Today's Science News

March 28, 2024

I Am Artemis: Mat Bevill - Significant events in history keep finding Mat Bevill.

Fortified 14th-century castle and moat discovered under hotel in France - Archaeologists found a 600-year-old castle with a moat in Brittany, France.

Webb Joins the Hunt for Protoplanets - We can’t understand what we can’t clearly see.

NASA Awards Promote Science, Technology, Engineering, Math Nationwide - NASA is awarding approximately $3.7 million to 17 museums, science centers, and other informal education institutions as part of an initiative to ignite STEM excitement.

Highest power efficiency achieved in flexible solar cells using new fabrication technique. - Flexible solar cells have many potential applications in aerospace and flexible electronics, but low energy conversion efficiency has limited their practical use.

Watch Live Q&A: Everything You Should Know About the April 8 Eclipse - Join us on April 1 at 12:30 p.m. CST for a live Q&A session with David Eicher and Michael Bakich of Astronomy Magazine.

Life as we know it could exist on Venus, new experiment reveals - Some of the building blocks of life are surprisingly stable in Venus-like conditions, according to a new lab experiment.

NASA Selects Construction Management Services Acquisition Contractor - NASA has selected small business Firelake-Arrowhead NASA Services Joint Venture of Lawrence, Kansas, to acquire construction management, inspection,

Astronomers have solved the mystery of why this black hole has the hiccups - Blame it on a smaller orbiting black hole repeatedly punching through the accretion disk.

Final launch of Delta IV Heavy rocket scrubbed late in countdown - ULA scrubbed the last planned liftoff of its Delta Heavy IV rocket today (March 28) late in the countdown clock.

Museum’s zombie lab is preserving biodiversity - A subterranean vault within Melbourne Museum contains millions of cryogenically frozen living cells.

Fierce but Friendly, These Fossil Triceratops Stuck Together - A decade-long dig found five fossilized dinosaurs in the same location, a likely sign of socialization.

NASA, Salisbury U. Enact Agreement for Workforce Development - NASA and Salisbury University (SU) in Maryland signed a collaborative Space Act Agreement Thursday, March 28, 2024, opening new opportunities at the agency's

Giant Mars asteroid impact creates vast field of destruction with 2 billion craters - An asteroid that slammed into Mars around 2.3 million years ago left one nine-mile wide crater and created 2 billion smaller craters.

Elizabeth and Margaretta Morris, the Forgotten Sisters Who Transformed Early American Science - The Morris sisters made significant contributions to botany and entomology, but their stories were erased from the history of early American science, both accidentally and by design.

1,500-year-old DNA used to reveal likeness of Chinese Emperor Wu - Scientists used DNA to create a facial reconstruction of a Chinese emperor who ruled 1,500 years ago.

This Supernova Lit Up the Sky in 1181. Here’s What it Looks Like Now - Historical astronomical records from China and Japan recorded a supernova explosion in the year 1181.

China has a big problem with super gonorrhea, study finds - Drug-resistant gonorrhea is a growing problem—one that doesn't heed borders.

365 days of satellite images show Earth's seasons changing from space (video) - Satellite images taken daily for one year shows a stunning glimpse of what the change of seasons looked like from space.

The 7 most powerful supercomputers in the world right now - Supercomputers play a vital role in scientific discoveries — from helping us forecast climate change to discovering new drugs.

It's Tricky to Know Which Supplements Are Safe — Here's What to Avoid - Not all vitamins and supplements are safe.

Uptick in tuberculosis raises alarm in California - California health officials warn that the number of active tuberculosis cases in the state rose last year.

Hubble Sees a Star About to Ignite - This is an image of the FS Tau multi-star system taken by the Hubble Space Telescope.

2024 Guide to Baseball Injuries: Torn Labrum. - Labral tears in baseball, particularly among pitchers, are a common yet complex injury that merits attention from both players and coaches.

ADHD stimulants may increase risk of heart damage in young adults. - Young adults who were prescribed stimulant medications for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) were significantly more likely to develop cardiomyopathy (weakened heart muscle) compared with those who were not prescribed stimulants, in a study presented at the American College of Cardiology’s Annual Scientific Session.

MEDIA ADVISORY: NASA Invites Media to Milestone RS-25 Engine Certification Test - NASA will host media to view a milestone RS-25 engine test at NASA’s Stennis Space Center on Wednesday, April 3, to certify full production of new engines to

What happens if it's cloudy for the April 8 solar eclipse? - Though everyone is hoping for clear skies, here's what might happen if an eclipse-chaser's worst enemy — clouds — decides to make an appearance.

Still alive! Japan's SLIM moon lander survives its 2nd lunar night (photo) - The SLIM spacecraft, Japan's first successful moon lander, has survived its second long, cold lunar night.

Total solar eclipse 2024: Live updates - Stay up-to-date with the latest news on the total solar eclipse that will be visible across North America on April 8, 2024.

Orca calf refuses to leave a lagoon where its mother stranded and died off Vancouver Island - Rescuers have been trying to coax a 2-year-old orca from a lagoon off Vancouver Island and back to the ocean for five days, but they only have a 30-minute window every day when waters are high.

Lego Education Eclipse Collection teaches students about April 8 total solar eclipse - Lego has launched a new solar eclipse education collection featuring special activities to engage students in the upcoming total solar eclipse on April 8.

This Black Hole is a Total Underachiever - Anyone can be an underachiever, even if you’re an astronomical singularity weighing over four billion times the mass of the Sun.

Mariner 7 Goes to Mars - 55 years ago, on March 27, 1969, an Atlas-Centaur rocket launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, sending Mariner 7 on its way to study Mars.

Final Delta IV Heavy rocket launch scrubbed just before liftoff - The final liftoff of a United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket was rescheduled for Friday at 1:37 p.m.

Promising advances in organosilica membranes for separating organic liquid mixtures - In many chemical-related industries, such as pharmaceuticals, oil refineries, and food and beverage factories, separating organic liquid mixtures is an essential step.

Biochemists discover first new antibacterial class in decades - Vanderbilt biochemists are part of a team taking a stride toward the development of antibacterials to treat uncomplicated urinary tract infections, a pervasive bacterial infection that affects 50%–60% of women in their lifetime.

NASA, Partners Select Universities for CubeSat Summer Program - Eight university teams have been selected to work with NASA and the U.S. military to improve their small satellite proposals, ultimately increasing the

Someone Just Found SOHO's 5,000th Comet - The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) was designed to examine the Sun, but as a side benefit, it has been the most successful comet hunter ever built.

SpaceX to launch 22 Starlink satellites from California tonight - SpaceX is set to launch another batch of its Starlink internet satellites to orbit tonight (March 28), on the company's 30th orbital mission of 2024 already.

Astronomers Only Knew of a Single Binary Cepheid System. Now They Just Found Nine More - Measuring the distance to far away objects in space can be tricky.

DAILY DOSE: Pandemic Offers Unique Glimpse into Human Immunity; Kobayashi Supplements Cause Fatalities, Prompt Global Recall. - PUERTO RICO FACES DENGUE OUTBREAK, DECLARES HEALTH EMERGENCY Puerto Rico has declared a public health emergency in response to a significant outbreak of dengue fever, a mosquito-borne illness known for symptoms such as fever, aches, rash, and in severe cases, internal bleeding and shock.

9,000-year-old rock art discovered among dinosaur footprints in Brazil - Ancient hunter-gatherers created rock art next to dinosaur footprints in what is now Brazil.

Don’t Make Me Wait for April 8! - Can’t wait to see the Moon block the Sun on April 8?

Lego NASA Mars Rover Perseverance review - Curious about NASA’s other famous rover?

Song Lyrics Really Are Getting Simpler and More Repetitive, Study Finds - An assessment of hundreds of thousands of songs confirms that choruses and hooks have taken over—but simpler isn’t necessarily worse

Using DNA to work out what 6th century Chinese emperor looked like - Researchers have reconstructed the face of Chinese Emperor Wu of Northern Zhou who lived 1,500 years ago.

Watch rare endangered pink handfish walking in 19th-century shipwreck off Tasmania - Technical scuba divers found a rare pink handfish hidden among the wreckage of the SS Tasman.

SunChips will sell exclusive total solar eclipse flavors only during totality on April 8 - SunChips is releasing a special solar eclipse-themed flavor during the April 8 solar eclipse, but the chips will only be available while totality passes through the United States.

To Avoid Predators, This Fossil Spider Posed As An Ant - The specimen, a rare resin fossil from an ambiguous age, stole the look of a less tasty meal.

How CRISPR-Cas genome editing might one day be used to cure HIV - One of the most significant challenges in treating HIV is the virus’ ability to integrate its genome into the host’s DNA.

Chemists develop method to confirm mRNA vaccine stability - University at Albany researchers at the RNA Institute have developed a new method to test COVID-19 vaccine integrity that could allow anyone with basic skills in vaccine handling to detect expired vaccines quickly and effectively, without specialized lab equipment.

Three-Year Study of Young Stars with NASA’s Hubble Enters New Chapter - In the largest and one of the most ambitious Hubble Space Telescope programs ever executed, a team of scientists and engineers collected information on almost 500 stars over a three-year period.

New Studies Suggest Millions With Mild Cognitive Impairment Go Undiagnosed, Often Until It’s Too Late - Mild cognitive impairment can be an early sign of Alzheimer’s disease or other dementias

To Save Sun Bears, Scientists First Have to Find Them - The world's smallest bear plays a crucial role in repairing its tropical habitat in Southeast Asia

NASA Astronaut Loral O’Hara, Expedition 70 Science Highlights - NASA astronaut Loral O’Hara is returning home after six months aboard the International Space Station.

The Social Benefits of Getting Our Brains in Sync - Our brain waves can align when we work and play closely together.

Researchers create reliable prediction method for oxygen reduction catalysts - Tohoku University researchers have created a reliable means of predicting the performance of a new and promising type of catalyst.

How Is Flocking Like Computing? - Birds flock.

An Omen Of Doom And Other Myths Surrounding Solar Eclipses - Debunking solar eclipse myths: Get the truth behind the scientific phenomenon that has brought fear and fascination throughout history.

Storing electrons from hydrogen for clean chemical reactions - Researchers from Kyushu University have developed a hydrogen energy carrier to address some of the biggest hurdles in the path toward a sustainable hydrogen economy.

New method provides automated calculation of surface properties in crystals - Computer-based methods are becoming an increasingly powerful tool in the search for new materials for key technologies such as photovoltaics, batteries, and data transmission.

Daily Telescope: Peering into the remnants of an 800-year-old supernova - Incomplete explosions can leave a kind of "zombie" star.

What Google’s New AI Fruit Fly Can Teach Us about Real Behavior - To learn how to move, groom itself and flap its wings, a fruit fly AI devoured hours of video of real insects

How to stop space exploration being a pain in the back - Astronauts can sometimes up to 8cm after they’ve been in space, and now Australian health specialists are working with NASA to make their work less of a pain in the back.

VR headsets vulnerable to 'Inception attacks' — where hackers can mess with your sense of reality and steal your data - Popular VR headsets like the Meta Quest or Apple Vision Pro can be broken into, with hackers adding fake experiences called "inception layers" that let them manipulate how a user behaves.

Bifunctional catalyst enables high-performance batteries for sustainable energy storage - Zinc–nitrate batteries are a primary non-rechargeable energy storage system that utilizes the redox potential difference between zinc and nitrate ions to store and release electrical energy.

Team discovers fundamentally new way to detect radiation involving cheap ceramics - The radiation detectors used today for applications like inspecting cargo ships for smuggled nuclear materials are expensive and cannot operate in harsh environments, among other disadvantages.

NASA’s OSIRIS-REx Asteroid Sample Is Already Rewriting Solar System History - Scientists have scarcely begun studying pristine material from asteroid Bennu brought back to Earth by the OSIRIS-REx mission, but have already found several surprises

Study unlocks the power of visible light for sustainable chemistry - A breakthrough in sustainable molecular transformations has been achieved by researchers at the University of Helsinki.

Rampaging vines are slowly strangling tropical forests - Called lianas,these vines are growing out of control.

Blood, sweat, and water: New paper analytical devices easily track health and environment - When you need to measure white blood cell counts, it usually involves trips to clinics and expensive equipment for analysis.

Inspiring Indigenous scientist empowers First Nations youths - Meet Dr Katrina Wruck, a First Nations scientist is changing the world of environmental chemistry and inspiring indigenous youth.

Scientists Are Sweating Over Freakishly High Marine Heat - This story was originally published by The Guardian and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration.

Dogs trained to detect PTSD stress in human breath - A new proof-of-concept study indicates that assistance dogs might be able to be trained to detect an oncoming PTSD flashback.

DART Changed the Shape of Asteroid Dimorphos, not Just its Orbit - On September 26th, 2022, NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) collided with the asteroid Dimorphos, a moonlet that orbits the larger asteroid Didymos.

Cosmochemistry: Why study it? What can it teach us about finding life beyond Earth? - Universe Today has had some fantastic discussions with researchers on the importance of studying impact craters, planetary surfaces, exoplanets, astrobiology, solar physics, comets, planetary atmospheres, and planetary geophysics, and how these diverse scientific fields can help researchers and the public better understand the search for life beyond Earth.

E-waste drawers of doom growing, say campaigners - Our household hoards of unused electricals and broken tech are growing, recycling campaigners warn.

Maximising Impact: Professor Andy Hill’s Journey - Be inspired by Professor Andy Hill’s journey from medicinal science breakthroughs on prions and neurodegenerative disorders to Deputy Vice Chancellor at VU.

Webb Finds Deep Space Alcohol and Chemicals in Newly Forming Planetary - Since its launch in 2021, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has made some amazing discoveries.

Mercury is the Perfect Destination for a Solar Sail - Solar sails rely upon pressure exerted by sunlight on large surfaces.

Stardust found in ancient extraterrestrial meteorite is older than the Sun - A clue from before our Sun was born has been left behind by a recently discovered type of star.

March 27, 2024

The Delta IV Heavy, a rocket whose time has come and gone, will fly once more - The final Delta IV Heavy rocket is scheduled to launch Thursday, weather permitting.

Light colour is less important for the internal clock than originally thought - Vision is a complex process.

Quantum computing progress: Higher temps, better error correction - Amazon, IBM, and traditional silicon makers are all working toward error correction.

England sewage spills more than double in 2023 - Environment Agency data shows sewage spilled into England's waterways for over 3.6 million hours last year.

Puerto Rico declares public health emergency as dengue cases rise - Cases so far are up 140 percent compared to this point last year.

THE ABSTRACT: Admiration, lust, and language weave together in “The Extinction of Irena Rey” - “The Extinction of Irena Rey” is a whirlwind novel that vividly brings the Polish Białowieża Forest to life, offering readers a peek behind the curtain of the intense world of translation.

Event Horizon Telescope captures stunning new image of Milky Way’s black hole - There are also hints of an elusive high-energy jet, similar to larger M87* black hole.

Fewer hospital admissions when people are fitter - People who maintain or increase their aerobic fitness are at less risk of being hospitalized in future, particularly if they were hospitalized previously.

How Much Carbon Can a Tree Really Store? - A new study says climate change is messing with the math.

The Women Who Found Liberation in Seaweed - How a shared love of algae got a community of women hooked on marine science.

Long-period oscillations control the Sun's differential rotation - The interior of the Sun does not rotate at the same rate at all latitudes.

The company building a rotating detonation engine is pushing the tech forward - "I'm convinced that this is going to be the engine that unlocks the hypersonic economy."

Eruption in Iceland Going Strong After Almost Two Weeks - The eruptions on the Reykjanes Peninsula had been holding to a pattern of inflation and then a brief eruption.

Why the Baltimore bridge collapsed so quickly - The immense power of a container ship shouldn’t be underestimated.

New Research Avenues Provide Hope for Metastatic Disease - Learn about the latest cellular studies that help researchers discover the mechanisms of cancer metastasis.

Global Warming Is Slowing the Earth’s Rotation - Drastic polar ice melt is slowing Earth’s rotation, counteracting a speedup from the planet’s liquid outer core.

4,000-Year-Old Bronze Age Teeth Chart The Changes In Human Diet Over Time - Archaeologists have faced challenges in acquiring full genomes from oral bacteria for years, but two ancient teeth found in Ireland have now helped fill in the history of oral health.

Artificial reef designed by MIT engineers could protect marine life, reduce storm damage - Engineers designed an 'architected' reef that can mimic the wave-buffering effects of natural reefs while providing pockets for marine life.

Electronic “soil” enhances crop growth - Barley seedlings grow on average 50% more when their root system is stimulated electrically through a new cultivation substrate.

How jellyfish regenerate functional tentacles in days - At about the size of a pinkie nail, the jellyfish species Cladonema can regenerate an amputated tentacle in two to three days — but how?

Neutron star jets move at one-third the speed of light - In a world first, the ultra-fast speeds of neutron stars’ powerful jets have been recorded.

How Earth’s most powerful ocean current changed over the past 5.3 million years - The Antarctic Circumpolar Current is the most powerful current system on Earth.

First-Ever Magnetic Map of Milky Way’s Black Hole Reveals a Mystery - Polarized light from Sagittarius A*, our galaxy’s supermassive black hole, shows swirling magnetic fields that may hint at the presence of an unseen jet

Persistent hiccups in a far-off galaxy draw astronomers to new black hole behavior - Astronomers have found that a previously quiet black hole, which sits at the center of a galaxy about 800 million light years away, has suddenly erupted, giving off plumes of gas every 8.5 days before settling back to its normal, quiet state.

Robot, can you say 'cheese'? - What would you do if you walked up to a robot with a human-like head and it smiled at you first?

Baltimore Bridge Collapse Wreaks Havoc on Coal, Car Supply Chains - The sudden destruction of the Francis Scott Key Bridge at the Port of Baltimore has implications for some of the largest U.S. energy industries

The Big Picture: Pluto’s Big Heart. - The discovery of a heart-shaped glacier on Pluto, informally known as Tombaugh Regio, has captivated scientists and space enthusiasts alike.

Why Do Colors Change during a Solar Eclipse? - When the moon fully eclipses the sun, it’s not just the sky that changes.

Practicing Yoga Can Help Prevent Alzheimer's Disease - Yoga may be able to give your body and brain the boost it needs.

The Researcher Who Explores Computation by Conjuring New Worlds - Russell Impagliazzo studies hard problems, the limits of cryptography, the nature of randomness and more.

£5bn Thames super sewer completed - The 16-mile tunnel across central London will capture raw sewage that would have spilled into the river.

Clostridia to the Rescue - Some commensal bacteria help shore up intestinal walls in mice, which can prevent food allergies.

'Uncertain,' a New Podcast Series on the Joys of Not Knowing - Does the word "uncertainty" make you nervous?

What You Need To Know Before Cataract Surgery - Cataract surgery removes the clouded lens of the eye and replaces it with a new, clear lens

Maximizing Biomarker Discovery with the Six-Base Genome - A multiomic sequencing approach helps scientists capture more biomarker information through liquid biopsy.

Five Megastructures From The European Stone Age Still Around Today - An examination of five of the most stunning neolithic buildings that are still standing today, in some form.

Making long-term memories requires nerve-cell damage - Just as you can't make an omelet without breaking eggs, scientists have found that you can't make long-term memories without DNA damage and brain inflammation.

More efficient TVs, screens and lighting - New multidisciplinary research could lead to more efficient televisions, computer screens and lighting.

Sweet success: Sugarcane's complex genetic code cracked - Scientists created a highly accurate reference genome for one of the most important modern crops and found a rare example of how genes confer disease resistance in plants.

A solar cell you can bend and soak in water - Researchers have developed an organic photovoltaic film that is both waterproof and flexible, allowing a solar cell to be put onto clothes and still function correctly after being rained on or even washed.

Scientists extract genetic secrets from 4,000-year-old teeth to illuminate the impact of changing human diets over the centuries - Researchers have recovered remarkably preserved microbiomes from two teeth dating back 4,000 years, found in an Irish limestone cave.

Want to feel young? Protect your sleep - Do you ever find yourself longing for the energy and vitality of your younger years?

Risk factors for faster aging in the brain revealed in new study - Researchers have used data from UK Biobank participants to reveal that diabetes, traffic-related air pollution and alcohol intake are the most harmful out of 15 modifiable risk factors for dementia.

Astronomers unveil strong magnetic fields spiraling at the edge of Milky Way's central black hole - A new image from the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) collaboration has uncovered strong and organized magnetic fields spiraling from the edge of the supermassive black hole Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*).

Distant 'space snowman' unlocks mystery of how some dormant deep space objects become 'ice bombs' - Researchers found that the double-lobed object, which is officially named Kuiper Belt Object 486958 Arrokoth and resembles a snowman, may have ancient ices stored deep within it from when the object first formed billions of years ago.

Milk on ice: Antarctic time capsule of whole milk powder sheds light on the enduring qualities--and evolution--of dairy products past and present - In a remarkable discovery, whole milk powder manufactured in New Zealand in 1907 and transported to Antarctica with explorers seeking the South Pole was unveiled after more than a century.

Old immune systems revitalized in mouse study, improving vaccine response - Those with aging immune systems struggle to fight off novel viruses and respond weakly to vaccination.

Evolution of the most powerful ocean current on Earth - The Antarctic Circumpolar Current plays an important part in global overturning circulation, the exchange of heat and CO2 between the ocean and atmosphere, and the stability of Antarctica's ice sheets.

Does Long-Term Benadryl Use Increase Dementia Risk? - Benadryl, which contains diphenhydramine, is a drugstore mainstay and just one medication out of many that could possibly damage brain health

New technique incorporates carbon-14 in a single step for safer, more efficient drug discovery - McGill researchers have discovered a safer and more efficient technique for testing new drugs while they are in development.

Deciphering a dance of electrons and water molecules - A research project at EPFL has succeeded in decoding the complex dance of electrons in water, a major step in understanding a critical process of many chemical phenomena, and that might be the first step to improving energy conversion technologies.

How Animal Brains Tell Friends from Strangers - A small section of the mouse brain’s hippocampus uses specific neural codes to denote social familiarity and identity

Biggest find of Triceratops fossils proves they were social dinosaurs - A haul of 1,200 bones and bone fragments of at least 5 Triceratops horridus individuals has been dug up over the course of 10 years at a quarry in Wyoming, US.

Solar Eclipse Experiment Will Fly a Kite to Avoid Cloudy Skies - A kite-borne experiment will observe the sun’s mysterious corona during the upcoming total solar eclipse

Implantable batteries can run on the body's own oxygen - From pacemakers to neurostimulators, implantable medical devices rely on batteries to keep the heart on beat and to dampen pain.

Viral Genetics Confirms What On-the-Ground Activists Knew Early in the Mpox Outbreak - Molecular biology could have changed the mpox epidemic—and could stop future outbreaks

How Visually Impaired People Can Experience Solar Eclipses - Scientists have created a guide to the 2024 total solar eclipse for the visually impaired that includes tactile graphics

Could we build a mecha? - In the movies, mechas come equipped with all kinds of abilities.

Mucus Saves Your Life Every Day - The slimy substance is so powerful that doctors once made hog stomach mucus milkshakes to treat ulcers.

Australia’s riddled with salty groundwater. What can land managers do? - In March 1924 the railway engineer W.E.

Human movement out of Africa had a long pitstop - A region of modern-day Iran likely served as a hub of long-term human occupation for thousands of years, say a cross-disciplinary team studying migration patterns.

New hope for patients as genetic mutation causing psoriasis is identified - We now know that mutations in the gene IKBKB causes the chronic inflammatory skin disease psoriasis, according to a new Australian study published overnight in the journal Nature Communications.

Scientists discover how caterpillars can stop their bleeding in seconds - Blood is a remarkable material: it must remain fluid inside blood vessels, yet clot as quickly as possible outside them, to stop bleeding.

Meet the Killer Whales You Thought You Knew - John Ford still recalls the first time he heard them.

Advancing towards sustainability: Turning carbon dioxide and water into acetylene - Reaching sustainability is one of humanity's most pressing challenges today—and also one of the hardest.

Orca Groups with Radically Different Cultures Are Actually Separate Species - “Resident” and “transient” killer whales, or orcas, have unique hunting habits and genetics, proving they are in fact separate species

March 26, 2024

Cows in Texas and Kansas test positive for highly pathogenic bird flu - The risk to the public is low, and the milk supply is safe.

Taylor Swift fans dancing and jumping created last year’s “Swift quakes” - "Shake It Off" produced tremors equivalent to a local magnitude earthquake of 0.851.

President Biden DId The Only Possible Thing To Prop Up The Floundering Electric Car Business - President Biden and his economists don't really believe in the free market, they instead believe that government 'primes the pump' of the economy, so if they subsidize and mandate something, like ethanol in gasoline or electric cars or solar panels, a miracle of capitalism will occur and the industry will take off.