In the past several decades, global plankton populations have declined due to climate change. Because human life depends on the presence of these oxygen-producing creatures, marine biologist Chris Bowler is working to study plankton as much as possible before they disappear. Bowler and a team of other scientists have been collecting plankton samples across the world for the past 2 1/2 years as part of the Tara Oceans expedition.

The expedition was a massive effort along a 62,000 mile journey, visiting 32 countries with a total 196 people who took turns aboard (126 scientists, 24 journalists, 7 artists, 8 cooks, 23 sailors, 3 customs officials, 1 doctor, 4 guests). The expedition cost about 9 million euros.

An ideal study of climate change impact on plankton populations would involve monitoring the same location over a period of time, watching what happens to the various species of microorganisms as time passes. The Tara Oceans team, however, collected samples from around the world, and will use that data to determine which plankton are likely to migrate, thrive or go extinct as certain conditions arise in waters across the globe. The expedition has collected approximately 27,000 samples, which the team will study to determine which varieties of plankton prefer particular habitats (more polluted, more acidic, etc.) and have a better understanding of which species will be able to survive forecast conditions.

The team has discovered up to one million new species of microorganisms. It will take years to sift through all of the samples, by which point some species may already be extinct. Hopefully, however, the research will show a great enough population of plankton will be able to live in warm, acidic waters.

Main image: plankton mix from scientific station 146. Credit: C. Sardet/CNRS/Tara Oceans

The post Tara Oceans Studies Phtoplankton and Climate Change appeared first on REVMODO.

Female orcas go through menopause in their 30s or 40s, though live through to their 90s. Biologically speaking, it doesn’t make much sense for an animal to stop reproducing so early in life unless there is some other benefit, so Emma Foster and her team of researchers decided to look for that benefit.

The researchers looked at census data from the past four decades to determine the impact of older female whales on the rest of their pods. Most of the data was collected from the Center for Whale Research in Friday Harbor, Wash., and from the Pacific Biological Station in Nanaimo, British Columbia, both of which collect data on local resident whales.

The team’s major finding was the significant impact mothers seem to have on the survival rates of their children, particularly male children. On average, a male orca 30 or younger is 3.1 times more likely to die the year after his mother’s death, and chances increase to 8.3 times more likely if he is older than 30, indicating that adult whales are actually helped more by their mothers than younger whales. Though reasons remain unknown, Foster’s team believes the mother whales likely help their adult offspring forage and manage encounters with other orca groups.

The data shows an even stronger impact when focused only on mothers that had gone through menopause. After a post-reproductive mother’s death, sons older than 30 were almost 14 times more likely to die within one year. This difference may suggest postmenopausal mother whales actually assist their offspring more than mothers who are still able to reproduce, though it is unclear why this may be the case.

Increased mortality was also noticeable among older daughters whose mothers had recently died, though to a much lesser extent. The researchers posit the stronger connection between sons and mothers is due to the fact that sons mate outside of the family group, and the grandmother wants to ensure her genes are passed on by keeping her son healthy. The team aims to next focus on learning the exact ways postmenopausal whales assist their sons.

Click here to listen to Emma Foster discuss the research on last week’s Science Podcast.

Main photo credit: Robert Pitman/NOAA

The post Postmenopausal Orcas Give Offspring Better Survival Rates appeared first on REVMODO.

The board is a regular 8-pound longboard modified with twin brushless motors, a lithium-ion battery and custom electronics. Most EVs use DC motors, but they are heavier than Boosted Boards’ chosen twin brushless motors, which are compact yet provide 2.6 horsepower — enough to run the board up to 20 miles per hour and up hills with a 15 percent incline.

In total, the Boosted Board will weigh 12-15 pounds, which is significantly lighter than some other electric skateboards on the market: ZBoard has two models of electric skateboards weighing 37 and 30 pounds, E-Glide makes a variety of electric boards ranging from 29-75 pounds, Exkate makes boards from 28-40 pounds, and Metroboard has some relatively light boards ranging from 18-20 pounds.

The battery lasts a 6 mile range and requires only two hours to achieve a full charge (much shorter than a standard electric car). Regernerative braking — where braking pumps energy back into the battery — is also implemented in Boosted Boards. A handheld remote controls the board with a throttle and brake, along with a battery readout to know when a charge is necessary. And don’t worry, riders can still use foot power if they run out of charge or are just looking for some exercise.

The company worked through 10 prototypes before settling on the current model, which will be manufactured and distributed beginning next year thanks to a fully funded Kickstarter project. Boosted Boards turned to the fundraising website to go from prototypes to production of consumer units, and the fundraiser reached its goal within 24 hours.

Unfortunately for us cost-conscious folks, the board isn’t going to be cheap. Boosted Boards estimates the final product will retail for approximately $1,299, though funders of the Kickstarter can get one of the early boards for $1,199 or more. However, that’s a lot cheaper than other EVs, and yearly cost to charge the board will be minimal.

Photo and video via Boosted Boards/Kickstarter

The post Boosted Boards to Make Lightweight Skateboard EVs appeared first on REVMODO.

The plan was to have O’Brien ride the water buffalo across the set, much like a recurring skit that appeared earlier in the show with Will Forte portraying Ted Turner riding a stuffed American bison. But comedy and wildlife don’t always go hand-in-hand. During rehearsal, Mizejewski and staff assisted O’Brien in mounting the water buffalo. The animal looked calm until O’Brien groaned, leading some to believe that the noise may have scared the water buffalo. Unfortunately for O’Brien, he was just about seated when the animal bucked him off, leading to a pretty rough fall and a massive bruise on his hip.

In case you were thinking it is all the writer’s fault for suggesting the idea, riding a water buffalo is actually not such a strange activity. In many parts of Asia, where most of the water buffalo population lives, the animal is relied upon for transportation and plowing. Several cultures even have water buffalo races. Heck, Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg rode one in Vietnam, and I doubt he has much more experience with the animal than O’Brien.

Even with a major bruise, the show went on mostly as planned. If you watch the full episode, you’ll see O’Brien held it together pretty well during filming, though he did look a little scared during certain moments with the cockatoo and crocodile. (Though I assume he’d be afraid of the crocodile even if he hadn’t been hurt by the buffalo earlier.)

Mizejewski is a naturalist with the National Wildlife Federation, as well as a host of Animal Planet’s “Backyard Habitat.” Follow him on Twitter @Dmizejewski to learn more about some very cool creatures.

Main photo credit: vtdainfo/Flickr; animated gif credit: teamcoco.com

The post Conan O’Brien vs. a Water Buffalo appeared first on REVMODO.

The MBSUs harness energy from the space station’s solar arrays and distribute it throughout the ISS. There are four MBSUs on the complex, one for each pair of solar arrays. During the period while the one unit was unusable, astronauts were not able to receive power from two of the eight solar arrays. Though not a life-threatening issue, it was certainly a problem.

That was when Earth-bound scientists teamed up to find a solution.

Like with Apollo 13 — and we hear there were many references to the film during the brainstorming period — scientists at NASA and the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency had to come up with a fix, utilizing only available supplies on the ISS. The team came up with a makeshift brush that could be formed out of wires, and a modified toothbrush to lubricate the bolt’s housing after debris had been removed.

After Williams and Hoshide had spent about four hours cleaning, they were given the option to either keep going or clean off the MBSU and bring it inside for analysis. Of course, in their non-tiring awesomeness, the two astronauts agreed to finish the installation.

Setting spacewalk records

Last week’s spacewalk took a whopping 8 hours 17 minutes, landing it’s spot as the third longest spacewalk in history. The outing was only 39 minutes shorter than the longest spacewalk, which was completed by NASA astronauts Jim Voss and Susan Helms on March 11, 2001.

During Wednesday’s spacewalk, however, Williams became the new leader for total cumulative spacewalk time by a female astronaut. The record was formerly held by Peggy Whitson, who worked outside for a total 39 hours and 46 minutes on six different spacewalks. At the end of Wednesday’s spacewalk, William had totaled 44 hours and 2 minutes, also on six different spacewalks. Way to go, Sunita Williams!

Photo credits: NASA

The post Astronauts Fix ISS with Toothbrush, Williams Takes Spacewalk Record appeared first on REVMODO.

Wind Map, an art project of Fernanda Viégas and Martin Wattenberg, uses data from the National Digital Forecast Database to create a real-time, flowing image of wind currents the United States. Viewers can see a simple, calm depiction of the hurricane and notice how it interacts with other wind currents in the country.

The map is updated on the hour, and lists both top speed and average speed next to the zoomable map.

Isaac swirled in from the Gulf Coast and will dissipate as the winds move north. The storm was downgraded to a tropical storm Wednesday afternoon after causing millions of dollars of destruction as a category 1 hurricane. Unfortunately, the storm moves an incredibly slow 5 miles per hour, so it might be a while before we see normal weather in Louisiana. The sluggish nature also allows the storm to cause significant destruction in a single area, leaving some residents to say Isaac is worse than Katrina. President Barack Obama has already declared major disasters for both Louisiana and Mississippi.

Our hearts go out to the victims, especially those who also lived through Katrina seven years ago. If you would like to help, you can donate to the Red Cross. May this disaster be handled promptly and efficiently.

Image credits: Fernanda Viégas and Martin Wattenberg

The post Wind Map: The Beautiful Side of Storm Isaac appeared first on REVMODO.

The vehicle is based on an old design that had been abandoned due to stability issues. Aerofex fixed the stability problem by adding control bars that allow the design to react to a pilot’s natural movements while riding the hoverbike. The new design is thus not much different than riding a regular bicycle.

For safety reasons, the company has been testing manned flights of the hoverbike at 30 mph and 15 feet above the ground, though it is capable of much more. Earlier tests showed the vehicle could travel as fast as a helicopter. Unlike helicopters, however, the hoverbike is capable of traveling through narrower spaces, like through trees or close to walls, and the enclosed rotors are safer than helicopters’ exposed blades. Additionally, helicopter pilots have to deal with the upsweep of dirt and snow when flying close to the ground, but the hoverbike’s ducted fans push debris away from the pilot.

Tests have shown the vehicle’s capability to turn, maintain height and speed. Check out the video below to see the hoverbike in action.

Unfortunately, Aerofex plans to use this prototype to develop unmanned drones for hard labor and military use, so it may be a while before any of us get to play on one.

[via Boing Boing]

Main image and video credit: Aerofex Corp.

The post A Real-Life ‘Star Wars’-Style Hoverbike appeared first on REVMODO.

The combination of ORNL’s high-capacity reusable adsorbents and a Florida company’s high-surface-area polyethylene fibers creates a material that can rapidly, selectively and economically extract valuable and precious dissolved metals from water. Since the 1960s, many adsorbent materials have been developed and evaluated, but none has emerged as being economically viable. The new adsorbents are made from small diameter, round or non-round fibers with high surface areas and excellent mechanical properties. By tailoring the diameter and shape of the fibers, researchers can significantly increase surface area and adsorption capacity.

“We have shown that our adsorbents can extract five to seven times more uranium at uptake rates seven times faster than the world’s best adsorbents,” said Chris Janke, one of the inventors and a member of ORNL’s Materials Science and Technology Division.

Though the laboratory’s new technology is significantly less expensive than past methods, ocean-harvested uranium would still cost about five times more than mined uranium.

The downsides of additional uranium

While non-fossil fuel energy sources are generally good, nuclear fission has its problems.

One major concern, even for some anti-renewable folks, is the potential danger of radioactive materials. We’ve seen three disasters in less than one century of nuclear fission energy generation. Last year we saw the devastating effects of the Fukushima disaster, following accidents at Chernobyl in 1986 and Three Mile Island in 1979. In addition to deaths from accidents, radioactive waste regularly released from the plants leads to increased cancer risk for anyone residing near a nuclear reactor.

An increased supply of uranium would fuel the anti-renewable energy crowd. There is an estimated 4.5 billion tons of uranium in the world’s oceans — enough to fuel the planet’s nuclear reactors for centuries. As long as there is supply, certain lawmakers will fight to utilize our resources and maintain existing nuclear reactors instead of building new renewable power plants.

Nuclear is great in that its power generation does not emit greenhouse gases. However, plenty of air pollution is created in the transporting process. If we utilize the ocean’s uranium supply, materials will have to be transported across half the country to reach certain areas.

It is also worth mentioning that nuclear reactors require an enormous amount of water. Considering this year’s drought is a sign of the new normal, continuing on the nuclear path could result in more power outages.

Main photo credit: Tobin/Flickr

The post The Downsides of Ocean-Harvested Uranium appeared first on REVMODO.

The Chinchorro people inhabited the desert from 11,000 BC to 500 BC, though they did not begin to mummify their dead until 5000 BC. Researchers have found plant evidence that suggests significantly greater rainfall across the Andes region between 5800 BC and 4700 BC, making life easier for the Chinchorro and allowing for a population hike. Following the theory that population increase leads to technological innovation, scientists believe the increased number of bodies caused ritual mummification.

Corpses do not decompose in the coastal desert the Chinchorro inhabited. The dry environment allows for natural mummification, and scientists posit that more people coming across naturally mummified corpses initiated artificial mummification. Though this cannot be proven, it makes sense that the Chinchorro would want to preserve loved ones’ bodies if they knew such a thing was possible.

The Chinchorro used very intricate mummification practices, which evolved as the cultural practice became more widespread. There are three distinct styles: black, red and mud-coated.

Black is the oldest style, and also the most complex, in which the body would be disassembled and then put together with clay and plants to replace everything other than skin and bones. The skin would be reformed around the body, and a clay mask would be placed over the face, with small slits for the eyes and mouth to represent slumber.

The red style came next, in which the corpse was left mostly intact and incisions were made to remove muscles and organs — the head would be removed, however, to best access the brain. The body was then stuffed with clay, plant material and llama fur, and stitched together with human hair and a cactus needle. Clay masks in the red style featured more awake-appearances with open mouths and eyes.

The last style, mud-covered, simply consisted of drying corpses and covering them with mud. This was near the decline of the Chinchorro people, and it is thought mummification skills were lost with the lessening population.

Main photo credit: Pablo Trincado

The post Changing Climate May Have Shaped Ancient Mummification Rituals appeared first on REVMODO.

See illuminated cities, lightning storms and auroras from this recent time-lapse taken aboard the International Space Station:

Unlike some other ISS time-lapses around, this video includes several vantage points that highlight the truly international efforts to create the station. There are scenes with the Earth captured in the center of the Italian-built Cupola, which features the largest window ever used in space, as well as other scenes that highlight the Japanese Kibo module and the space station in its entirety.

via Boing Boing

Main image and video credit: NASA

The post Earth Illuminated: New ISS Time-Lapse Video appeared first on REVMODO.