News

You may have seen in the news recently that a banana apocalypse is nigh – scientists have heralded an uncertain future for the fruit as it continues to be plagued by a fungal pathogen. It sounds like devastating news for lovers of banoffee pie and banana bread (although maybe not for smoothie fans) – are […]

Ever been at one of those oceanside airports where you take off over the sea and noticed that among the choppy waters are smooth patches? These surface slicks are a perplexing phenomenon, and it turns out they’re a haven for a vast diversity of tiny lifeforms. Advertisement What are those smooth patches out at sea? […]

Late last month, Russian and Chinese bombers staged a joint patrol over the North Pacific Ocean and the Bering Sea near the coast of Alaska, prompting American and Canadian forces to respond. Advertisement Two Russian TU-95 “Bear” bombers and two Chinese Xi’an H-6 bombers were tracked flying in the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) […]

There’s one question that’s crossed many a mind whilst having a paddle at the beach: am I in the sea or the ocean? Saying you’ve dipped your toes in the ocean certainly sounds more impressive, but is there actually a difference between the two? Advertisement Before we dive into it, it’s important to know that […]

A personalized approach to a common Parkinson’s disease treatment may lead to substantially improved results, according to a new study. Deep brain stimulation (DBS), which involves implanting electrodes into the brain to stimulate regions affected by the disease, is usually a standardized treatment – but the study team found that an approach adapted to each […]

Along with summoning beautiful aurora in the night sky around the world, the gusty solar storm that rocked Earth in May this year left another legacy: a new Van Allen Belt looping around the planet.  Advertisement The Van Allen belts are two donut-shaped belts of radiation wrapped around Earth, composed of energetic charged particles trapped […]

The International Astronomical Union (IAU) has passed a resolution to strengthen the work it does in protecting the Dark and Quiet Sky both on the ground and in space. That the resolution would pass was obvious – you wouldn’t expect turkeys to vote for Christmas – but it matters greatly in showing the commitment of […]

The light signals of fireflies appear to have been highjacked by orb-weaving spiders. Scientists believe they have observed the spiders manipulating captive flies so that they flash like females, luring more male fireflies into their trap. Can’t trust anything anymore. The spider is Araneus ventricosus, which is partial to feeding on the firefly species Abscondita […]

A powerful geomagnetic storm that engulfed our planet three months ago altered the atmosphere in ways that have never been seen before. Among the unique phenomena triggered by the event was the appearance of a huge spiral structure in the thermosphere, as well as the complete obliteration of the ionosphere in the mid-latitude region. Advertisement […]

A group of bats that fly as if they’re very proud of their feet have been vindicated with the discovery that their toes have a remarkable talent. When under ultraviolet (UV) light, the fluffy feet of a certain bat in Mexico glow a spooky hue of green and blue, and it’s possible it could be […]

There are technically 50 states in the USA, but let’s face it: some of them are cheating. Take Alaska, for example – clearly a part of Canada, sorry guys, but look at a map – or Hawaii, which is separated from the rest of the states by about 3,860 kilometers (2,400 miles) of ocean and […]

Canadian carbon removal company Deep Sky has announced plans to build the world’s first carbon removal innovation and commercialization center. It’s set to be built in Innisfail, a town about an hour north of Calgary, Alberta. Advertisement The quest for net zero needs to be fought on many fronts. You have your vanguard offense: simply […]

There is something magical about the flight of the swift. They are quick, almost too quick for us to see. Here one moment, the next they are gone, always chasing bugs. Unlike us land animals leaving footprints with every step, each wingbeat leaves no trace of its passage. That is until Xavi Bou started capturing […]

Good sleep is essential for good health, so it’s no wonder you feel crappy when you’ve just woken up at 4.00 am… again. When even a cheeky daytime nap won’t cut it, it’s understandable that people will turn to all sorts of things to try and reach that magic eight hours a night. Some even […]

This week, two new victims at Pompeii were found trying to rescue their valuables but sadly could not rescue themselves, everyone is surprised Stonehenge’s famous Altar Stone doesn’t come from Wales as thought but somewhere else entirely, and we now know where the asteroid that took out the dinosaurs came from. Finally, we delve into […]

At what point in our evolution did humankind start to grapple with the concept of death and mark our mortality with graves? It’s hard to tell without the knowledge of a time-traveling philosopher, but we can learn a lot from the archaeological history of early human burials.  Advertisement Some of the earliest evidence of intentional […]

Ocean Photographer Of The Year 2024 has announced the finalists for this year’s competition, whittled down from some 15,000 entries. Combining shots achieved with the aid of drones and capturing environments some of us might otherwise never see, the competition has brought the oceans to our screens, and picked up a few rather majestic animals […]

Good news for lunar lovers, as the first Supermoon of the year is fast approaching on August 19 at 6:26 pm UTC. It’s also a double whammy of celestial phenomena: as well as being “super”, the Moon will be “blue” – here’s what that all means. Advertisement The Moon’s orbit is not quite a perfect […]

Uranus is filled with surprises and mysteries to solve. As well as probably containing a lot more methane than we thought, there are a few other strange things we found about Uranus when scientists first started looking into it. For instance, why is Uranus (and fellow ice giant Neptune) so far out in the solar […]