Google Easter Egg: The 'I'm Feeling Lucky' Button Branches Out

Google Easter Egg: The 'I'm Feeling Lucky' Button Branches Out: Google Instant Search eliminates the opportunity to use the good old "I'm Feeling Lucky" Button, offering search results as soon as you type. Now Google has turned "I'm Feeling Lucky" into yet another random adventure, and this time you can feel "Stellar," "Wonderful," "Trendy" and more.

Fish are warmer, faster, stronger: Unexpected benefits of living in a changing climate, biologists find

Fish are warmer, faster, stronger: Unexpected benefits of living in a changing climate, biologists find: Biologists suggest that growing up at warmer temperatures helps some aquatic animals cope with climate change, raising questions about the limits of adaptation. They found that when embryos raised in warm water experienced temperature variation as adults, they could swim faster and their muscle was better suited for aerobic exercise.

How do they do it? Predictions are in for Arctic sea ice low point

How do they do it? Predictions are in for Arctic sea ice low point: Each year scientists predict the low point of Arctic Sea ice. The final predictions were released Aug. 13. But how do they do it? Researchers used some new techniques this year in hopes of improving the accuracy of their prediction.

Dark chocolate, cocoa compounds, may reduce blood pressure

Dark chocolate, cocoa compounds, may reduce blood pressure: Compounds in cocoa may help to reduce blood pressure, according to a new systematic review. The researchers reviewed evidence from short-term trials in which participants were given dark chocolate or cocoa powder daily and found that their blood pressure dropped slightly compared to a control group.

Arctic Coastlines Hitting Ecological Tipping Point

Arctic Coastlines Hitting Ecological Tipping Point: Along the rocky coastlines of the Arctic Ocean, a radical change is taking place, perhaps as profound as vanishing sea ice but less evident to the eye. Ecological foundations are shifting, with existing algae replaced by warmth- and light-loving species. It might not seem like much, but algae form the base of ocean food chains, and the change is happening fast.

Dark chocolate, cocoa compounds, may reduce blood pressure

Dark chocolate, cocoa compounds, may reduce blood pressure: Compounds in cocoa may help to reduce blood pressure, according to a new systematic review. The researchers reviewed evidence from short-term trials in which participants were given dark chocolate or cocoa powder daily and found that their blood pressure dropped slightly compared to a control group.

Bourne Legacy's Gene-Doped Superspies Aren't as Far-Fetched as They Sound

Bourne Legacy's Gene-Doped Superspies Aren't as Far-Fetched as They Sound: In The Bourne Legacy, Jeremy Renner plays Aaron Cross, a superspy who's been pharmaceutically tweaked to jump higher, think faster, punch harder, hear better and tolerate extreme cold. The surprising thing is, this type of gene-doped warrior is not a total figment of filmmaker Tony Gilroy's imagination.

Meet DARPA's New Militarized Earthworm

Meet DARPA's New Militarized Earthworm:
derekmead writes "Meshworm is a toughened, robotic earthworm that can crawl virtually silently at a speed of about 5 millimeters per second. DARPA wants to send it into battle. Believe it or not, the Pentagon's been working on building a robotic earthworm for a while. They tried putting one together with gears. They tried with air-powered and pneumatic pumps, but the results were bulky and untenable. Then, researchers at Harvard, MIT and Seoul National University in Korea put their heads together and designed an 'artificial muscle.' It's essentially a polymer mesh that's wrapped with nickel and titanium wire designed to stretch and contract with heat. When an electric current is applied, the mesh mimics the circular muscle system of an earthworm to scoot forward."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

How stress and depression can shrink the brain

How stress and depression can shrink the brain: Major depression or chronic stress can cause the loss of brain volume, a condition that contributes to both emotional and cognitive impairment. Now scientists have discovered one reason why this occurs -- a single genetic switch that triggers loss of brain connections in humans and depression in animal models.