Which came first .... the chicken, or the egg? The philosophical mystery that has perplexed generations has finally been "cracked" by scientists from Sheffield University and the University of Warick. The researchers have discovered that a protein required for the formation of the chicken egg shells is found in only one place - inside the ovaries of the chicken.

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Keith Cowing - Keith Cowling is editor of NASA Watch, an online publication devoted to the free and uncensored exchange of information on space policy and NASA operations. His May 2010 presentation talks about some of the impromptu hacks needed to get things accomplished during NASA missions.

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MIT Media Lab researchers have created a quick, simple, and inexpensive way to use mobile phones to measure refractive errors of the eye, including nearsightedness, farsightedness, astigmatism, and age-related vision loss. Until now, these measurements have only been possible using specialized equipment operated by a trained professional.

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"The Solar Decathlon is a competition for university schools of engineering and architecture to design, from the ground up, a solar-powered, high efficiency, self-sustaining house," says Solar Decathlon Director Richard King.

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The Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) announced new grants totaling $79 million that was given through the HHMI undergraduate program, and the HHMI Professors program.

Fifty research universities in 30 states and the District of Columbia will be awarded a total of $70 million through the undergraduate program. The schools will use the grants, which range from $800,000 to $2 million over four years, to develop creative, research-based courses and curricula; to give more students vital experience working in the lab; and to improve science teaching from elementary school through college.

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In a post we made in early March of this year, we reported on an interview with Dr. J. Craig Venter. In the video Dr. Venter mentioned their team was close to producing cells from an entirely synthetic DNA genome.

Today the research team announced 'success' ... they have designed a genome in the computer, chemically made it in the lab, transplanted it into a recipient cell and now have produced a new self-replicating cell, controlled only by the synthetic genome.

It has taken the team the better part of 15 years to arrive at this important stage. Dr. Daniel Gibson, lead author on the published article, stated, “To produce a synthetic cell, our group had to learn how to sequence, synthesize, and transplant genomes. Many hurdles had to be overcome, but we are now able to combine all of these steps to produce synthetic cells in the laboratory.” He added, “We can now begin working on our ultimate objective of synthesizing a minimal cell containing only the genes necessary to sustain life in its simplest form. This will help us better understand how cells work.”

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This video demonstration of a robot walking on a ball balancing up to 10 kg is from IEEE Spectrum Magazine. Developed by Masaaki Kumagai and Takaya Ochiai at the Robot Development Engineering Laboratory, Department of Mechanical Engineering and Intelligent Systems, Tohoku Gakuin University, Japan. '

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From the IEEE Computer Society, we are shown each and every nook and craquel of the Mona Lisa.

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From NPR's Krulwich On Science, Science Correspondent Robert Krulwich sits down with reporter, filmmaker, and author, Michael Benson. From the article "Benson and the others download the raw digital data, render them into black and white, then edit, colorize, and sometimes animate them.

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This latest video documentary from the USGS discusses the rapid decline in the health of Coral reefs and reports on the latest findings.

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