Apr

30

Fibonacci Numbers and Nature

April 30, 2007 | Leave a Comment

Fibonacci spirals in nature could be stress-related. ‘The Fibonacci sequence – in which each successive number is the sum of its two preceding numbers – regularly crops up in nature. It describes the number of petals around daisies, how the density of branches increases up a tree trunk, and how a pine cone’s scales are [...]

Apr

30

Bubbles Puzzles

April 30, 2007 | Leave a Comment

Solution to Bubble Puzzle Pops Out. ‘With a key mathematical insight, a pair of theorists has solved a 5-decades-old puzzle as easily as you might burst a soap bubble with a pin. The new result lets researchers predict whether a bubble in foam will grow or shrink. More than a mere curiosity, the mathematical relation [...]

Apr

29

Hubble’s 17th Anniversary: The Carina Nebula

April 29, 2007 | Leave a Comment

Credit: NASA, ESA, N. Smith (University of California, Berkeley), and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA) The Carina Nebula: Star Birth in the Extreme. ‘In celebration of the 17th anniversary of the launch and deployment of NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, a team of astronomers is releasing one of the largest panoramic images ever taken with Hubble’s [...]

Apr

28

Royal Society 2007 General Prize for Science Books: Shortlist Announced

April 28, 2007 | Leave a Comment

Shortlist announced for General Prize. ‘All six authors in the running to win this year’s Royal Society Prize for Science Books, the world’s most prestigious award for science writing, are newcomers to the prize’s shortlist. They include neuroscientist and Nobel Prize winner Eric R. Kandel, Chris Stringer, Professor of the Natural History Museum and Adam [...]

Apr

27

Sunlight CO2 Splitting: Transforming CO2 into Fuel

April 27, 2007 | Leave a Comment

Device Uses Solar Energy to Convert Carbon Dioxide into Fuel. ‘Chemists at the University of California, San Diego have demonstrated the feasibility of exploiting sunlight to transform a greenhouse gas into a useful product. Clifford Kubiak, professor of chemistry and biochemistry, and his graduate student Aaron Sathrum have developed a prototype device that can capture [...]