Earth buzzed by not one, but two asteroids today

A newly discovered asteroid, 2012 XE54, and an old-timer, 4179 Toutatis, are buzzing Earth today. Asteroid 2012 XE54 was only discovered a few days ago (December 9) and passed between the Earth and Moon at a distance of 141,000 miles. In a rare event, it was also eclipsed by Earth’s shadow as it passed. The…

The U.S. Air Force is set to launch its so-called secret X-37 Orbital Test Vehicle space plane from Cape Canaveral, Fla. Tuesday for the third test flight of the prototype space craft. The Air Force’s third Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV-3) mission is scheduled for lift off from Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force…

DARPA funded researchers have developed a new type of expandable foam that can stop internal bleeding long enough to get the soldier off the battlefield and into surgery. The foam chemical is injected into the chest as two separate chemicals. When the chemicals come into contact with each other, they expand, molding itself around internal…

According to the Telegraph, Ghent University’s center of microsystems technology has developed a spherical curved LCD display which can be embedded in contact lenses and handle projected images using wireless technology. The technology allows the entire surface of the contact lens to be used for the display giving the wearer a true heads-up display (HUD).

An international team of scientists have created the first fiber-optic solar cell that is thinner than a strand of human hair, flexible, and produces electricity using the same principles as a a flat-panel solar cell. They are hoping to provide the capability to weave the new fiber-optic thread into into fabrics of clothing to produce…

This is a cool idea – if it works. A rechargeable AA battery, called Continuance, with a USB port in the side that lets you plug in and recharge or power your smartphone or tablet device on the go. Charge a few of these Continuance batteries up in your battery charger, toss a few in…

Scientist have long speculated that ice existed on the planet Mercury. Radio waves bounced off the planet decades ago indicated many bright spots on the planet’s surface. Scientist were reluctant to conclude that the white areas were ice though. The white reflection could have been silicate, sulfur, or other highly-reflective substances. Today, a new analysis…

On November 27, 2012, NASA’s Cassini spacecraft captured this amazing image of a monster storm raging at Saturn’s north pole. Viewed from 361,000 kilometers away, the storm’s sinister eye looks quite similar to Earth-based hurricanes leading scientists to surmise that the ringed planet’s storms form in much the same way, with warm, moist air rising…

If you have ever wondered why, against conventional logic, black holes are so “light”, researchers at Virginia Tech may be about to quench your thirst for an answer. Computer models of the early universe fall fairly close to home except for one thing – the ratio of the mass of black holes in the center…

Researchers at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider (LHC) are reporting an unusual finding in collisions between protons and lead ions – their observations suggest that the collisions may have produced a new form of matter known as color-glass condensate. Normally when these collisions between particles occur they yield hundreds of new particles which fly away from…