The European Space Agency’s Gaia is for sure a marvel of engineering and an incredible observatory. It is busy creating the most accurate map of the Milky Way, measuring the position and motions of 1.8 billion stars so far. Scientists have published several papers that show that the data from the observatory goes far beyond […]
Aye-Ayes Are One Of Madagascar’s Strangest Lifeforms
Aye-ayes (Daubentonia madagascariensis) are the largest nocturnal primate in the world and almost undoubtedly the most distinct of all lemurs. Feared and revered in equal parts, this goblin-like native of Madagascar is a beautiful example of how evolution can drive the creation of some wonderfully weird creatures. With straggly hair and beaming eyes, photographs of […]
How To Send A Mission To Neptune On The Cheap
Aerospace engineers have proposed a way to send a mission to study Neptune for a fraction of the expected cost by using Triton’s atmosphere for the braking maneuver. Whether anyone will be willing to roll the dice on a still very expensive project, sweeping over the giant moon just right, remains to be seen, but […]
Russian Section Of The ISS Springs Third Leak In A Year
Yesterday afternoon, NASA flight controllers spotted something floating around the International Space Station (ISS). Flakes of frozen coolant were seen on the cameras spreading forth from the Russian Nauka module. Following the observations, the leak was confirmed by astronauts on board the space station. “The flight control team informed the crew aboard the space […]
The World’s Only Immortal Animal Can Cheat Death But Doesn’t Last Forever
The immortal jellyfish can cheat death by reverting to its earliest life form when its time is almost up. The remarkable adaptation has made it the subject of research into aging and regeneration, but even the immortal jellyfish can’t live forever. Turritopsis dohrnii is very small, almost the size of a pinky nail, and it […]
3 Out Of 4 Plants That Haven’t Been Named Yet Could Already Be Under Threat
The plants are not all right. The fifth annual State of the World’s Plants and Fungi report from the Royal Botanic Gardens (RBG) Kew has just been released, and some of the headlines make for grim reading: almost half of all flowering plants could be under threat of extinction, and three out of four plants […]
Americans Will Spend More Of Their Life On Prescription Drugs Than Working
A new study has found that an American born in 2019 will spend a larger portion of their life taking prescription drugs than they might in a marriage, working, or in education. Popping a pill might feel like a normal part of your daily routine, but for how long can you expect to do it? […]
Why Not All Of Earth’s Gold and Platinum Are Trapped In The Core
Metals like gold and platinum are precious because they are so rare in the Earth’s crust and mantle. However, they’re not as rare as we would expect them to be. Existing models of the Earth’s formation indicate many heavy metals should have sunk to the core. Humanity’s only exposure should then have been to tiny […]
Geologists Surprised To Find Remains Of An Ancient Unknown Mega-Plate
A geology PhD student at Utrecht University has reconstructed an ancient and previously unknown tectonic plate, thought to once have been a quarter of the size of the Pacific Ocean. As tectonic plates move, large ancient oceanic plates can fall underneath other plates, known as “subduction“. Though largely hidden from the surface, these ancient subducted […]
Football Goalkeepers Sense The World Differently To Everybody Else
Being a successful goalkeeper in football, or soccer, requires not only the capacity to leap and catch, but to make decisions faster than other athletes, let alone the rest of the population. For the first time a study reveals goalkeepers see the world, and process information they receive, differently from everyone else. “Unlike other football […]
Humans Are About To Visit A Metal-Rich Asteroid For The First Time
Asteroid Psyche has been known about for almost two centuries but it’s only in the last few decades that it became clear this was a very weird world worth exploring. This week, NASA is set to launch the Psyche spacecraft, which will travel 3.5 billion kilometers (2.2 billion) miles to visit its namesake in the […]
World’s Only Cold-Blooded Mammal Lived On An Island And Aged Like A Crocodile
One of the things we first learn about the animal kingdom is the difference between warm and cold-blooded animals. While reptiles bask in the sun to get warm, mammals – including those in the sea – must eat regularly to gain the energy needed to sustain a constant internal temperature. However, one mammal, trapped on […]
How Do Our Brains Tell Us That Something Sounds Off?
The brain is wired to recognize when a noise we’re expecting to hear doesn’t sound quite right. You go to close your car door, but don’t push it hard enough – you know you’ve made a mistake when you don’t hear the characteristic thump and click. Until now, scientists weren’t sure exactly how the brain […]
Sunken Nuclear Submarine May Be Leaking Radiation Into The Ocean
On April 7, 1989, a Russian nuclear submarine sank off the coast of Norway after a fire broke out on board as a result of a short circuit. At the time, the sub was carrying two nuclear torpedoes which it took with it to the cold depths of the Arctic Ocean. To this day, neither […]
The Grim Reason Buses And Trains Use Such Weird Fabrics On Seats
The garish prints of public transport seats are pretty hard to miss. Zany, vibrant, often with asymmetric and chaotic patterns, you’ve got to wonder what inspired such eccentric designs. As it turns out, it has a lot to do with grime. The patterns of fabric used on the seats of trains and buses vary across […]
Why Do Stars In JWST Images Have 8 Spikes?
JWST images are nothing if not stunning, bringing incredible resolution to the infrared universe. Showcasing faint nebulae or distant galaxies has a curious side effect: usually, closer and definitely brighter stars appear to gain spikes, six big ones and two small ones. The effect is so iconic that you can use it to confirm at […]
Giant Ancient Underwater Water Reservoir Found Beneath Pacific Ocean
Researchers have discovered a giant reservoir of water, hidden beneath the Pacific Ocean. The find may explain why nearby New Zealand experiences “slow-motion” earthquakes, which can last up to months, while causing relatively little or no damage to the surrounding area. New Zealand’s Hikurangi Subduction Zone, where the Pacific tectonic plate falls underneath the Australian […]
This Little Beauty Is The Margarita Snail, One Of Two Dazzling New Species
Two dazzling new snail species have been discovered by scientists diving in the Florida Keys and Belize. The two snails looked very similar, leading scientists to suspect they were the same species, but sequencing their DNA revealed big differences. The Florida Keys are made up of a string of tropical islands that are home to […]
Ancient Tree Rings Reveal The Most Powerful Solar Storm We’ve Ever Found
Towards the end of the last Ice Age, the Sun experienced a solar storm of staggering power, bombarding the Earth with charged particles that produced a surge in radioactive carbon. Subfossil trees in the French Alps carry the legacy of this event, revealing it as the most powerful of which we can find a record. […]
1,900-Year-Old Child’s Nightgown Discovered In Ancient Cave of Letters
Archaeologists have recently discovered a remarkably well-preserved child’s nightgown complete with unusual “knots” that is estimated to be about 1,900 years old. The garment was found in the famous Cave of Letters in Israel, which has previously yielded other important archaeological finds that provide insights into Jewish history. The Cave of Letters was first discovered […]
