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Last Minute Geeky Gifts for the Science Lover in Your Life

Once again, the holiday season is upon us. Unfortunately, this leaves a lot of us at a loss. First, it’s easy to get bogged down by the commercialism that surrounds the season. Second, it’s sometimes difficult to find something that is really meaningful. To that end, here are some science themed gift ideas that you can get your loved ones (or maybe use as a treat for yourself). Some are educational, others are science based charitable contributions, all of them are pretty awesome.

Read more about the fascinating gifts at: http://futurism.com/links/geeky-gifts-for-the-science-lover-in-your-life/

Wow. NASA has released some amazing images of Saturn’s icy moon Enceladus.

Scientists find “the holy grail of astronomy” after uncovering a galaxy that is made up of mostly dark matter

Mars will one day have a ring system due to Phobos, the planet’s small moon, being crushed by tidal forces

Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket successfully launches to the edge of space and lands vertically back on Earth

A new exoplanet called GJ1132b is found 39 light-years away, making it the closest Earth-sized exoplanet ever discovered

Researchers make ultra-thin diamond nanothreads, which could help us build a space elevator

A blue Neptune-like exoplanet, which seems to have skies like Earth, is found orbiting a red dwarf star

A staggering 574 newly discovered massive galaxies are revealed that date back to the beginnings of the universe

New research shows that galaxies were far more efficient at making stars during the first 10% of history than they are now

Just because you can’t see it doesn’t mean mental illness don’t exist.

www.thebpmag.com

Today in the robot takeover: Disney has built a remote-control device that can climb walls  while Singapore scientists created an eerie artificial being that can remember your past conversations (and may haunt your dreams.)

In parts of Antarctica, not only is it winter, but the Sun can spend weeks below the horizon.At China's Zhongshan Station, people sometimes venture out into the cold to photograph a spectacular night sky.The featured image from one such outing was taken in mid-July, just before the end of this polar night.Pointing up, the wide angle lens captured not only the ground at the bottom, but at the top as well. In the foreground is a colleague also taking pictures.In the distance, a spherical satellite receiver and several windmills are visible.Numerous stars dot the night sky, including Sirius and Canopus.Far in the background, stretching overhead from horizon to horizon, is the central band of our Milky Way Galaxy.Even further in the distance, visible as extended smudges near the top, are the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds, satellite galaxies near our huge Milky Way Galaxy.

Credit: NASA

Time And Space

Stephanie Kwolek, the inventor of Kevlar, passed away this week at age 90

“A true pioneer for women in science,” passed away on Wednesday, reported the New York Times. As a DuPont scientist, Stephanie Kwolek is credited for inventing Kevlar in 1964, a fiber that has radically improved police and military body armor since its creation.   

Kwolek died at age 90 in hospice care at St. Francis Hospital in Wilmington, Del. She leaves behind a legacy of achievement in science and technology that directly saved an estimated 3,000 lives of police officers over the past four decades.

Read more | Follow micdotcom 

Scientists Discover How Loneliness Can Kill

Loneliness can increase the risk of premature death by 14 percent in older adults, according to a study published Monday that posits a physiological basis for the phenomenon. The dangers of social isolation have long been known but its effects on the body have not been well understood, the researchers said in the work published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences/PNAS. Led by University of Chicago psychologist John Cacioppo, the research team had previously identified a link between solitude and both a heightened expression of genes involved in inflammation and a diminution in the activity of other genes that play a role in the body’s antiviral responses. The result is a weakened immune systems that makes a person who lives alone more vulnerable to illness. In their latest research, the researchers looked at leukocytes, white blood cells that the immune system uses to protect against bacteria and viruses. They found the same shift in genetic expression in the white blood cells of people who lived alone and in social isolation. They also found that loneliness predicted the gene behavior a year or more in advance and conversely that gene expression predicted loneliness measured a year or more later. (Source)

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A major breakthrough could let both same-sex partners be biological parents to their kids

Could two same-sex partners ever be biologically related to one baby? Maybe. With a relatively new process called in vitro gametogenesis, or IVG, scientists could combine genetic material from both parents. While we may have to wait a bit for it — here’s how it works.

Google’s Superhuman Computer Can Tell Where Neany Any Photo Was Taken

Google knows where your photos were taken… http://futurism.com/world-googles-superhuman-computer-knows-photo-taken/