SCIENCE BOND

The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is almost spherical and consists of hot plasma interwoven with magnetic fields. It has a diameter of about 1,392,684 km (865,374 mi), around 109 times that of Earth, and its mass (1.989 × 10 30 kilograms, approximately 330,000 times the mass of Earth) accounts for about 99.86% of the total mass of the Solar System. Chemically, about three quarters of the Sun's mass consists of hydrogen, whereas the rest is mostly helium. The remaining 1.69% (equal to 5,600 times the mass of Earth) consists of heavier elements, including oxygen, carbon, neon and iron, among others. The Sun formed about 4.567 billion years ago from the   gravitational collapse of a region within a large molecular cloud. Most of the matter gathered in the center, whereas the rest flattened into an orbiting disk that would become the Solar System. The central mass became increasingly hot and dense, eventually initiating thermonuclear fusion ...

  The report "NASA Confirms Earth Will Experience 6 Days of Total Darkness in December 2014".. According to the story, NASA "confirmed" that the Earth would be experiencing six days of nearly complete darkness from Dec. 16 to 22. The event would supposedly happen because of a solar storm that would spur enough dust and debris in space that 90 percent of sunlight would be blocked out. NASA head Charles Bolden was said to have made the announcement, asking people to remain calm given a solar storm so bad (the biggest in 250 years!) was going to happen that it would block out the sun for 216 hours. Reporters also apparently "interviewed" people to hear what they had to say about the event, with Michael Hearns responding with a "We gonna be purgin my n*gga, six days of darkness means six days of turnin up fam."    How people took that response seriously is a mystery. Six days of darkness, if it were to really happen, sounds lik...

Antarctic winter sea ice has once again broken the record for maximum extent. On September 12, the coverage measured 19.619 million square kilometer, the highest since satellite records began.The ice has broken daily records on about 150 days this year, indicating consistently greater coverage than in previous years. With several weeks of growth still to go, more records could fall. 2014 is the third year in a row that the ice has broken the maximum extent record. In 2013 the sea ice reached 19.47 million square km, 3.6% above the average for 1981-2010. The records continue a weak trend towards greater sea ice cover, which evidence suggests is linked to increasing greenhouse gases and climate change. Dr Guy Williams, a sea ice specialist at University of Tasmania who has previously written on The Conversation, said the new   records add to an "exciting" puzzle for climate scientists. Each record-breaking year is different due to variations in seasonal weather and ocean con...

  PHILADELPHIA (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Next time you have a meal or snack, pay close attention to the taste. Food is sweet, sour, bitter, salty, astringent or pungent. Now, researchers believe they've found a new type of taste. It's a discovery that could help prevent osteoporosis. Despite America's love of milk and dairy, nutritionists say as many as 80 percent of us don't get enough calcium in our diets. "It is a concern, because we have a family history of a possible calcium deficiency, so I worry about breaking bone," Laura Alarcon told Ivanhoe. The hundreds of taste buds on the tongue, researchers at the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia, Penn., say the taste of calcium is detected by two receptors -- called CASR and T1R3. For most, it's an unpleasant taste that is hard to   describe. "If you ask people, tell me is it sweet, salty, sour or bitter, they'll say it's sort of bitter, but something else too," Michael Tordo...

The EU's ARCAS project (Aerial Robotics Cooperative Assembly System) has designed a range of different flying robots with multi-joint manipulator arms to work together on grasping, transporting and depositing parts safely and efficiently. The autonomy and skills of the robots is being developed to build or disassemble structures for a host of future applications, from rescue missions to inspection and maintenance in the energy and space sectors.   'The idea is that the robots should be able to fly in anywhere where  it is impossible or impractical for piloted aircraft or ground robots to operate,' explained ARCAS project manager Professor Aníbal Ollero, of the University of Seville. 'We have helicopters, and multi-rotor systems with eight rotors to give more hovering control, increase the payload and carry arms with greater degrees of freedom.' Up to 10 mini-prototypes have been demonstrated working together on an indoor test bed at CATEC , the Advanced Aeros...