Seven days, lots of science in the news. Here’s our roundup of some of the week’s most notable and quotable items.

Seven days, lots of science in the news. And many of this week’s most notable and quotable items tie directly to our 2015 festival programs. So we’re linking the two because, well, that’s how we roll in this universe. Scientists have discovered stone tools older than the oldest known humans. [Related: Origin Stories: The History of Us, 5/30] A neural implant allowed a quadriplegic man to lift a beer to his lips and take a drink on his own. [Related: Cheers to Science: Something Old, Something Brewed, 5/28] A cosmologist made a statistical argument that aliens will be the size of bears. [Related: Wizard of Odds,  5/30] A species of octopus can sense light with its skin—without input from its eyes or brain. [Related: The Great Fish Count, 5/30] Top 10 lists live on, at least in the science world. A “chicken from hell” and a cartwheeling spider are two of this year’s Top 10 New Species. [Related: Genetic Engineer’s Apprentice, 5/30] The Large Hadron Collider broke the record for proton smashing. [Related: To Infinity and Beyond: The Accelerating Universe, 5/28] A new study has linked depression to an increased risk for Parkinson’s disease. [Related: Electric Medicine and the Brain, 5/28] The Advanced Laser Interferometer …

Seven days, lots of science in the news. And many of this week’s most notable and quotable items tie directly to our 2015 festival programs. So we’re linking the two because, well, we’re on the cutting edge of science. Scientists have identified the first warm-blooded fish. [Related: The Great Fish Count, 5/30] According to new analysis, most galaxies are strangled to death, as the their fuel supply of hydrogen and helium is slowly choked off. [Related: Astronomer’s Apprentice, 5/30] Scientists have managed to reverse engineer chicken beaks into dinosaur-like snouts, which could lead to reversing the evolution of birds. [Related: Planet of the Humans, 5/29] Scientists examined over 300 animal mummies at British museums and found that about a third of them had no body inside. [Related: Museum Scientist’s Apprentice, 5/30] New underwater robots are able to plan their own missions without human support. [Related: Roboticist’s Apprentice, 5/30] New research indicates that sea levels have risen faster over the last 20 years. Earlier findings had suggested the rate of increase was slowing. [Related: Scientific Sails: Under the Sun, 5/30] Robot pets could soon replace Fido and Fluffy, according to an animal welfare researcher. [Related: Dog Behaviorist’s Apprentice, 5/30] IBM CEO Ginni Rometty predicted that “in …

Seven days, lots of science in the news. And many of this week’s most notable and quotable items tie directly to our 2015 festival programs. We thought it’d be cool to link the two to show, you know, we have our finger on the pulse of science. Team of scientists, led by Professor Lee Berger, discovers two-million-year-old skin, thought to possibly be the oldest fossilized skin ever found, near Johannesburg, in South Africa. Related 2015 WSF program: Lee Berger will be participating in our Pioneers in Science program on Friday, May 29, 2015 and our Planet of the Humans: Leap to the Top program on May 29. Scientists announced the discovery of a new microbe that’s being called “the missing link between single cells and complex life.” Related 2015 WSF program: How humans evolved from single-celled organisms to walking on the moon is the subject of Planet of the Humans on Friday, May 29. A blood test may be able to predict cancer years in advance, thanks to new research into telomeres, the end caps on DNA. Such predictions are based on probability, the backbone of science. Related 2015 WSF program: How well do you understand probability? Find out at our Wizards of Odds event on Saturday, May 30. …

Seven days, lots of science in the news. Here’s our roundup of some of the week’s most notable and quotable items. Stanford researchers created tiny robots that can pull and lift things up to 2,000 times their own weight—the equivalent of a single person being able to drag around a blue whale. Tesla announces new batteries for homes and business aimed to help with energy storage and address some renewable energy issues. A chamber of liquid mercury was discovered underneath the ruins of the ancient Mexican pyramid Teotihuacan. Water could have originated in the universe as soon as a billion years after the Big Bang. The Messenger spacecraft crashed into the surface of Mercury. Newly discovered dinosaur Chilesaurus diegosuarezi was a cousin of Tyrannosaurus rex—but preferred plants to flesh—and has an odd combination of traits that led some to call it the “platypus dinosaur.” Another newly discovered dinosaur, Yi qi, is believed to have flown on unusual featherless wings akin to those on a flying squirrel or a bat. Bats have tiny hairs on their wings to help them navigate. Pluto probably has a polar cap made of nitrogen snow. Russia’s space agency failed to regain control of an unmanned cargo ship that launched for the …