habitat
The natural home and environment for all things sci fi, including future homes and territories.
Best Shows About Earth
There’s no doubt that there’s a lot to explore about planet Earth, and with television, there are plenty of shows about Earth that do just that. Whether we’re exploring geography, geology, or animal life, these shows about Earth are a look into some of the amazing things about our home.
By Stephanie Gladwell9 years ago in Futurism
Ceratoid Anglerfish Spermatozoa
A man generates billions or so spermatozoa during his "active" lifetime. In the same time, a female ovary releases a strictly limited number of eggs (around 400). Despite the contrast in productivity each sex contributes exactly the same amount of genetic material to the next generation. It is an uncomfortable truth that the main biological role of males is to manufacture vast quantities of sperm to fulfill a genetic function that the other gender accomplishes much more efficiently
By Caesar Finkle9 years ago in Futurism
Best Vacation Spots in the Solar System
The best vacation spots in the solar system are places within our little corner of the galaxy that are both amazing and hold historical significance. Like any good vacation spot there has to be a reason to pack up the bags and head there in the first place. Whether it’s a distant moon of Uranus or to visit some of the first spacecraft humans sent abroad, there is a large amount of exciting things to see when choosing the best vacation spots in the solar system.
By Peter Carriveau9 years ago in Futurism
Quantum Swarm
The lights flicker, go black. He walks out of his shack, sees that his abode is the only dark one and looks to the sky, as if for support. The glass towers glitter under a rocket arcing through the sky. Another mission to Mars, says his phone, the colonization process well under way. But the man, our man as it stands, didn’t win that lottery ticket, and so he only watches, the cool fall air tightening his skin; for a split second he can almost feel the warmth from the rocket.
By Nelson Lowhim9 years ago in Futurism
What Happens to Your Body When Exposed to Space?
We've all seen that movie: where some unfortunate guy gets sucked out of an airlock and is thrown from his spaceship into unknown space. What is the first thing he does? Struggle to breathe. This is followed by panic, while blood oozes out of his eyeballs and ears. Until finally, his slow death ends, and all we're left with is a frozen corpse. Yuck.
By George Gott9 years ago in Futurism
Science of Auroras
Our atmosphere, the thin membrane that separates Earth from space, is a remarkable geophysical laboratory. In it are synthesized the fascinating colored lights known as auroras, one of nature's most splendid phenomena. Now that the sunspot cycle is reaching its peak, we can expect auroras to light up our night skies with greater frequency.
By George Gott9 years ago in Futurism
Who Will Survive the Next Biotic Crisis?
While the next biotic event is probably not in the near future, fossil records clearly testify that extinction is an unavoidable fate for all species. The real question remains: what is left in the wake of mankind? Our lineage is more likely to be altered through evolution than entirely snuffed out.
By Brian Switek9 years ago in Futurism
Octopus Facts
Researchers at the University of Chicago and a group at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology in Japan combined forces in the Octopus Genome Project. This huge undertaking maps out the entire DNA structure of this complex cephalopod. The Octopus facts, which were published in the science journal Nature, are simply incredible. Octopuses, not octopi, are so vastly different in their genetic makeup that they might as well be considered aliens from outer space. In uncovering the sequence, scientists found that octopuses have a significant expansion of a family of genes that play a role in neuronal development. A similar set of genes are found in humans, and until the Octopus facts were published, this gene expansion was believed to be a unique characteristic of vertebrates. Now, thanks to this research, we know that similar processes happened in octopuses.
By Stephanie Gladwell9 years ago in Futurism
Does the Earth Have a Hidden Twin?
For several years now we have been hearing about new planetary bodies being discovered inside and outside our solar system. There are suggestions that our familiar companions - Mercury Venus, Mars, and the rest - may not be all there is to the sun's family. There is evidence that one member or more still awaits discovery through scientific research. This idea is not new. With ideas like Planet X and also back a century ago it was widely thought that another planet could be found within the orbit of Mercury. It was even given a name: Vulcan.
By George Gott9 years ago in Futurism
Science of Identical Twins
“Double your pleasure, double your fun” couldn’t be more true when it comes to identical twins. Starting with the moment your obstetrician tells you, “There are two of them,” your life is never the same. Twins are double the fun and doubly amazing. Aside from the remarkable science behind them and the totally random happenstance of their creation, the very fact that two people can have identical faces and DNA is just miraculous. Here you have two babies who have spent nine months keeping each other company in the womb and then, upon being released into the world, continue to amaze all those around them. Parents of twins have reported identical sleeping positions, finding their twins sleeping in the same bed; As babies, when they would nap in the same crib, and even if they started out on opposites sides, they would always end up holding on to each other, most likely as they did in-utero.
By Stephanie Gladwell9 years ago in Futurism
