Giant Freakin Robot

That is one big-ass dinosaur. Archeologists in Texas have discovered fossils of the biggest animal ever to fly in the history of ever. Quetzalcoatlus, a mammoth flying pterosaur named after a serpent god, somehow managed to get off the ground, despite having a 34-foot wingspan, roughly the size an F-16 fighter jet. Check out this video to see an animated interpretation of how these beasts managed to take to the skies.

Dolphins are widely regarded as one of the smartest creatures on Earth. Because of their capacity to learn and perform tasks, the United States Navy has long used them to locate and destroy sea mines. Now, after nearly 50 years of service, the Sea Mammal Program, which also includes trained sea lions, will be retired. The decision is a result of rising financial costs combined with increasingly viable robotic substitutes.

Hey, Big Government and Big Pharma, science is catching up. No, I’m not actually that kind of conspiracy theorist, but like many other people, I’ve naively wondered why cancer treatments seemed to be stuck in stasis. I know it’s worlds more complicated than “Chemo and radiation might help,” but that is what it boils down to.

The journal Nature Biotechnology reports that Australian researchers, including molecular biologist Dr. Himanshu Brahmbhatt, have treated tumor cells of mice using minicells, made from bacteria and short interference RNA (siRNA), which counteract the cancer cells’ genes responsible for resisting drug treatments. Once those cells are weakened, they become sensitive to chemotherapy treatments again. Seems obvious, doesn’t it?

Well, it was previously thought that siRNA couldn’t pass through cell membranes due to their size, but bacterial membranes contain protein channels that siRNA can enter. The outsides of the minicells are coated with antibodies, which lock onto receptors in tumor cells. The minicells then enter the cancer cells and break down to where the siRNA is dispersed throughout the cell. Because this particular effect happens intra-cellularly, no toxic effects have been found.

The inner ear is home to hair, wax, lint, and occasionally the padding from earbud headphones. What you may not know is that, inside the cochlea of mammals, is a small chamber divided by a membrane, and the imbalance of sodium and potassium ions on either side of the membrane, in conjunction with the particular arrangement of the cellular ion pumps, creates electrical voltage. A mouthful, it simply means you have an inner ear full of energy — a natural battery — and it goes by the name of Endocochlear Potential.

Can you hear me now?