On June 5, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko became the first human to have spent 1,000 days in orbit. The space traveler had already beaten the record of longest time spent beyond Earth back in February, surpassing the record of his countryman Gennady Padalka who was in space for 878 days, 11 hours, 29 minutes, and […]
First Ever Human Case Of H5N2 Bird Flu Leads To Death In Mexico
A man in Mexico has died after contracting the first lab-confirmed human infection with H5N2 bird flu. It’s unclear how the man was exposed to the virus, but this type of avian flu has previously been found in poultry in the country. The risk to the general public is still considered to be low. Advertisement […]
Airlines Explain Why You Rarely See Pilots With Beards
As well as wondering why flight attendants never seem to drink hot drinks and why airplane windows have those tiny little holes in them, you may have wondered at some point why so few pilots have beards. Advertisement While it’s not a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) policy, several big airlines do have strict policies about […]
HIV PrEP Injections You Only Need Every 6 Months Are Being Trialed In The US
Clinical trials of a new form of long-acting pre-exposure prophylaxis for HIV, commonly known as PrEP, have launched in the US. As well as hopefully leading to a new option for HIV prevention, the trials are aiming to address an unmet need in HIV research by focusing on two populations that have often been passed […]
Mastodon Vs Mammoth: What’s The Difference?
Who could resist an ancient elephant-like creature that roamed the Earth long before humans came onto the scene, especially after multiple Ice Age films made us fall in love with Manny. But do you know your mammoths from your mastodons? It’s time to take a closer look at the differences between these two ancient beasts. […]
An Alarming Number Of People Don’t Disclose When They Have An STI
Here’s a statistic that might surprise you: around one in five people in the US have a sexually transmitted infection at any one time. There’s nothing wrong or shameful about that – in this age of modern medicine, many are curable and all are treatable – but if you have one, you at least ought […]
Starship Successfully Completes Fourth Test – And This Time Didn’t Explode
The fourth test of Starship has been a success. The Starship and Super Heavy booster combo lifted off from SpaceX’s Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas, at 7:50 am local time. The test was for Super Heavy to demonstrate that it could land back on Earth and for Starship to successfully reenter through the atmosphere after […]
A Giant Ancient River System Revealed Beneath Antarctica’s Ice
During the mid-late Eocene epoch, 44-34 million years ago, large parts of Antarctica were ice-free, creating room for river systems now long frozen. Sediments from the Amundsen Sea came all the way from the mountain range that spans the continent, revealing there was no inland sea in between to capture them. Advertisement The world was […]
Native Americans Traded Trans-Atlantic Glass Beads Independently Of Europeans
Indigenous Americans played a more active role in shaping early trans-Atlantic trade than they are given credit for. Typically, European colonizers are seen as the main drivers of these ancient exchange networks, yet a new analysis of 370-year-old glass beads indicates that Native communities were conducting their own business transactions independently of any Old World […]
Negative Ions Detected On Far Side Of The Moon By Instrument Aboard Chinese Lander
The European Space Agency (ESA) has announced the detection of negative ions on the lunar surface, days after the Chinese National Space Agency’s Chang’e-6 lander placed their detection equipment on the far side of the Moon. Advertisement Chang’e-6 landed on the Moon at 22:23 UTC on June 1, before collecting samples from the lunar surface […]
Snake-Headed Fish That Can Breathe Air And Slither On Land Caught In Missouri
Is it a snake? Is it a fish? No, it’s a northern snakehead! This bizarre creature – technically a fish, though someone should tell its face – is an invasive species capable of breathing air and slithering like its reptilian doppelganger. Last month, one was caught in Missouri by an astonished angler. Captured on May […]
US Air Force Blasts A Nuclear-Capable Missile Over The Pacific In New Video
In the early hours of Tuesday, the US Air Force test-fired a Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile “to provide confidence in the lethality and effectiveness of the nation’s nuclear deterrent.” Advertisement To flex their muscles, the military also released video footage (below) and images of the missile as it blazed into the sky of California, […]
Australian Magpies Prove Bullies Are Less Intelligent
Australian magpies are renowned for their intelligence, but they’re not all equally smart. A new study shows you can spot a stupid magpie by looking out for the ones who are nasty to their neighbors. Far from aggression being a survival trait, it might even be a response to being too stupid to know how […]
Orangutan Diplomacy: Malaysia’s New Plan To Give Endangered Primates To Palm Oil Partners
Malaysia has announced a plan to send orangutans to its major palm oil trading partners, in an effort to demonstrate its dedication to conserving the endangered species – but the strategy is being called out before it’s even begun. Advertisement The announcement was made by Malaysia’s Plantation and Commodities Minister Johari Abdul Ghani at a […]
STEVE, The Purple Aurora-Like Phenomenon, Has A Mysterious Morning Twin
In recent years skywatchers have been increasingly fascinated by the phenomenon known as STEVE, initially thought to be a type of aurora, but now recognized as being a sort of cousin. However, all STEVEs have been spotted before midnight – and not just because that is when amateurs are out taking photographs. A mirror image […]
Meet Phoenix: The New Exoplanet That Should Be A Bare Rock But Isn’t
Astronomers have discovered a planet that has made them question both what we know about hot Neptunes and what the future of Earth might be like – not bad for a single object. The world is smaller, hotter, and older than scientists expected for its class. Advertisement It is called TIC365102760 b, but nicknamed […]
Despite Failing Gyroscopes, NASA Has A Plan To Keep Hubble Working
Fears of the death of the Hubble Space Telescope have turned out to be greatly exaggerated, with plans announced for it to go on, operating on a single gyroscope. Practical observing time will be reduced, as it will take Hubble longer to move from one target to another, but there are no plans to shut […]
You’re Almost Certainly Pronouncing “Mount Everest” Incorrectly
The tallest mountain in the world is named after George Everest, a British geographer of India who has very little direct connection to the mountain. Some doubt whether he had even laid eyes on the towering landmass. Advertisement Although no doubt honored, even he thought it was a bad idea to name the mountain after […]
Mystery Of What Caused This Giant Hole On Mars – And What Lies Inside?
While snapping photos of the surface of Mars in 2011, the HiRISE instrument aboard the robotic Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spotted a very unusual feature. Advertisement On Pavonis Mons – a large shield volcano in the Tharsis region of volcanic mountains – the camera saw a giant hole, appearing to lead into a large underground cavern. […]
Strange Giant Viruses Found Lurking On Greenland Ice Sheet
Lurking in the snow and frost of Greenland’s ice sheet, mysterious giant viruses has been discovered. They share the ice with an abundance of algae, which means this is the first time these viruses – about which we know relatively little – have been found in such a habitat. But it’s not bad news (unless […]
