Some rather unusual stories topped this week in science news. For starters, a physicist described how he convinced a judge that his apparent running of a stop sign was an optical illusion. Next up, the "hologram" of Tupac turned out to be the updated version of an optical illusion that dates back about a century. That was followed by a story on the odd pattern apparent in the stats on volcanic eruptions. From there on, things got a bit less unusual, but it was still an interesting week.
Physicist uses math to avoid traffic penalty: Need to prove you didn't run that stop sign? One San Diego physicist shows science is the answer.
Tupac "hologram" merely pretty cool optical illusion: Rappers Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg performed with a "hologram" of Tupac at Coachella this weekend, only the hologram was actually an optical illusion called Pepper's Ghost.
This planet obeys the law—stats on volcanic eruptions show pattern called Benford's Law: Choose a number at random from scientific data. Think it's just as likely that it will start with a 9 as a 1? In many cases, you'd be wrong. The ages of volcanic calderas are one of those cases.
How a console firmware update could make a small dent in our energy problem: With video game consoles collectively taking up about one percent of our domestic household energy use, a new study suggests simply setting an automatic shut-off feature to be on by default could make a small dent in our country's energy problem.
Diamond-based LED sends single photons flying: Altering the structure of diamond has allowed researchers to construct a device capable of emitting single photons at room temperature for the first time. Single-photon emission is the basis for quantum devices and communication, which usually require very cold temperatures.
Evolution in motion: organisms once stuck to rocks can now evade predators: Marine animals called crinoids survived two mass extinctions doing little more than attaching themselves to rocks, but the rise of a voracious predator selected for those species that could move.
New report recommends NASA rethink how it avoids contaminating other worlds: The National Academies of Science has released an evaluation of the current standards NASA uses when evaluating when a deep space mission might contaminate moons that harbor their own indigenous life forms. Its authors call for a complete rethinking of how the space agency handles this issue.
Computer modeled using swarms of soldier crabs: Researchers at Kobe University in Japan are looking at models of computing based on the predictable movements of soldier crabs.
Hubble spots early galaxy using gravitational lens: Areas of space-distorting dark matter have magnified a distant object that may be a young galaxy, captured less than a half-billion years after the Big Bang.
Welcome, Discovery!: The first of the operational space shuttles to be retired, Discovery made one last flight to its new home at the Smithsonian today.
Listing image by Photograph by www.crh.noaa.gov
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