Новости за 11.11.2010

How do you know whether a scientific idea is a good one or not?The only sure way is to study it in detail and know all the technical ins and outs. But good ideas and bad ideas behave differently over time, and this can provide clues as to which ones are solid; useful if you're a non-expert trying to evaluate a field, or a junior researcher looking for a career.Today's ideas are the basis for tomorrow's experiments. A good idea will lead to experiments which provide interesting results, generatin

Those two purple lobes in the figure-eight shape are balloons of gamma ray energy that reach out 25,000 light years above and below the plane of the galaxy. Yet these huge structures have remained hidden from astronomers, until now. Using NASA's Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope, Doug Finkbeiner and colleagues detected the bubbles after they managed to remove from their images an obstructing "fog" of gamma rays between here and there. Researchers do not yet know what produced the bubbles, but the

This is an updated version of one of my favourite stories from last year, edited to include a sequel study that develops and expands on the first one. You’ve just been in a horrific car crash. You’re unharmed but the vividness of the experience – the sight of a looming car, the crunching of metal, the overwhelming panic – has left you a bit traumatised. You want something to help take the edge off and fortunately a doctor is on hand to prescribe you with… Tetris. Yes, that Tetris. According t