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“HIAPER-Active” — The Discovery Files
HIAPER, the nation’s most advanced research aircraft has taken flight on its first science mission, flying over treacherous whirlwinds, known as rotors, as they form above the California Sierra Nevada range. Rotors form on the lee side of high, steep m…
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“Thermal Outerwear” — The Discovery Files
The sun bathes the planet in energy free of charge, yet few systems can take advantage of that source for both heating and cooling. But engineers at Rensselaer Polytech are developing a green, thin film technology that adheres both solar cells and hea…
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“Bat Signal” — The Discovery Files
A new University of Maryland study finds that echolocating bats use a strategy to track and catch erratically moving insects that is much like the system used by some guided missles to intercept evasive targets and is different from the way humans and …
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“Pronounced Profits” — The Discovery Files
According to a study by Princeton University psychologists, the ease of pronouncing the name of a company and its stock ticker symbol has a bearing on how well that stock performs in the days just after its initial public offering. The study of initial…
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“Tacky Bacteria” — The Discovery Files
It may be the strongest natural adhesive known to science. In fact, just a bit of it could suspend an elephant. It’s the glue of one species of aquatic bacteria, and scientists and engineers are looking for a way to mass produce it.
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“Sounds of Silence” — The Discovery Files
If you want to hear rare Chinese frogs croak, speaking the language won’t necessarily help. These frogs can make high-pitched sounds out of human hearing range. Biologists at the University of Illinois have found a particular frog species that has the …
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“Captive Evidence” — The Discovery Files
Information gleaned from teeth excavated from a Mexican graveyard suggests Europeans brought African slaves to the New World much earlier than history books tell us. By measuring the amount of strontium in the teeth and comparing it with strontium valu…
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“Alternate Internet” — The Discovery Files
Hackers beware! There’s a new cyber universe out there–a small scale version of the Internet. It acts like the real thing, but it’s not a playground for hackers. It’s a test bed for software makers and security providers to find solutions that will th…
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“The Nose Knows” — The Discovery Files
Bloodhounds, take notice! Thanks to researchers at Purdue University, law enforcement officers and forensic pathologists may soon have a new working tool to sniff out trouble–a device they can take to the scene for instant identification. Today’s mass…
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“True Blue Lizards” — The Discovery Files
In nature, putting the other guy first seems contradictory to an animal’s goals of survival and passing on its genes, so researchers have been trying to understand why the blue side-blotched lizard will step forward to battle an intruding aggressor, ev…