New research is showing that the population of wolves living in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone (CEZ) is genetically different from their counterparts outside of the region. Remarkably, the irradiated wolves appear to have developed protective mutations that increase their odds of surviving cancer. Populations of wolves, as well as other animals, have boomed in the […]
Death Star-Shaped Moon Of Saturn May Be Hiding A Young Ocean Inside
Oceans inside moons seem to be quite common among the satellites of the giant planets of the Solar System, and researchers believe they can add one more to the list: Mimas. The small Saturnian moon is popular for its cratered surface, one of which makes it look remarkably like Star Wars’ Death Star. But it […]
Enormous Next-Generation Particle-Smasher Proposed To Hunt The Dark Universe
In early February, CERN’s restricted council held a special meeting to discuss one important item in its future: the next particle accelerator that they are going to build. CERN is home to the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the most complex single machine in the world. The proposed design for the next-generation international collaboration particle smasher […]
Pacific Plate May Be Tearing At Its Core, Redefining Current Theories
Geologists have unearthed new evidence that the Pacific Ocean plate is wracked with colossal faults, caused by the plate slowly drifting westward and plunging into the Earth’s mantle. The researchers believe their findings, if accurate, have the potential to redefine what we previously understood about how our planet works. From our human perspective, Earth seems […]
Sending Neutrino Beams Through The Earth Could Find And Destroy Nuclear Weapons
Since the creation of nuclear weapons, we have lived in a world where an all-out war could destroy humanity many times over. Studies have found that just 100 or so warheads could plunge the world into nuclear winter, which could claim up to 1 billion lives. As of 2023, we have an approximated 12,500 nuclear […]
Chariklo’s Strange Ring System Might Be The Product Of A Shepherding Moon
The centaur Chariklo has two dense rings orbiting it. In attempting to explain their survival astronomers have proposed a yet-to-be-detected satellite, which they say may be keeping the rings in line. Saturn’s rings have been known for almost four centuries, but in the last 50 years we have learned they are only the most dramatic […]
Never-Before-Seen Mineral Found On The Moon By Chinese Mission
Back in December 2020, Chang’e-5 flew to the Moon, landed, collected rocks, and brought them back to Earth. This was the first collection of lunar material in 45 years and it is delivering fascinating insights into the composition and history of the Moon. The samples have once again confirmed the presence of water on the […]
Deep Abandoned Mine In Finland To Be Turned Into A Giant Gravity Battery
One of the deepest metal mines in Europe – the Pyhäsalmi Mine in central Finland – is to be turned into an enormous gravity battery capable of storing 2 megawatts of energy. As the planet moves towards renewable energy, we are faced with the problem of storage. The problem is that the wind doesn’t blow […]
100-Million-Year-Old Frog With Eggs In Its Belly May Have Met Grisly End While Mating
An incredibly preserved fossilized frog, dating to over 100 million years ago, has been discovered in China. Not only is it the oldest such frog ever found, but it still has a belly full of eggs, offering palaeontologists a fascinating snapshot in time and a rare glimpse into the species’ life history. The team behind […]
Getting Jabbed In Both Arms Could Boost Immune Response To COVID-19 Vaccines
Researchers are always looking for ways to make vaccines more effective, but the latest find is a bit of an unusual one. According to a new study, alternating arms when receiving the first two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine can modestly improve the body’s immune response. The potential impact of switching arms for multi-dose vaccines […]
How Do Crystals Grow? In A Two-Step Process Driven By Their Kinks
New light has been shed on how molecules leave a solution to become part of a growing crystal. Since crystals’ properties depend on their size and shape, and these are influenced by their growth rate, the research opens the door to modifying crystal formation to improve usability. Crystals are far more common and crucial than […]
People Are Asking If A Really Strong Magnet Could Affect Your Blood
In a famous scene in X2 (of the first cinematic X-Men films), Magneto uses his magnetic powers to rip the iron out of somebody’s body, before going on a rampage using the iron like a bullet. Of course, the movie goes to great pains to show that the reason Magneto is able to do this […]
“Speckles” The Rare Piebald Bottlenose Dolphin Is A First For Australia
A rare, unusually-colored bottlenose dolphin has caught the eye of Australian researchers. Its unique skin pattern has been attributed to piebaldism, earning the marine mammal the nickname “Speckles”. Researchers say that Speckles is the first piebald dolphin ever seen in Australian waters. Speckles was spotted near a research vessel in Hervey Bay, Queensland, on the […]
Perseverance Snaps Final Resting Place Of Ingenuity, The Helicopter That Flew On Another Planet
NASA’s Perseverance rover has captured an image of the Ingenuity helicopter’s final resting place, after it stopped functioning late last month. Ingenuity was an impressive little robot, becoming the first to make a powered, controlled flight on a planet other than Earth in April 2021. That’s no easy feat, given the wildly different conditions on […]
US Court To Decide Whether Fluoride In Drinking Water Lowers IQ
A legal battle over the safety of adding fluoride to drinking water in the US is currently in full swing, with plaintiffs arguing that the chemical poses a threat to the neurodevelopment of children. Judge Edward Chen of the US District Court for the Northern District of California has been hearing expert testimony since January […]
New Jellyfish Species Rocking A Bright Red Cross Identified In Japan
New species are discovered all the time – and while some fit nicely into previously created taxonomic families, others are so funky that they get a whole new naming system created just for them. Introducing the St George’s Cross Medusa (Santjordia pagesi) a brand new medusa jellyfish species from deep waters off the coast of […]
China Is Building World’s First “Super Dam” Along The Yarlung Zangbo River
China is the undisputed world champion of dam building. Not only do they have more working large dams than every other country in the world, but they also hold the record for the largest capacity hydroelectric power station in operation: the Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River. Now, the East Asian superpower is in […]
Why Don’t Lakes Just Absorb Into The Ground?
Sit with your own thoughts for long enough and you’ll come up with all sorts of questions. If you banged a tuning fork in space, would it vibrate forever? Is Jurassic Park possible? Does musical genre affect the flavor of cheese? And on today’s roster: why doesn’t the water in lakes just absorb into the […]
Enormous Extinct Deer Had Even More Enormous Antlers – But We Don’t Know Why
Meet the Irish elk: an enormous extinct deer with a pair of comically large antlers to boot. The ancient behemoth’s unusual appendages, which measure a whopping 3.5 meters (11.5 feet) from tip to tip, may look impressive but we’re not exactly sure why they’re quite so big. According to one new study, their size doesn’t […]
Giant Planets Start Out As Flattened Disks Before They Become Spherical
Prior to achieving their final form, gas planets take on flattened shapes technically known as oblate spheroids, a new study has found. Although the Earth today is still classified as an oblate spheroid, thanks to slight flattening at the poles, the protoplanet stage is drastically flatter, according to newly published modelling, looking more like an […]
