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Humans confirmed the existence of other galaxies surprisingly late. Only 100 years ago, in fact, when Edwin Hubble found a type of star known as Cepheid variables within Andromeda, and used them to measure the galaxy’s distance. Advertisement Since then, astronomy equipment and techniques have advanced, and more and more data has been collected on […]

China has carried out another successful test of their answer to Hyperloop, an ultra-high-speed maglev train that they plan to travel at speeds of 1,000 kilometers (621 miles) per hour. While it hasn’t yet achieved this blazing speed – despite some misleading news reports – the latest tests suggest their pipe dream is going to […]

A new study looking at data from NASA’s Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations (InSight) Lander has found evidence of oceans of liquid water existing below the surface. Advertisement Mars is currently a cold, desert planet, but that hasn’t always been the case. From looking at the formations and features on the planet, we can tell […]

It’s been a pretty good decade so far for witnessing cosmic events. As well as the total solar eclipse and the Sun approaching its peak in activity, creating stunning auroras on Earth, we will soon see an event first recorded in a medieval manuscript, when T Coronae Borealis goes nova. Advertisement But look up at […]

Two polar bears have attacked and killed a person working at a remote radar site in the Canadian Arctic. The fatal attack took place on Thursday, August 8, at the outpost on Brevoort Island in Canada’s far northeastern Nunavut territory, according to Nasittuq Corporation, which runs the facility.  Advertisement “Nasittuq employees responded to the scene […]

On Wednesday, August 14, Mars and Jupiter will appear just 0.3 degrees apart in the sky. This is an exceptionally close passage from our perspective, and if you miss it you will have to wait until 2033 to see a closer one. Advertisement Astronomical events when two objects pass each other in the sky from […]

To study the rapidly changing ecosystems of Antarctica, researchers have recently created the first continent-wide map of its plant life. Advertisement You might expect the color palette of Antarctica to be bright white with the odd icy blue and cold grey, but a surprising amount of green can also be found thanks to mini pockets […]

Time is a pretty interesting concept to get your head around. For instance, thanks to Einstein, we know that time runs faster the further you are from a gravitational field. Advertisement The difference, for observers like us standing on a rocky planet, is generally pretty small, but it is something we have to take into […]

The mysteries of the animal world are plentiful with much about the inner workings of the lives of Earth’s animals still to be uncovered. In the sea slug department, however, there has been something of a breakthrough, as scientists have successfully reared a chromodorid sea slug from egg to adult in a lab for the […]

Horses might be smarter than we give them credit for, a new study has indicated. In the study, horses were rewarded for tapping a target – but their reaction when a time-out penalty was introduced for tapping at the wrong time indicates that horses might have more of an eye for strategy and cost-benefit analysis […]

Imagine spending over 30 years grounded in the Weddell Sea, finally breaking free, only to get stuck again less than four years later – and this time, you can’t stop spinning. That’s the unfortunate reality for the world’s largest iceberg, A23a. Advertisement It was first declared in its “spinning era” by the British Antarctic Survey […]

The discovery of two skeletons at the doomed ancient site of Pompeii has enabled researchers to reconstruct the panicked final moments of those who perished during the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 CE. Identified as a young man and a middle-aged woman, the cursed pair appear to have become trapped in a room in which […]

China has had a bit of a mixed bag in terms of space exploration over the last few years. Following on from several successful missions to recover samples from the Moon, in June the space-faring nation saw one rocket explode after accidentally launching it during a static test. Advertisement Now it appears that a rocket […]

Paignton Zoo in the United Kingdom has welcomed its first Chilean flamingo chicks since 2018, and among the clutch was an egg tended to by a same-sex couple: Curtis and Arthur. The new dads have captured the hearts of many, but it’s by no means the first time this kind of behavior has been seen […]

Even people with little interest in boxing are likely aware of the explosion of anger released when Italian Angela Carini withdrew early from a fight with Algerian Imane Khelif early in the Olympic women’s boxing. The issues raised are not purely scientific, but a great many of the comments about Khelif’s eligibility to compete in […]

Many of us like to jet off on holiday around this time of year, leaving in our plane’s wake a curious white trail. We’ve all seen them, but what are they? The white trails planes leave behind are called contrails, and they’re effectively artificial clouds produced by the water vapor released by aircraft engines. One […]

A potentially life-threatening pathogen has just welcomed a new family member, as researchers have identified another distinct group of Candida auris. The discovery brings the number of known clades of the fungus – an emerging multidrug-resistant superbug – to six. Advertisement C. auris is a type of yeast that can cause severe illness and is […]

On a global scale, the human population is certainly booming. It officially hit the 8-billion mark back in 2022 and is expected to spend the next 60 years or so creeping up to over 10 billion. On a country-wide scale, however, the story is a bit more complex. We know this thanks to the latest […]

A deluge of heavy rain near Lake Pátzcuaro has triggered the collapse of an ancient pyramid in Mexico, just days after the iconic “Double Arch” in Utah’s Glen Canyon National Recreation Area came crashing down into Lake Powell. Both victims of an increasingly wild global climate, according to some, this could also be an indication […]

The United Kingdom has released new voluntary codes of practice for the treatment of crabs, lobsters, and prawns, codes that the organization Crustacean Compassion has stated aren’t in keeping with the recent Animal Welfare Bill that recognized these animals as sentient beings capable of feeling pain. Advertisement The guidance published by Seafish on August 2, […]