Exploring new worlds is not quite as easy as shown in science fiction movies and popular culture. Take the icy moon of Jupiter, Europa for example. In the Arthur Clark series it was very much populated and easily explored. In real life, that’s not quite the case. The icy shell of the moon makes it very difficult to reach the sub surface ocean.

The Galileo spacecraft sent by NASA was able to make a number of passes of Europa as it flew past through the years 1995 to 2003. Most of our knowledge of the moon is based on the observations that were recorded during these fly pasts by Galileo. The researchers are convinced that the ocean on Europa either has flourishing microbial activity today, or will reveal signs of the same from now extinct microbial life.

In order to find it, they are working on a nuclear powered tunnel bot that will be able to dig it’s way through the outer ice and head into the ocean. The researchers at the University of Illinois, Chicago, are performing a concept study for such a bot. This is one science project that still needs a whole lot of work to be done before it can be implemented.

Ever cried when you lost a pet? Then you need to read on about how this science project can change the way you think.

Juice is a popular dog when it comes to Chinese movies. The one foot tall mutt is getting older and his illustrious career is still at the peak. This is what prompted the owner of this stray mongrel to have him cloned. Beijing based He Jun wants the nine year old dog to be immortalized and asked for the Sinogene biotech company to clone him.

Sinogene is credited with successfully cloning a beagle in May 2017. It then offered it’s pet cloning services at a cost of 380,000 yuan to pet owners. This is about 55,065 dollars. They eventually have plans to move into genetic editing for the pets as well as per the company CEO Mi Jidong.

He Jun approached them to clone his dog, Juice and was recently presented with Little Juice or Zhizhi as he is known in Chinese. The two month old clone is doing well and his nine year old original DNA donor seems to be adjusting to the addition in his life well. So far He Jun has no plans for Little Juice to join the Chinese film and television industry, but he says the pup shows a lot of potential.

Most pets have a tough time dealing with the noise of fire crackers. Let’s understand why this happens. A normal conversation takes place at about 60 decibels. The person who shouts could reach maybe 80 decibels, and in case of a fire cracker explosion the sounds are marked at 150 decibels and higher.

As a human being, the sounds are bad enough, but to the sensitive ears of a dog? It’s plain torture given that they have a hearing four times better than that of human beings. The loud sound causes stress and anxiety besides leading to temporary hearing loss which can be frightening to the animal. This has been proved by a number of scientific studies.

What’s the solution? A number of pet owners tend to sedate their dogs when they know that a firecracker display is likely to occur. However it’s not always the best solution. Now Ford, the car manufacturer has come up with something that may actually work better. An insulated dog house which the pet can retreat into when required to get away from the sounds of the fire crackers. The noise cancellation technology used in cars is being used for the dog houses as well. Here’s to ensuring a healthier way to keep your dog’s ears happy!

The iconic image of the planet Saturn surrounded by it’s icy rings may soon be a thing of the past. The gas giant has been witnessing rain falling from the rings onto the planet at the rate of about  a ton and a half per second. This means that at current rates the rings around Saturn will completely disappear in about 300 million years.

Interestingly the rings around Saturn are not relics from the original formation of the Solar System that took place 4.5 billion years ago. They developed within the last few hundred million years. The constant ring rain caused by the charged molecules from the rings colliding with  the magnetic fields of the planet is likely to cause the rings to expire.

The degradation of the rings are based on the current shifting seasons on Saturn. The process may take longer or lesser period of time depending on changes that may occur in the future. The whole study is based on observations taking place now. However the measurements of the rings of Saturn may prove to be an interesting science project for scientists studying them over the next few decades to determine how valid this theory is.