Pluto’s Wobbly Egg-Shaped Moons

Pluto is turning out be a weirder dwarf planet than expected. Not only is one of its moons almost as large as the planet itself, but its two other moons wobble through space. The Hubble Space Telescope has captured images of the oblong moons—Nix and Hydra—tumbling like two poorly thrown footballs as they orbit Pluto and Charon—the other massive moon. The wobbling is due to …

Learn Perfect Pitch

Perfect pitch was once a skill believed to be attainable only by musical prodigies like Mozart or Mariah Carey but, according to new research, it’s possible for any human adult to acquire it. Researchers at the University of Chicago recently worked with 17 college students to train their brains into recognizing distinct music notes by listening to and then recreating them. The subjects were invited …

Lab-Grown Skin May Eliminate Animal Testing

The once-prevalent practice of testing cosmetics on animals has declined significantly over the past decade thanks to new legislation and awareness but, in many labs, it still exists. A recent partnership between cosmetic company L’Oreal and 3D bioprinting start-up Organovo may soon eliminate animal testing altogether, though, as the two companies are aggressively pursuing mass-produced, lab-grown human skin. If successful, the skin swatches will replace …