on the planet to have eliminated measles, an international committee from the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) announced on Wednesday. Measles is now the fifth vaccine-preventable disease that has been eliminated in the Americas, following smallpox, poliomyelitis,...
Streamlined solar battery boosts renewable energy potential
A new solar energy battery, large and affordable enough for our nation’s power grid, promises to hasten the U.S.’s transition to renewable energy. The battery was developed by Dr. Song Jin, a chemistry professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and his colleagues at the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in...