Researchers from the University of Valle de Atemajac in Zapopan, Mexico have created a biodegradable plastic from the juice of the prickly pear cactus. The new material begins to break down after sitting in the soil for a month and when left in water, it breaks down in a matter of days. Plus, it doesn’t require crude

The first Apollo 11 retroreflectors. Credit: NASA Fifty years after Armstrong and Aldrin placed the first lunar retroreflectors about a hundred feet from their lunar module, NASA has funded a set of Next-Generation Lunar Retroreflectors (NGLRs) to be delivered on future flights via the space agency’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) project. An international team

Alyssa Carson, the world’s youngest astronaut-in-training, has created a line of space luggage with Horizn Studios, a British-based travel brand. Photo courtesy of Horizn Studios There aren’t many teenagers like Alyssa Carson from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. At the age of 18, she is the world’s youngest astronaut-in-training and already has three TEDx Talks under her space belt.  Carson has also teamed

A man in a wheelchair makes his way down Bourbon Street in the French Quarter Saturday, July 13, 2019, in New Orleans, as Tropical Storm Barry nears landfall. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip) ASSOCIATED PRESS The first hurricane of 2019 Atlantic tropical storm season has formed just offshore of Louisiana. Hurricane Barry is a category one

Share to facebook Share to twitter Share to linkedin Usually, fish pigmentation fades when scientists preserve specimens for study, but the vibranium wrasse maintains its vivid color. Luiz Rocha 2018, California Academy of Sciences A new species of fish is named after the fictional African kingdom of Wakanda and its closely guarded resource, a metal

FILE PHOTO: A model of Tiangong 2 space laboratory by China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation is displayed at China Beijing International High-tech Expo in Beijing, China June 8, 2017. REUTERS/Jason Lee BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s manned space lab Tiangong-2 has finished experiments and will re-enter Earth’s atmosphere on July 19, authorities said on Saturday.

Share to facebook Share to twitter Share to linkedin How can beginning climbers overcome the fear of falling? originally appeared on Quora: the place to gain and share knowledge, empowering people to learn from others and better understand the world. Answer by Hazel Findlay, professional climber, mental training coach, on Quora: Beginner climbers should approach

Goodbye old toilets. EcoSystems EcoSystems is a Miami-based startup founded by two brothers, Richard and Lawrence Lamondin. The brothers, aka the “Toilet Guys,” oversee a company that’s been out across the U.S. fixing leaks and changing out old and wasteful commodes, aerators and shower heads to more efficient models. The updated fixtures can cut water usage

Favaloro ran the Jacinto Arauz clinic along with his brother. Google Today’s Google Doodle celebrates the 96th birthday of cardiac surgeon René Favaloro, who pioneered coronary artery bypass surgery. Sometimes cholesterol, calcium, and other compounds collect along the walls of the artery, where they form a hard, waxy substance called plaque. As plaque builds up,

SAO PAULO (Reuters) – Brazilian cotton producers in the state of Mato Grosso on Thursday sued Bayer AG (BAYGn.DE), seeking to cancel the chemical company’s patent protection for its Bollgard II RR Flex genetically modified cotton seed, according to a statement sent to Reuters. Logo of Bayer AG is pictured at the annual results news

Recently, GDP has come under scrutiny as a planning tool, with some decision-makers turning instead to the Happiness Index, a marker that focuses on the wellbeing of the citizens rather than an economic bottom line. This Index would help governments use their budgets with the aim to increase the welfare of its citizens instead of

When did Homo sapiens first leave Africa? This is a topic that has been undergoing many revisions in recent years, as new fossils and genetic evidence have been piling up that contradict longstanding models. That’s a feature, not a bug, of the scientific process, and it makes it very exciting time to be a biological

Luminar engineers install the latest generation of the company’s laser lidar sensors on a test vehicle. Luminar Luminar, a Silicon Valley-based maker of laser lidar sensors for self-driving vehicles, raised an additional $100 million and is marketing a new sensing and perception platform for automated passenger vehicles and commercial trucks see their surroundings more accurately. 

ORLANDO, Fla. (Reuters) – As NASA scrambles to meet U.S. President Donald Trump’s mandate to return humans to the moon by 2024, two longtime heads of NASA’s human exploration wing were demoted Wednesday in a slew of administrative shakeups, officials said in an internal memo. FILE PHOTO: Bill Gerstenmaier, Associate Administrator, NASA’s Human Exploration and

Wave20 deployment to North Carolina Courtesy of Olivier Ceberio Using the power of ocean waves, innovators from Boston, U.S., have developed a technology that can produce fresh water off-grid and without the costly infrastructure of desalination plants. This invention could help many of the 2.1 billion people around the world who struggle to access safe

SEATTLE (Reuters) – Richard Branson’s Virgin Orbit on Wednesday released a rocket from the wing of a modified Boeing 747 jetliner in mid-air in a key test of its high-altitude launch system for satellites, the company said. Virgin Orbit’s chief engineer Kevin Sagis kisses the tip of a test rocket underneath the wing of a

A worldwide representation of the Spire Global satellite signals, in radio wavelengths. Spire Global Spire Global’s efforts to track ships and airplanes generated a new venture — a “data lake” with the space-friendly nation of Luxembourg. The “lake” with the Luxembourg Space Agency will be open to any startup, research institute or public agency in

Artist’s concept of Voyager 1 entering interstellar space. Credit: NASA-JPL-Caltech. Four decades after launch, NASA ‘has cut’ and ‘is planning to cut’ resources on its Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 spacecraft, both of which are plainly in interstellar space. NASA says the aim is to prolong science operations of both spacecraft for perhaps as long

Virgin Galactic spacecraft VSS Unity in space Virgin Galactic 2018 Virgin Galactic, the commercial spaceflight company founded by billionaire Richard Branson, said Tuesday it had agreed to a deal with venture capitalist Chamath Palihapitiya’s investment company that would make it the first publicly traded space tourism company.  Under the terms of the deal, Social Capital

MADRID/ZURICH (Reuters) – Lab-grown meat, first introduced to the world six years ago in the form of a $280,000 hamburger, could hit supermarket shelves at $10 a patty within two years, European start-ups told Reuters. Mercedes Vila, co-founder of Biotech Foods, works in the company’s laboratory in San Sebastian, Spain, June 19, 2019. REUTERS/Vincent West