LarsonsWorld -- just another persons /dev/null

Mammals' brains got bigger to handle sense of smell -- Ars Technica

Mammals have the largest brains relative to body size out of all the organisms on Earth. In addition, only mammals have a neocortex, the outer layer of the cerebral hemispheres that participates in higher functions like sensory perception, refined motor coordination, and language. Researchers are interested in figuring out how mammals evolved such large and complex brains. Studying brain evolution has been limited by the rarity of intact skulls and a shortage of techniques that can analyze the interior of those fossils without destroying them.

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Estimates of extinction due to habitat loss use the wrong math -- Ars Technica

Although humanity has hunted a number of species to extinction, most of the problems we've created are inadvertent, in that they stem from habitat loss. By clearing land for agriculture or housing, we've eliminated or badly fragmented the native habitats of many species, driving many to the brink of extinction or beyond. Estimates of the species lost to habitat destruction have caused some to propose that humanity was in the process of creating the sixth mass extinction. We may very well be doing so, but a paper in today's Nature indicates that the models we use for species persistence are almost certainly exaggerating the rate of species loss.

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Free-Floating Planets May be More Common Than Stars -- NASA/JPL-Caltech

Astronomers, including a NASA-funded team member, have discovered a new class of Jupiter-sized planets floating alone in the dark of space, away from the light of a star. The team believes these lone worlds were probably ejected from developing planetary systems.

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'Coal Cares' Hoax Website Backed by Science -- Wired

An activist prankster group called Coal is Killing Kids has struck with a hoax website lampooning the coal industry's resistance to federal pollution reforms. And science is on their side.

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Check the site out -- Coal Cares

Is Chernobyl a Wild Kingdom or a Radioactive Den of Decay? -- Wired

Twenty-five years after the Chernobyl meltdown, a scientific debate rages. Could there be an evolutionary response that would allow animals to cope with the stress of radioactive contaminants?

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Algae biofuels could significantly reduce oil imports -- Ars Technica

According to current US legislation, biofuels will play a major role in our transportation future. By 2022, the Energy Independence and Security Act dictates that over 10 percent of our current petroleum consumption be replaced by biofuels, with over half that quantity coming from something other than corn. Although ethanol produced from the cellulose in plant waste and dedicated biofuels crops is already in use, many are looking further ahead at biofuels made from algae, which have some distinct advantages. Yesterday, some researchers at the Department of Energy released a study in which they describe a model that can help us determine just how much biofuel we might be able to squeeze out of algae.

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Strictly business? Personal tweets make profs more "credible" -- Ars Technica

Those who use their Twitter accounts for both personal and professional purposes often find themselves wondering whether they are damaging their credibility with funny anecdotes or social tweets. According to a study published in the March issue of Learning, Media and Technology, however, the answer to that question is a resounding "no."

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Uh-oh. Greenland and Antarctica melting faster than expected -- Ars Technica

The rate of melting by the ice sheets covering Greenland and Antarctica may throw existing projections for sea level rise out the window. Unfortunately for Maldivians and other idyllic, but altitude-challenged islands, the ice sheets are melting faster than anyone expected.

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Why Are Easy Decisions So Hard? -- Wired

Why does it take so long to make the simplest of decisions, such as selecting a tube of toothpaste from a store? Neuroscience blogger Jonah Lehrer describes a new study showing how a shelf cluttered with options may lead us to automatically assume our choices must really matter, even they don't.

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This is a really interesting read. It details some of the experiments used to figure out human decision making for purchases.

Where's Tyche, the 10th 9th planet? Getting the full story -- Ars Technica

On February 14th, the UK's Daily Mail reported the possible discovery of a planet four times bigger than Jupiter and lurking in the outer solar system. From there, the story quickly spread like a wildfire on the Internet, seeing coverage by mainstream outlets including the Huffington Post and TIME online. The tone of various news stories varied from “Tyche, Giant Hidden Planet, May Exist In Our Solar System” (The Huffington Post) to “Astronomers Question Existence of Solar System's Mystery Planet Tyche” (Fox News). So, is there really a new planet lying out there?

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Guess the various media took this story way out there too!