Are surgeons who regularly play video games better equipped to operate on you?

A study by an Iowa State University psychologist indicates that Surgeons who play video games more are skilled and less likely to make mistakes than their non-playing counterparts.

The study identifies a strong relationship between time spent playing video games and the surgeon’s capabilities performing laparoscopic surgery. Laparoscopic surgery is a surgical technique where operations in the abdomen are performed through small incisions – normally less than 1.5 cm – as opposed to the larger incisions needed …

Scientists in Japan have discovered a method to grow teeth from single cells in lab dishes and transplant them into mice.

The method involves the use of primitive cells that are injected into a collagen mold. The cells were taken from the tooth germ – a mass of tissue that has the potential of developing into a tooth. The cells eventually mature into a structure that shares the qualities of teeth, including dentin, enamel, dental pulp, blood vessels, and periodontal ligaments. Once transplanted to a mouse, the teeth grew and developed normally.

This is …

The Ivory-billed Woodpecker has long been considered by bird-watching enthusiasts to be “The Holy Grail” of bird watching. The bird is an extremely rare member of the woodpecker family, and is officially listed as an endangered species and even considered extinct by many people.

The Ivory-billed Woodpecker made headlines back in 2004 when a kayaker in Arkansas reported seeing one. In 2005 a team led by the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology also reported spotting the elusive bird. In September 2006, a team of ornithologists from Auburn University and the …

A company named EEStor is claiming that it is close to commercially manufacturing a battery that will last 10 times longer than standard electrochemical batteries. If fact the company’s goal is to completely replace standard batteries anywhere they are currently found from cell phones to cars.

EEStor is claiming specifically that their new battery will store ten times more power and cost half as much as current lead-acid batteries. Lead-acid batteries are currently used in most automobiles. EEStor also claims it batteries …

We had such a great response to our post about ferrofluid a few months back that I thought I would share this video showing the effects of a gas that is six times more dense than ambient air. In the video after the jump a light boat made out of tin foil floats on top of sulfur hexafluoride contained in an aquarium, and the gas is actually able to be “scooped” like water to fill the boat and make it sink.

My first thought was that the sulfur hexafluoride might be toxic, but according to Wikipedia the gas is …

European scientists think they may have an answer to the nurse shortage: build robot nurses to replace the puny hu-mon nurses. The robots would perform basic tasks and free up the real nurses to do the important stuff like look hot and give naughty boys shots in the bum or something like that.

Actually, the robots would be performing more of a janitorial function than actual nursing activities. The robots would clean up spills, deliver messages and guide visitors to their beds. …

How many games have you played that featured a railgun as a weapon? I’m guessing just a few under a thousand. From Halo to Stargate to the movie Eraser, railguns are just as much a part of the sci-fi genre as bad acting and large-chested blue aliens. Now however, railguns are no longer science fiction. They are a reality for the US Navy.

The Navy demonstrated its new toy at the Naval Surface Warfare Center. The weapon uses electromagnetism to propel …

Do cell phones cause cancer? That is what the British government wants to know. Some recent studies have raised questions about the safety of cell phones after ten years of use. Specifically, does using a cell phone for ten or more years lead to an increased chance of brain cancer?

Many studies have been conducted over the years, some with conflicting results but the latest consensus is that cell phones are generally safe for use in the short term. The effects of long term usage have yet …

The EcoShpere is not really a new discovery; they’ve been around for a number of years but the idea doesn’t seem to get old with us.

The EcoSphere is a tiny, completely enclosed ecosystem that is contained in a small orb between 3 and 9 inches in diameter. Inside the EcoSphere are tiny shrimp, algae, filtered sea water, gorgonia, gravel and a magnet. If you keep your tiny world in a moderate amount of sunlight or artificial light and maintain the desired temperature, the living organisms will usually keep the system alive for 2-3 years, …

2006 was notable for the Wii, the PS3 and the temperature. Government scientists are reporting that 2006 was the warmest year on record since record keeping started in 1895.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) through its National Climatic Data Center collected temperature readings from 1200 weather stations around the contiguous US. They found that the temperature was 2.2 degrees higher than the mean temperature for the last century.

The temperature was notable but so was the government claim that the temperature change is being cause by build up …

This is one for those World of Warcraft gamers who can’t be bothered by things like personal hygiene. Scientists have developed clothing with special molecules that repel water and oil and also kill bacteria.

The materials were designed for the United States Air Force for use in under garments. The t-shirts and underwear can be worn for several weeks without changing.

Before you dismiss this technology as trivial you should learn of the reasons behind the development. According to Jeff Owens, one of the researchers of the technology, “During …

Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon.com, has released some detailed information about a literal rocket launch in a project that has been under wraps since it’s inception over 6 years ago.

Goddard, a 50 foot tall rocket, lifted off under it’s own power, flew about 285 feet into the air and then landed less than a minute later, seemingly with out a hitch. Multiple photos and a video of the rocket launch can be found at the Blue Origin web site. The video shows the full rocket launch and landing, and there …

Researchers at Johns Hopkins University have patented a possible cure for cancer that involves sugar and fat. It’s not a chocolate chip cookie, it’s a designer molecule made of sugars and fatty acids.

Researchers urged caution as the treatment has not been tested on animals or humans yet. However, researchers are optimistic for its success.

The new substance was synthesized from a combination of two molecules. The first is a short chain fatty acid known as butyrate. Butyrate, known for over two decades to …

Molecules that have the peculiar characteristic of being extra sensitive to light could have wide ranging implications on the field of computing.

The Kuzyk Limit was first theorized by Washington State University Professor Mark Kuzyk in 1999. Kuzyk’s find showed how molecules interacted with light and showed the possibility of creating molecules that could be much more reactive than any material at that time.

A Chinese chemist Yuxia Zhao was the first to synthesize such a molecule at the Chinese academy of science. The molecules react up to fifty percent more …

This is the ATLAS Detector, home of Barrel Toroid - the largest superconducting magnet ever built. The barrel-shaped magnet provides the magnetic field for ATLAS, a particle detector at CERN1’s Large Hadron Collider (LHC).

The Barrel Toroid consists of eight precisely aligned rectangular-shaped superconducting coils measuring 5m wide, 25m long and weighing 100 tonnes. The magnet will be used in ATLAS to bend the paths of charged particles produced in collisions at the Collider.

The goal of ATLAS is to answer questions like: why particles have mass, what is the unknown 96% of the Universe …