The Daily Galaxy: Great Discoveries Channel

Are Planets "Living Super-Organisms"? -A Galaxy Insight

Japan's Maruyama Shigenori, one of the world's leading geophysicists, is working on a global formula for a new field of study that would include dozens of disciplines collaborating to produce an overall picture of the Earth. As he connects the links from astronomy to life sciences, an outline emerges of an all-encompassing image of entire planets which appear as living super-organisms.

Shigenori believes that expanding the study of life sciences to the core of our world and the depths of outer space will help us find distant relatives of our own Earth -- planets that could also sustain life.

Stanford Team Re-Engineering Brain Cells to be Controlled by Lasers

Scientists are working on genetically engineered laser-controlled brain cells.  You could take the adjectives from five scifi books, roll them into a ball and shoot them through a hyperbole gun and STILL not come up with something so incredible sounding.  The work could utterly revolutionize neurotherapy, psychology, and the goopy goo of "you" inside that bone basket you carry around on top of your neck.

Intelligent Robotic Probes to Explore Beyond Mars

Caltech scientists are working on intelligent exploratory craft which could investigate alien worlds without human instruction.  While missions to MARS can be remotely controlled, as we set our sights further afield the light speed limitation will cause significant problems.  Even within our own solar system interesting targets like Titan and Europa are far enough away that signals would take an hour to get there and back.  Cripplingly slow when you're carefully navigating "left a bit ... wait an hour .... left a bit more"...."

Beyond H2O -Creating New Types of Water

Scientists are arguing about two new types of water, and we don't mean Dasani or Perrier - we're talking about entirely new phases like "liquid" and "solid."  Which proves that researchers get to fight about far better things than regular humans.

Amazon's Kindle: Will It Do to Books What Apple's iPod Did to the Music Industry?

The Kindle is the logical evolution of a 500-year-old analog technology that terrifies the $24 billion book-publishing industry already faint from Amazon's growing dominance.

On June 12th, Gizmodo announced that the Kindle DX,  just started shipping on Amazon to extend it's e-book reach to include textbooks and periodicals, which it will test-market to college students.The DX was sold out before the end of the week. "Either people really love that DX, the Gizmodo team quipped, "or the Earth only produces enough resources to sustain manufacturing a few units at a time."

The Daily Flash -Eco, Space, Tech (6/30)

Great Wall of Facebook: The Social Network's Plan to Dominate the Internet — and Keep Google Out

Today, the Google-Facebook rivalry isn't just going strong, it has evolved into a full-blown battle over the future of the Internet—its structure, design, and utility. For the last decade or so, the Web has been defined by Google's algorithms—rigorous and efficient equations that parse practically every byte of online activity to build a dispassionate atlas of the online world. In Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg's vision, users will query this "social graph" to find a doctor, the best camera, or someone to hire—rather than tapping the cold mathematics of a Google search. It is a complete rethinking of how we navigate the online world, one that places Facebook right at the center.

Galaxy Fans - Let Your Clicks Do Some Good

Our major brand advertisers at the top of the page and on the right pay the bills that let us deliver great daily news on the discoveries, people and events changing the planet.

Please give our advertisers your support -click on the ads, and enjoy the site.

We donate 10% of our ad revenue to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) for their efforts to save the planet's endangered species, such as the blue whale above.

With thanks...The Editorial Team

Most Popular Posts

• Will Earth Become a Planet Without Ice Caps? Leading Expert Says "Yes"
• Stephen Hawking Sees Asteroid Impacts As Biggest Threat to Intelligent Life in the Galaxy
• Is Global Warming Part of Earth's Natural Cycle: MIT Team Says "Yes"
• Sprawl! Is Earth Becoming a Planet of SuperCities?
• Is DNA Inevitable as the Code of Life for the Universe? Neil deGrasse Tyson Says "Maybe"
• Oceans of Europa: Will the Solar Systems' 1st Extraterrestrial Life be Found There?
• NASA Space Shuttle Solves Mystery of Earth's Greatest Explosion: The 1908 Tunguska Event in Siberia

International Space Station Gets a New "Eye" on the Cosmos

By photographing oblique views with different sun angles, the astronauts can use the Cupola to give scientists a view of the Earth that is not available from satellites. Astronaut photographs of Earth have been used to understand Earth processes such as melting of icebergs, noctilucent clouds, dust storms, and the structure of hurricane eyes.

Julie Robinson, the ISS Program Scientist

Will Earth Become a Planet Without Ice Caps? Leading Expert Says "Yes"

Rising sea levels will not extinguish humanity, but they will transform life on planet Earth as we know it according to Peter Ward professor of biology and earth sciences at the University of Washington. Here are his predictions in a new book, The Flooded Earth, which will be published this July.

By 2050: Sea levels will rise 0.5 to 1 meter. Well established coastal cities will battle the rising waters with dikes and levees; other cities will see their underground infrastructure impaired and face building collapse.

Rising sea levels will not extinguish humanity, but they will transform life on planet Earth as we know it according to Peter Ward professor of biology and earth sciences at the University of Washington. Here are his predictions in a new book, The Flooded Earth, which will be published this July.

By 2050: Sea levels will rise 0.5 to 1 meter. Well established coastal cities will battle the rising waters with dikes and levees; other cities will see their underground infrastructure impaired and face building collapse.