This Week in Science: Snakes, Dark Energy, and “Terminator 2”

Just because we enjoy our River rock and roll, doesn’t mean we don’t also enjoy a  bit of nerd news!

Here’s a quick rundown of this week in science . . .

1.  Astronomers may have finally figured out where “dark energy” comes from.  Researchers at the University of Hawaii think BLACK HOLES are creating it.  Dark energy and dark matter make up about 95% of everything in the universe.  Ordinary matter . . . or the stuff you can “see” . . . only makes up 5%.

2.  In Terminator news:  A team in Hong Kong made a Lego-sized robot that can turn into a liquid, then back into a solid . . . just like the T-1000 from “Terminator 2”.  They did it by infusing it with magnetic particles.  There’s a video of it melting . . . passing through a tiny jail cell door . . . and re-solidifying.

 

 

3.  A study in Australia found snakes can hear you scream.  We thought their weird internal ears might only feel vibrations from the ground.  But it turns out they can detect sound waves in the air too.

4.  A team at Rutgers created a new type of low-fat chocolate that can be made using a 3-D printer.

5.  Did we evolve to have hair on our heads to keep us cool?  That’s what a new study argues.  Researchers found it keeps our scalp cool by protecting it from the sun.  They say really curly hair works best.