Obama Tapes Mythbusters Segment

Ben Franklin's famous kite-key experiment galvanizes the Web

(NEWSER) - Britain's Royal Society is posting some of the key scientific moments in human history on the Web. Handwritten accounts include reports by Sir Isaac Newton and Benjamin Franklin, who details his 1752 experiment with a key, a kite and lightning. One of the posted studies, to determine if 8-year-old Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was truly a musical prodigy, found that he was "more interested in his cat," but then played a score "in the most masterly manner." More»

(NEWSER) - Scientists have combined spider silk with metal atoms to boost web strands' already-phenomenal strength, reports Ars Technica. The breakthrough experiment advances the science of creating ever-stronger materials, as well discovering a successful method to bond metal to biological material. Experiments are already under way to make chicken eggs stronger. More»

Reverse of Bush edict would make good on campaign promise

(NEWSER) - President Obama is currently considering overturning the limits on federal funding for stem cell research, senior adviser David Axelrod said today. The move would make good on a campaign promise, and be in keeping with Obama's inaugural message of bringing American science back to prominence. Scientists say unfettered research could lead to cures for Parkinson's, diabetes, and heart disease, Reuters reports. More»

(AP) - Barack Obama today selected a Harvard physicist and a marine biologist for key science posts, in a sign he plans a more aggressive response to global warming than did the Bush administration. John Holdren and Jane Lubchenco are leading experts on climate change who have advocated forceful government action. “It's time we once again put science at the top of our agenda,” Obama said today. More»

Wave phenomenon that slows ships may affect humans, too

(NEWSER) - Swimmers sometimes complain that water can be “evil,” but water is water, right? Wrong. So-called dead water—a naval phenomenon that happens when waves form between layers of warmer and cooler water, reducing a ship’s speed—may affect swimmers too, the New Scientist reports. And it might be what’s behind the otherwise-mysterious drownings of seasoned swimmers. More»