Huntington Park has added a new robot, dubbed HP Robocop, to help fight crime. The robot will initially help with surveillance in parks and city buildings as it patrols while recording 360 degree video footage. The front of the robot says "POLICE" in large capital letters. The HP stands for the California city and not the Hewlett Packard tech company. The robot is a K5 robot from Knightscope. Read more... June 20, 2019

A recently discovered bacterium, Thiomargarita namibiensis, is the largest in the world. The bacterium is big enough to be visible to the naked eye. They can grow up to 3/4 mm wide in size. The images above show a light-photomicrograph of three cells of Thiomargarita with polarized light on the left and the visible bacterium on the body of a body (the white spot) in the image on the right. Read more... June 14, 2019

Tiger salamanders are an amphibian found in North America. The grow up to 14 inches in length but are typically about 6 to 8 inches long as adults. They can live for up to 15 years. Read more... June 13, 2019

Ford's vision of the future has headless robots delivering packages. The bipedal robot will be driven to its destination in a Ford driverless car. Read more... May 23, 2019

Astronomers have released the first image captured of a black hole. The image shows a ring of dust and gas around the center of the black hole. The image was obtained using the Event Horizon Telescope, which is an array of eight ground-based radio telescopes. The incredible image is trending on Twitter under the #EHTBlackHole hastag. Read more... April 10, 2019

There is a fungus killing people with weakened immune systems in hospitals around the globe. The fungus, Candida auris, is described in a frightening New York Times story. The article says the CDC recently added C. auris to a list of germs considered "urgent threats." The fungus is difficult to kill and difficult to detect. Read more... April 6, 2019

Scientists have discovered that the hardy eggs of a stick insect can survive being eaten by a bird. A team of Japanese researchers found that some eggs of the stick insect are excreted unharmed and are able to successfully hatch. Read more... April 5, 2019

A new species of stiletto snake has been discovered in the western part of the Upper Guinea forest zone. Stiletto snakes are known for their ability to attack and stab sideways. They have a fang sticking out of the corner of their mouths. The snakes can even stab and deliver venom when their mouths are closed. Read more... March 27, 2019

NASA has released a book called Earth. Earth is available free in its ebook formats, which include mobi (for Kindle readers), epub and PDF versions. A hardcover version is available for $53 from the U.S. Government Publishing Office. Read more... February 28, 2019

New Horizons revealed the best image yet of Ultima Thule on Thursday, 1-29-19. The new image shows small pits on the surface of the Kuiper Belt object. The latest image also shows a bright collar-like ring that separates Ultima Thule's lobes. Ultima Thule has been dubbed the space snowman on social media due to its shape. Read more... January 25, 2019

ESO's very large telescope (VLT) has added a new adaptive optics mode called laser tomography. The new technology offers much sharper images through the MUSE instrument. Read more... October 19, 2018

Scientists from the California Academy of Sciences have discovered new species of beautiful neon-colored fish. The fish have been named after Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love and beauty. Read more... October 18, 2018

Boston Dynamics is making it harder for humans to get away from its Atlas robot. The robotics developer released a video named "Parkour Atlas" that shows off the impressive dexterity of its Atlas robot. Read more... October 17, 2018

The MobiLimb is a robotic finger that can be added to a smartphone or a tablet. The robotic limb system contains actuators, sensors, electronics and a controller. It connects to a device using the micro USB port. Read more... October 11, 2018

A new study by researchers from the University of Exeter and Kunming Institute of Botany has revealed a few camouflaged plants in south-west China that resemble rocks. The plants match the color and shapes of the nearby rocks and soil. Read more... June 6, 2018

Researchers developed a mathematical model to determine how alien civilizations might cope with climate change. The research was led by astrophysicist Adam Frank, a professor of physics and astronomy at the University of Rochester. The researchers looked at the problem of civilized planets facing climate change from an astrobiological perspective. Read more... June 5, 2018

Some of the Easter Island statues have enormous red stone hats known as pukao. The Pukao are cylinders made of red scoria. They can weigh up to 12 metric tons. Researchers from Binghamton University in New York say the ancient people of Easter Island used a parbuckling technique involving ramps and rope to get the hats on top of the statues. Read more... June 4, 2018

Brackish water is water that has a salinity that lies somewhere between fresh water and salt water. The definition of brackish from Merriam-Webster is "somewhat salty." Read more... May 31, 2018