The Amazon rainforest could soon be reaching a tipping point, according to a new study, with a combination of human-induced pressures such as global warming and deforestation pushing it towards either partial or, in the worst-case scenario, total collapse, by 2050. “We are approaching a potential large-scale tipping point, and we may be closer (both […]
Ringwoodite: A Unique Mineral That Can “Store Water” And Reveal Secrets Of Inner Earth
The minerals that lie deep beneath our feet hold all sorts of secrets about our planet, like the superdeep diamonds that tell us about the formation of continents. But there’s one particularly rare, buried mineral you may well have never heard of, and it too has uncovered some mysteries. Its name? Ringwoodite. What is ringwoodite? […]
This Supplement Reverses Hallmarks Of Old Age And Promotes Healthier Aging
Research has found that supplementing older people with GlyNAC – a combination of glycine and N-acetylcysteine – wards off several key indicators of aging and keeps people healthier as they age. Not only that, but older people also appeared to be fitter and stronger with slimmer waistlines after taking the GlyNAC supplement. As reported in the study, […]
Earth’s Rarest Natural Element Will Vaporize Itself If You Collect Too Much Of It
At last count, there are 118 confirmed elements in the periodic table – yet, out of that huge number, you’re more than nine times more likely to come into contact with just five than the other 113. That’s because, out of all of the dozens of elements found in the Earth’s crust, it’s those five […]
The Daily Life Of A Neanderthal Revealed From The Gunk In Their Teeth
The typical vision of Neanderthals has not been particularly flattering, often featuring a giant club and spear and unfortunate sartorial choices. For years, researchers have worked to overturn this view, albeit with limited evidence. But new research, published today in Nature, provides some of the first nuanced, detailed insights into the everyday lives of Neanderthal. […]
Controversial Physics-Defying Quantum Drive Appears To Be Lost In Space
An experimental quantum drive is missing and presumed lost in space, after the team lost communication with the satellite it was supposed to move. Rogue Space Systems launched the satellite Barry-1 into orbit in November 2023, hitching a lift from the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Unfortunately, the company’s first space mission did not all go […]
Yes, This Heart-Shaped Lake Is Real – But It Has A Deadly History
A picture of a heart-shaped lake definitely sounds like something that’s been photoshopped and does the rounds on Facebook every Valentine’s Day, but the lovely shape of Spirit Lake, Washington, is very much real. However, it hasn’t always looked this way. Rather than the full heart that we can see in satellite imagery today, the […]
Living Ecosystem Below Earth Surface Has Hundreds Of Times More Carbon Mass Than Humans
Beneath your feet in the depths of our planet, there’s an unbelievably vast ecosystem teeming with life. In recent years, a massive international team of scientists revealed how billions upon billions of microorganisms live miles beneath Earth’s subsurface. Presenting their work at the American Geophysical Union’s annual meeting in 2018, the researchers calculated the size […]
The Strange Klerksdorp Spheres Found In 3 Billion-Year-Old Rock
Klerksdorp spheres, found inside pyrophyllite deposits mined in South Africa, are weird. Looking like tiny ancient cricket balls, with seam-like lines around their middle, it’s easy to see why they became the subject of conspiracy theories involving aliens and ancient, forgotten civilizations. In articles in the 1980s, they were speculated to be made by “a higher […]
Dubai’s Double-Skyscraper Set To Be The Longest Cantilevered Building On Earth
One Za’abeel, a double-skyscraper that adorns Dubai’s busy skyline, is set to take the title of the world’s longest cantilever building. In layman’s terms, a cantilever is a structure that sticks out horizontally beyond its vertical support, creating an overhanging section without the need for columns or supports, appearing as if it’s defying gravity. One […]
An Ancient Planet May Be Trapped Near The Center Of The Earth
Inside our planet, there are the remains of another world. No, we are not peddling some conspiracy theory like the hollow Earth. We are talking about the remains of Theia, the Mars-sized object that, billions of years ago, hit our planet and led to the formation of the Moon. Its remains were simply incorporated with […]
World’s Smallest Humanoid Robot Has Been Built By Group Of Schoolboys
The smallest human-like robot ever to exist has been created by a group of four teenagers in Hong Kong. Measuring just 14.1 centimeters (5.55 inches) in height, the tiny gizmo is 11.3 millimeters (0.44 inches) shorter than the previous world record holder, which was built by Zain Ahmad Qureshi from Pakistan in 2022. Verified by […]
What Is Devil’s Gold And Why Is It So Dangerous?
In eastern Java, Indonesia lies the Kawah Ijen volcano, which has become something of a tourist hotspot in recent years. This is because, at night, otherworldly blue lights appear on its darkened slopes. These ghostly pale fires are caused by the large amounts of sulfur deposits on the volcano’s surface. When the high temperatures from […]
World’s Largest Solar Plus Battery Storage System Goes Live In Mojave Desert
In California’s share of the Mojave Desert, one of the sunniest places on Earth, the largest single solar and battery energy storage project in the world has just become fully operational: the Edwards & Sanborn Solar and Energy Storage facility. Consisting of almost 2 million solar panels, the sprawling solar farm has 875 megawatts of […]
The Sun Is A Star. But Is Every Star A Sun?
One of humanity’s great coming-of-age moments was the realization that the Sun is a star, falling somewhat unexceptionally within the range of those we see; made special only by our relationship to it. However, stars are not clones of each other. So do all other stars count as suns? Do any? If only some do, […]
The Palm Jumeirah Is The World’s Largest Archipelago Of Artificial Islands
Dubai is home to many a feat of engineering, but perhaps one of its most iconic is the Palm Jumeirah. This palm-tree-shaped archipelago of artificial islands began construction in 2001 and has since gone on to become one of the city’s most recognizable landmarks. So how do you make the world’s biggest artificial set of […]
What’s Going On With Voyager 1? NASA’s Interstellar Spacecraft’s Future Looks Uncertain
Voyager 1 is the furthest any human object has ever gone from Earth. It is now over 24 billion kilometers (15 billion miles) from our planet, flying through interstellar space. Since its launch in August 1977, the spacecraft has remained in contact with Earth, but over the last several months, that communication has become non-sensical. […]
Don’t Touch The Blue Sea Dragons. No Really, Don’t
Species within ecosystems are intrinsically linked. Whether they time the birth of their offspring with the sea ice or have evolved to live aboard another organism, these connections can be found time and time again in nature. Now, on a beach on North Padre Island off the coast of Texas, yet another example has appeared […]
Déjà Vu? Italy Plans To Build World’s Longest Suspension Bridge To Sicily
After decades of dreaming, Italy has once again set its sights on building the longest suspension bridge in the world to connect the Italian mainland with the island of Sicily. Their vision is a bridge that stretches around 3,300 meters (10,800 feet) over the Strait of Messina, the thin strip of sea between the “toe” […]
Weird Pink “Worm Lizard” Spotted Out Of Hiding For First Time In 90 Years
Being elusive might seem exclusively the realm of spies and space stuff, but animals are pretty good at it too, and one that takes the trait to heart is the Somali sharp-snouted worm lizard. Having not been officially seen in over 90 years, the odd-looking creature has now made a reappearance. The Somali sharp-snouted worm […]
