SCIENCE BOND

The SETI Institute scans the heavens, looking for a beacon sent by an alien civilization. SETI researcher Douglas Vakoch thinks now it’s time for a program called Active SETI. Active SETI involves transmitting an intentional signal saying “we want to make contact.” At the Annual Meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, he and other scientists, like David Grinspoon of the Planetary Science Institute, discussed what such a message might say and who would say it. It’s an action that is inherently global, done on behalf of the people, or even the creatures, of Earth. As to whether the signal might draw the attention of an evil civilization, they point out that aliens advanced enough to reach earth would also be advanced enough to pick up the light and broadcast signals we’re already producing. I’m Bob Hirshon, for AAAS, the science society.  SETI stands for the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence.   Researchers in this field...

Earthquakes are usually caused when rock underground suddenly breaks along a fault. This sudden release of energy causes the seismic waves that make the ground shake. When two blocks of rock or two plates are rubbing against each other, they stick a little. They don't just slide smoothly; the rocks catch on each other. The rocks are still pushing against each other, but not moving. After a while, the rocks break because of all the pressure that's built up. When the rocks break, the earthquake occurs. During the earthquake and afterward, the plates or blocks of rock start moving, and they continue to move until they get stuck again. The spot underground where the rock breaks is called the focus of the earthquake. The place right above the focus (on top of the ground) is called the epicenter of the earthquake.  Sometimes an earthquake has foreshocks. These are smaller earthquakes that happen in the same place as the larger earthquake that follows. Scientists can’t tell th...

The bony appendages that ran down the backs of these animals made them among the most iconic of dinosaur species.But quite what their purpose was is something of a mystery.Now, new research, published in the journal PLoS ONE, claims that males could have sported rounder, broader plates, while females might have had narrower, taller plates.Evan Saitta, from Bristol University, UK, examined the remains of stegosaurs preserved in a "graveyard" of these creatures in Central Montana, US. The jumble of fossils contained at least five individuals and he compared their skeletons with those of other specimens of the same species - Stegosaurus mjosi - from previous collections.The researcher's analysis shows that the plates fell into two distinct forms, and that this variation could not be explained, for example, by differing growth stages. "Simply looking at them by eye, you can identify two varieties. But  then you can also measure them and do a more quant...

A Nepali doctor in Australia has successfully transplanted a ‘dead’ heart that was resuscitated and kept beating. Cardiothoracic and transplant surgeon Dr Kumud Dhital carried out the “groundbreaking” procedure along with a team of doctors that resuscitated a heart using a revolutionary preservation solution.So far three patients have received the organs retrieved within 20 minutes of death and treated for their revival. “We knew that the heart, like other organs, could be revived. We have been able to achieve it. A heart that stopped beating somewhere can now be resuscitated by a team, put in a box and successfully transplanted,” Dhital told the Post on the phone. The operation has been dubbed “heart in a box” and was hailed as the biggest heart transplant breakthrough in a decade.While similar transplantation procedure has been trialled with kidneys and lungs before, this “donation after circulatory death” had never been attempted. In the technique developed by S...

In a Costa Rican jungle, scientists have found a new species of glass frog that bears a striking resemblance to popular Muppet, Kermit the Frog, CNET reports. In a new study published in Zootaxa, researchers describe the tiny doppelgänger, noting differences in its skin, call, and eyes. Like other glass frogs, it also has transparent abdominal skin, which allows a relatively clear view of its internal organs. The find marks the first new species of glass frog identified since 1973, scientists say.