The single robot inhabitant of our Moon, Yutu-2, is about to get some well-deserved company in the form of over a dozen multinational rovers and landers. Our moon will join Mars in becoming the second celestial body in our solar system to be positively teaming with little robot scientists. The Moon is currently inhabited by […]
72-Foot Fusion Gun Fires Projectiles At 4.3 Miles Per Second Trying To Create Limitless Energy
Meet the BFG – that’s Big Friendly Gun, though the original word probably wasn’t “friendly” – a 22-meter (72-foot) prototype steel gun that fires a projectile at an astronomical speed towards a fuel pellet to create nuclear fusion reactions. Designed by UK startup First Light Fusion, the gun is designed to achieve fusion without using […]
Before We Knew About The Magnetic Field, People Had An Adorable Explanation For Why Compasses Worked
The world map you are likely familiar with is based on the Mercator projection, a revolutionary way of representing the 3D world on a 2D map created by cartographer Gerardus Mercator in 1569. World-changing though the map was, there are a few strange details on there – like a phantom island labeled “Rupes Nigra” (or […]
NASA Leaves $4 Billion Rocket Outside During Tropical Storm
Tropical Storm Nicole is currently affecting the Bahamas and is expected to make landfall in Florida very soon. The southern states, including Florida, are still recovering from the devastating impact of hurricane Ian. NASA had the Kennedy Space Center under Hurricane Condition III status, securing its facilities as well as deploying the ride-out team. But […]
What Is Greenwashing? And Why Should It Really Annoy You?
Whenever there’s a climate change conference around, there’s one term you can never get away from: “greenwashing.” What Is Greenwashing? Greenwashing is the practice of using media campaigns, PR spin, and distraction to deceive the public into believing an organization’s products, aims, and policies are more environmentally friendly than they actually are. Advertisement It’s an […]
Tales Of A Black Dead Sun Survive Generations After A Total Eclipse
Astronomers are filling in gaps in our knowledge of ancient events by deciphering descriptions from folklore and ancient texts. In accounts of three solar eclipses from the island of Hokkaido, they have found one description that is both poetic and potentially quite scientifically important. Before the mid-19th century, written astronomical records from Hokkaido are sparse, […]
Nine People With Paralysis Walk Again As Neurons Responsible For Recovery Identified
A group of neurons involved in recovery from paralysis has been identified in mice, shedding light on the mechanism that underpins rehabilitation of the spinal cord in response to electrical stimulation. This breakthrough could help in the development of targeted treatments for people with spinal cord injuries. The new study also recruited nine individuals with […]
Don’t Lick The Mystic Toad: National Park Service Asks Visitors To Stop Getting High On Toxins
The National Park Service is begging people to not lick the toxic toad that might make you have a psychedelic trip, no matter how much you want to try it. The Sonoran desert toad, Incilius alvarius, is a large toad that can be found in the southwestern United States and Mexico and is known to […]
Timeline Of A Star Going Supernova Captured In Incredible Single Image
Astronomers have found three observations of how one supernova explosion looked over different days – in a single image. The incredible snapshot did not require a special telescope setup or some cool processing software. The seemingly impossible event is the result of a particular astronomical phenomenon: gravitational lensing. Anything that has mass warps space-time. Big […]
Twitter Has A Solution To The Blue Tick Problem: Add A Second, Uglier Tick
Twitter is making changes to the blue tick verification system for the third time since Elon Musk took over as CEO two weeks ago. The latest change gets the system a little closer to what verification meant before Musk took over, while making people question what a Twitter Blue subscription is for. Shortly after taking […]
Newly Discovered Brain Circuit Explains How Maternal Behaviors Are Learned
New research in mice has identified the brain circuitry involved in the learning of maternal behaviors. The findings could be a first step toward treatments for conditions such as postpartum depression and postpartum psychosis. The study, led by a team at the Medical University of Vienna, Austria, analyzed the behavior of female mice that had […]
There’s A Good Chance You’re Misremembering The January 6 Capitol Riot
The Capitol riot on January 6, 2021, was a pretty significant historical US event which (unless there are any babies out there reading this) we all lived through – but can your memories of the event be trusted? A new study says no, and your memories of the event can be affected by your political […]
Amazingly Preserved Statues Retell History Of War And Peace In Ancient Rome
The discovery of 24 bronze statues in an ancient thermal spring in Tuscany could redefine our understanding of the beginnings of the Roman Empire. Dated to around 2,300 years ago, the incredible figures provide new evidence that the ancient Romans may have prayed alongside their old enemy the Etruscans, even in times of war. Though […]
The 14th Century Was An Utterly Horrific Time To Be A Human
What was the worst time in history to be a human? You could put forward the case that the 20th century was pretty awful, considering it had two world wars and one of the worst pandemics in history. The 17th century was certainly no joke either, and the year 563 CE was pretty dire. But of […]
The Hottest Planet In The Solar System
Defining how hot or cold a planet is can get complicated. Just take Earth as an example. The temperatures in the tropics are definitely different from the temperatures at the poles. Variations in temperature, even extreme ones, are common both in the atmospheres and at locations across the planets. But if we are looking […]
Curiosity Spots Stone Duck On Mars
Would you call me a quack if I were to tell you that there is a duck on Mars? Well, humans love turning vague stimuli into well-known patterns, a phenomenon called pareidolia, but in this case, the fowl similarity of this rock to a duck fits the bill. Alright, enough duck puns and onto the […]
Man Burns Frida Kahlo Drawing To Make NFTs, Sells Only Four, Sparks Criminal Investigation
A Non-Fungible Token (NFT) enthusiast has burned a priceless drawing in the apparently mistaken belief that it would increase the artwork’s value on the blockchain. As well as not recouping anywhere near the artwork’s value, the artist is under investigation by Mexican authorities for the stunt. Businessman Martin Mobarak burned the artwork by acclaimed Mexican […]
Russian Spy Whale Moving To Hammerfest, And Yes That Is The Most Epic Headline We’ve Written In A While
News about potential Russian military recruits fleeing the country for safer, more peaceful climes is hardly rare at the moment. One such story, though, has already found a happy ending – as Hvaldimir, a beluga whale named for Russian President Vladimir Putin, is now hoping to live out his retirement in a 500-acre aquatic sanctuary […]
First Full Sentence Using The Alphabet Is An Anti-Beard Lice Spell
A 3,700-year-old ivory delousing comb found at Tel Lachish, Israel, contains what appears to be the oldest full sentence written using the ancestor of alphabets in the place of its invention. According to a new study, the letters reveal a lot about how the alphabet evolved, plus the concerns of antiquity’s elite. The invention of writing […]
Two Telescopes Team Up To Investigate Technosignature Source Of The WOW! Signal
Earlier this year, an astronomer analyzing thousands of stars in the area the famous “Wow!” signal came from proposed a potential Sun-like star as the source of the mysterious signal that occurred over 40 years ago. Now, astronomers have turned two telescopes on the most promising star – 2MASS 19281982-2640123 – in an attempt to […]
