The results are in – the winner of Fat Bear Week 2024 is none other than everyone’s favorite mama bear, Grazer. This is the second year in a row that Grazer (more formally known as 128) has been declared Katmai National Park and Preserve’s chonky champion, beating out her rival Chunk (32) to achieve 71,248 […]
Magnetic Field Of The Sun’s Atmosphere Seen Like Never Before Thanks To 114 New Maps
Researchers have released the most accurate and consistent map of the magnetic fields in the Sun’s corona – its tenuous but incredibly hot atmosphere. The magnetic fields play a role in the heating of the corona, which is hundreds of times hotter than the surface of the Sun, reaching millions of degrees. It also determines […]
Watch “World’s Most Advanced Humanoid Robot” Have A Conversation With New Buddy Azi
You might have already had the impressive, albeit slightly uncomfortable, experience of meeting Ameca, one of the “world’s most advanced human-shaped robots” that can mimic a range of human expressions. Well, she’s now got a pal called Azi. With the aid of artificial intelligence (AI), the couple can share expressive conversations that are equal parts […]
Structures In The Mariana Trench Appear To Be Converting Energy In A Life-Like Process
Researchers studying hydrothermal vents in the depths of the Pacific Ocean’s Mariana Trench have found tiny inorganic structures performing energy conversions associated with life. There are a number of ideas about how life began on Earth, with the most widely favored being that it emerged near hydrothermal vents in the oceans billions of years in […]
Wonderfully Weird Lifeforms Spotted On A Deepsea Volcano Near American Samoa
A new crowd of deep-sea weirdos and alien-like lifeforms have been captured on camera by scientists exploring the depths of the ocean around American Samoa. The beautiful footage (below) comes from the E Mamana Ou Gataifale II expedition by the Ocean Exploration Trust, NOAA Ocean Exploration, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, and the Woods […]
What Happened To Nan Madol? The Answer Holds A Grim Warning For Our Future
We live in unprecedented times. With global average temperatures soaring to levels last recorded… well, never, extreme weather events set to disrupt the lives of basically everyone from now on, and sea levels rising, it’s hard to imagine how societies worldwide going to cope in the near future. But perhaps we can take some cues […]
How The Bible Of Demonology Sparked A Brutal 300-Year Witch Hunt
Early modern Europe was no place for witches. Over the course of about 300 years up until the end of the 18th century, some 90,000 of the spell-casting hags were put on trial, with half being burned at the stake, thrown off cliffs, or put to death via other horrific means – and all because […]
The Deepest Gorge In North America May Actually Lie In This Alaskan Glacier
Plunging thousands of meters beneath the ice in Alaska’s Ruth Glacier is possibly the deepest gorge in North America. Known as the “Great Gorge” because of its vast size, the icy corridor has proven difficult to accurately measure, but new research might just have changed that. Currently, Hells Canyon, on the border of Oregon and […]
Why Can Humans Hold Our Breath For Longer When Underwater?
You may have noticed, on a lazy day spent in a swimming pool, that it is somewhat easier to hold your breath for longer when you are underwater. This may seem weird, given the increased pressure pushing on your chest. But it’s a phenomenon, and one that we share with our mammal friends, known simply […]
NASA Astronaut Footage Shows Terrifying Scale Of Hurricane Milton
The scale of Hurricane Milton, the Category 5 storm currently predicted to make landfall as a Category 3 storm along the west-central coast of Florida late on Wednesday or early Thursday morning, has been captured in footage from the International Space Station (ISS). Several angles of the hurricane were captured, by cameras attached to the […]
Hurricane Milton Doubling In Size, Set To Be One Of The Most Destructive Atlantic Storms
Hurricane Milton, expected to be one of the most destructive Atlantic storms in recent years, is currently traveling across the Gulf of Mexico and is set to make landfall tonight (Wednesday, October 9) on the west coast of Florida around Tampa and Sarasota. As of Wednesday morning, Hurricane Milton has returned to being classed as […]
Nobel Prize In Chemistry Awarded For Unlocking Proteins’ Secrets
The winners of the 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry are David Baker for computational protein design, plus Demis Hassabis and John M. Jumper for an AI model used for protein structure prediction. The prize is worth 11 million Swedish kronor (around US$1 million at time of publishing), half of which will go to Baker and […]
Mystical Underwater World Of Tadpoles Wins Wildlife Photographer Of The Year 2024
The Natural History Museum, London’s Wildlife Photographer Of The Year competition has announced its winner – and the breathtaking snap offers the chance to immerse yourself in the magical underwater world of the western toad tadpole. Now in its 60th year, Wildlife Photographer of the Year celebrates the diversity and beauty of life on Earth, […]
We May Only Ever Detect Signals From Long-Dead Alien Civilizations
A new study has proposed the latest in a long line of bleak solutions to why we haven’t yet found signs of intelligent life out there in the universe. The universe is a big place. With 200 billion trillion (ish) stars in the universe and 13.7 billion years that have elapsed since it all began, […]
“Billionaires, Fund A Mission To The Ice Giants”: Prof Brian Cox On New ‘Solar System’ Series
Where in space would you explore if money were no object? What burning scientific question would you want to see answered? Professor Brian Cox has a clear answer about that. He would like to send two missions out to the ice giants, Uranus and Neptune, he told us. The distant planets have only been visited […]
Hurricane Milton Goes From Category 1 To 5 In Just 12 Hours: A Monstrous New Record
Hurricane Milton evolved from a Category 1 to Category 5 storm in under 12 hours – one of the most rapid intensifications ever observed in the Atlantic – to become the fifth strongest Atlantic hurricane in history, with wind speeds of up to 285 kilometers (180 miles) per hour. The monstrous storm started to gather […]
Human-Driven Extinctions Have Destroyed 3 Billion Years Of Avian Evolutionary History
Humans individually may love birds, but perhaps only amphibians have suffered more from our rise. An attempt to tally up the avian score has revealed just how damaging we have been – not only to the birds themselves, but also to ecosystems that depended on species that have now passed on. The ecological toll of […]
How Many Times Could Earth Fit Inside The Sun?
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COVID-19 Damages A Major Brain “Control Center”, Ultra-Powerful MRI Scans Reveal
Super-powered brain scans are giving scientists a deeper look at how COVID-19 affects the brain, and the findings could explain many of the lasting symptoms that some patients experience. New data shows that COVID can damage the brainstem, a vital control center for all sorts of bodily functions – from breathing to blood pressure. “Things […]
Psilocybin Makes Rats More Optimistic, Potentially Explaining Its Benefits For Depression
Psilocybin puts rats in a more optimistic frame of mind long after any hallucinogenic effects would have passed, a new study finds. As a result, the authors conclude, the rats were more likely to remember their successes and forget their failures, motivating them to keep trying for rewards. There is considerable evidence that psilocybin can […]