Hasta La Gadget!

A team of scientists are claiming to have verified through a five-year-long DNA study that Bigfoot does in fact exist. According to the researchers, Bigfoot or Sasquatch does in fact live in North America and the scientists claim that their DNA study proves that Bigfoot is a human relative. Somebody call John Lithgow.

The scientists claim that through their DNA study they were able to sequence three complete Sasquatch nuclear genomes and determined that the species is a human hybrid. The scientists say that Bigfoot is a human relative that arose roughly 15,000 years ago and is a hybrid of modern Homo sapiens and an unknown primate species. The scientific team who conducted the research consists of experts in genetics, forensics, imaging, and pathology.

The team was led by Dr. Melba S. Ketchum who says that her study sequenced 20 complete mitochondrial genomes obtained from purported Sasquatch samples. She says that the sequencing proved that the mtDNA is identical to modern Homo sapiens, however the nuDNA from the samples is from an unknown hominin related to Homo sapiens and other primate species.

The scientists claim that Bigfoot is the result of a male of the unknown primate species mating with a female Homo sapiens. Genetic testing of the samples has ruled out relation to Homo Neanderthalis and the Denisova hominin as contributors to the Sasquatch mtDNA or nuDNA. Ketchum has called on public officials and law enforcement to recognize the Sasquatch as an indigenous people. The researchers promise full details of the study will be presented when the manuscript is published. Peter

“Our study has sequenced 20 whole mitochondrial genomes and utilized next generation sequencing to obtain 3 whole nuclear genomes from purported Sasquatch samples. The genome sequencing shows that Sasquatch mtDNA is identical to modern Homo sapiens, but Sasquatch nuDNA is a novel, unknown hominin related to Homo sapiens and other primate species. Our data indicate that the North American Sasquatch is a hybrid species, the result of males of an unknown hominin species crossing with female Homo sapiens.”

Scientists claim DNA evidence proves the existence of Bigfoot is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Scientists sifting proton collision data from the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) believe they have identified a new type of matter, revealed by the distinctive paired patterns of fleeing particles splayed after high-speed smashups. The so-called color-glass condensate was spotted by the Compact Muon Solenoid team, MIT reports, with some pairs of particles sent flying with their directions correlated in a number of LHC lead proton runs. It’s suggested that quark gluon plasma waves may be at the heart of the patterns, with the collisions causing “a liquid-like wave of gluons.”

The CMS team had been sifting through data from 2m lead-proton collisions in the LHC, but had only expected to use the results as a reference benchmark against which lead-lead collisions would be contrasted. “It was supposed to be sort of a reference run” MIT physics professor Gunther Roland who led the team said of the unexpected results, ”a run in which you can study background effects and then subtract them from the effects that you see in lead-lead collisions.”

Instead, however, the results turned out to be interesting in their own right. ”Somehow they fly at the same direction even though it’s not clear how they can communicate their direction with one another” Roland says. “That has surprised many people, including us.”

Quark gluon plasma – colloquially known as “quark soup” – is a theorized mixture of asymptotically free quarks and gluons, and was believed to be present in the few seconds after the Big Bang that created the universe. Color-glass condensate is said to be the surface of the walls of gluons inside a nucleus and traveling at near the speed of light, with quantum entanglement tipped to explain the shared directional information.

The results have been written up in a new paper available now, and a new run of lead-proton collision testing – set to last for several weeks, rather than the four hours of the initial tests – are planned for January.

Potential new matter spotted at Large Hadron Collider is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

It’s not going to replace the claw that snatches prizes in the machine at your local arcade. But this tiny scotch tape gripper could one day provide a cheap and low-tech way for autonomous vehicles to snatch samples. And you thought duct tape was the king of adhesives. More »

Scientists and researchers around the world are always investigating better ways to help children learn important subjects like math and science. A group of researchers at Durham University has been working for the last three years on a project to design and develop the classroom of the future. The project is called SynergyNet and hopes to help children learn mathematics more efficiently.

The location is referred to as the “Star Trek” classroom because it replaces individual desks with futuristic communal desks featuring a multitouch surface. All of those desks are linked to a main “smartboard” used by the teacher. The desks allow students to work collaboratively on solving problems in ways that traditional pen and paper are likely to limit.

According to the researchers working on the project they have found that 45% of students who use the high-tech classroom increased the number of unique mathematical expressions they created after using the system. In contrast, only 16% of students who used the traditional paper-based method increased the number of unique mathematical expressions they created.

The system has a way to go before it might show up in classrooms around the world. Some notable holdbacks at this point are the cost of the system and the complexity of maintaining it.

[via Eurekalert]

Our solar system has five dwarf planets, including the dwarf planet previously known as a Pluto. One of the other dwarf planets in our solar system that many have probably never heard of is called Makemake. Scientists studied makemake for the first time in April 2011 as it passed between the Earth and a distant star.

Scientists studied the planet using seven different telescopes on Earth to see how the stars light changed as Makemake traveled in front of it. Using the telescopes here on Earth, the scientists were able to determine that the dwarf planet lacked an atmosphere and scientists were even able to determine the dwarf planet’s density.

Scientists from the Andalucian Institute of Astrophysics in Spain studied Makemake using seven different telescopes located across Brazil and Chile. The astronomers watched the dwarf planet as it partially blocked the light from a distant star called Nomad 1181-0235723. Makemake blocked the stars light for only about 1 minute, but that was long enough to reveal a few details about the planet.

Scientists determined that the dwarf planet is about two-thirds the size of Pluto, but isn’t quite spherical. The dwarf planet is 1430 km across in one direction and about 1500 km across and the other. The scientists also determined that the dwarf planet has a density of 1.7 g per cubic centimeter. The density makes it similar to Pluto, but less than a third the density of Earth.

“As Makemake passed in front of the star and blocked it out, the star disappeared and reappeared very abruptly, rather than fading and brightening gradually,” said Dr Ortiz.

“This means that the little dwarf planet has no significant atmosphere. It was thought that Makemake had a good chance of having developed an atmosphere – that it has no sign of one at all shows just how much we have yet to learn about these mysterious bodies.

“Finding out about Makemake’s properties for the first time is a big step forward in our study of the select club of icy dwarf planets.”

[via BBC]

Scientists study dwarf planet Makemake for the first time is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.