Corals might appear stationary, but different species are capable of moving more than just their branches. In a new study, the mushroom coral Cycloseris cyclolites has been recorded navigating toward light, suggesting they’ve been underestimated until now. ADVERTISEMENT GO AD FREE “Not all corals are attached to the substrate; some are solitary and free-living, allowing […]
Strange Objects Could Be A New Kind Of Star That’s Inexplicably Icy
Astronomers have discovered two objects that at first looked like a well-known stage in star formation, but also have features that don’t fit that at all. Their forthcoming paper announcing the discovery carries more bewilderment than answers, proving once again we are far from having the galaxy – let alone the universe – figured out. […]
Extreme 9-Kilometer-Per-Second Winds Spotted On Distant Exoplanet Are The Fastest Of Their Kind
Astronomers have measured the wind speeds on a faraway world and found that they without comparison, not only to anything on Earth but also in the Solar System. Exoplanet WASP-127b is a hot Jupiter, a gas giant planet orbiting very close to its star. The system is more than 500 light-years away, and observations suggest […]
There’s A Chirping Chorus In Space Far Beyond The Earth
Electromagnetic chorus waves once thought to only exist close to the Earth have been found at a distance of 165,000 kilometers (102,526 miles) from us. Although that is still less than half the way to the Moon, the discovery indicates this chorus of rising-tone waves may exist far from any planet. ADVERTISEMENT GO AD FREE […]
Females Have Increased Risk Of Long COVID, Says Study Of Over 12,000 Participants
A new study that set out to investigate if the risk of long COVID differed depending on sex has concluded that females are more likely to develop the condition. Understanding how illnesses affect sexes differently can be a crucial step in identifying the biological mechanisms that are making people unwell, and in turn, can highlight […]
China’s “Artificial Sun” Breaks New Record In Longest Sustained Ultra-Hot Plasma
The Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST), known as the “Artificial Sun”, is China’s cutting-edge fusion reactor. Over the last several years, it has consistently broken fusion records, and it can now add a new one to its collection: the longest sustained ultra-hot plasma. They kept it going for 1,066 seconds – that’s 17 minutes and […]
Trust In Science Remains High Across The World
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, there have been wide-scale concerns that science is experiencing a public trust crisis. The rise of misinformation and conspiracy theories, as well as criticisms from high-profile individuals, has led to the idea that science and scientists have lost the confidence of large numbers of people. However, recent research has demonstrated that […]
Trump Says USA Split The Atom. Ernest Rutherford Would Like A Word
A New Zealand mayor has invited the American ambassador for a history lesson, after US President Donald Trump appeared to imply it was the US that split the atom – which it is not alone in and certainly wasn’t the first to do. ADVERTISEMENT GO AD FREE During Trump’s inauguration, he listed off a number […]
Fire Melanism: Why Are Dark Animals More Common Following Wildfires?
Wildfires can have a devastating impact on the environment, but in some parts of the globe they are a fact of life, one that some species have been found to adapt to by changing their coloration in a phenomenon known as fire melanism. ADVERTISEMENT GO AD FREE The coloration that best serves an animal depends […]
Far Below California, The Lithosphere Seems To Be Sinking Down Into Earth’s Mantle
Deep beneath California’s Sierra Nevada mountains, geologists have found evidence of Earth’s rigid outer layer sinking into the mantle, like a sugar cube slowly descending and dissolving into a pool of hot syrup. ADVERTISEMENT GO AD FREE This is known as lithospheric foundering, a process where a portion of Earth’s lithosphere (the rigid outer layer […]
Marsquakes May Resolve One Of The Solar System’s Most Enduring Mysteries
The contrast between two clusters of marsquakes has led two scientists to suspect the internal structure of the Red Planet is quite different between the northern and southern hemispheres. If so, this would be crucial, possibly decisive, evidence in the long-running debate as to why the Martian southern hemisphere is far higher than the north. […]
The Matrix Of Reality: Why Do People Believe In The Simulation Hypothesis?
Have you ever looked at your life or the world around you, or even at the universe more generally, and wondered whether everything is exactly as it seems? If you have felt like this, perhaps you’ve come across potential explanations for what might be going on. One increasingly popular idea is the so-called Simulation Hypothesis […]
Bacteria In This US Lake Evolve In A Never-Ending Loop
Once again, we’re here to tell you that evolution is not always linear. In Wisconsin’s Lake Mendota, for example, bacteria evolve in a kind of endless loop – think Groundhog Day if it were set underwater and on the microscopic scale. ADVERTISEMENT GO AD FREE A new study, led by researchers from the University of […]
Trump Orders US To Leave Paris Climate Agreement And The WHO – Again
Donald Trump is back in the Oval Office, and the US appears set to continue yo-yo-ing in and out of key global health and environmental bodies. On day one of his second act, the Home Alone 2 cameo-maker signed a raft of controversial executive orders – including one pulling the country out of the World […]
Australian Man Realizes Moon Looks Different In Northern Hemisphere After Living There Several Years
An Australian man who moved abroad has revealed that he only realized that the Moon looks different in the Northern Hemisphere after several years of living there. ADVERTISEMENT GO AD FREE Popular TikTok user coreyyy.exe put an appeal out to his followers for any facts which they think should be common knowledge, but for one […]
Visible Comet C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) Might Be Falling Apart
Comet C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) did it! It survived its perilous perihelion, getting ten times closer to the Sun than Earth does. This comet is a sungrazer comet, and the encounter made it bright – so bright that even at a considerable distance, it is visible from Earth. But it is possible that the doom was […]
Denali Vs Mount McKinley: Dispute Around Naming USA’s Tallest Mountain Predates Trump
Among the sweep of executive orders signed by the new US president Donald Trump is the decision to rename Denali as Mount McKinley. It’s a controversial move, but not unprecedented – just the latest chapter in a dispute that’s been going on for decades. ADVERTISEMENT GO AD FREE Standing at 6,190 meters (20,310 feet) tall […]
“Unprecedented” Technology Enables Paralyzed Person To Fly A Quadcopter Just By Thinking
A new brain-computer interface has achieved an “unprecedented” level of control for a person who isn’t able to use their limbs, enabling them to fly a quadcopter in a gaming environment. The technology allows for dexterous finger control by dividing the digits into groups, creating four degrees of freedom when operating a control by thinking. […]
Nuclear Thermal Propulsion Reactor Fuel That Could Take Humans To Mars Tested At NASA Facility
A new type of nuclear thermal propulsion reactor fuel has been successfully tested at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, with hopes that the fuel could take humans to Mars in the not-too-distant future. ADVERTISEMENT GO AD FREE Getting to the Red Planet, as things currently stand, will be a long-haul mission. Mars is, on average, […]
Whale Ancestor Crawled Out Of The Sea 400 Million Years Ago – And Then Crawled Back In
The ancestor of all four-limbed creatures crawled out of the ocean around 400 million years ago. Then, 350 million years later, the ancestors of today’s whale species crawled back in. Its descendants that swim through Earth’s waters might be some of the largest and most talked about ocean species, with seriously impressive hunting techniques and […]