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The Minor Planet Center of the International Astronomical Union has announced the names of many new asteroids this summer and, among them, four nuns deserved recognition among the stars. Advertisement They are Sister Emilia Ponzoni (1883-1950), Sister Regina Colombo (1885-1953), Sister Concetta Finardi (1896-1975), and Sister Luigia Panceri (1893-1982), with the first two announced in […]

A high-speed stream of solar wind from a large coronal hole is expected to cause moderate geomagnetic storms over the next few days. Advertisement The sunspot, captured in observations by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), erupted on October 1, producing the second strongest solar flare of the current solar cycle.  “Sunspots are areas where the […]

Sometime soon, the reoccurring nova T Coronae Borealis is expected to brighten almost ten thousand-fold – but astronomers who have been anxiously watching for this exciting event would suddenly like a delay. The reason is that the Sun is now approaching Libra, the closest zodiacal constellation to Corona Borealis, meaning that if the event happens […]

The planet is thought to be home to quadrillions of ants, coming in all manner of shapes, colors, and sizes, and fit with all kinds of fascinating biology. But reader, we think we have a new favorite: turtle ants, not only because they have an excellent name, but because they also have thoroughly ridiculous-looking heads. […]

At various places around the world people have reported strange, loud banging noises that appear to be coming from the sky. Around the world they are known as “Barisal guns” in the Ganges delta and the Bay of Bengal, “yan” in Shikoku, Japan, and “mistpouffers” (fog belches) in Belgium. Advertisement For hundreds of years there […]

The cause of the gargantuan underwater eruption that occurred off the coast of Tonga in early 2022 may finally have been identified, and it’s appropriately wild. Using techniques that were developed to measure the force of underground explosions, the authors of a new study suggest that the event was triggered by a somewhat unusual process […]

Most of the major conditions required for RNA to replicate, possibly the key stage in kick-starting life, were probably met in rock pores on volcanic islands not long after Earth’s formation. The finding offers a possible explanation for one of the more puzzling aspects of life’s appearance and could shift the focus of efforts to […]

We’ve all seen the – sometimes harrowing – footage of freshly hatched turtles making the deadly dash from their nests to the sea, but what happens in the days before they make it out of the sand? For a long time, it was a bit of a mystery, but new research has lifted the lid […]

In a feat that seemed unachievable just a few short years ago, an international research consortium has today unveiled the first complete wiring diagram of an entire fruit fly brain. The map itself is accompanied by a cache of papers, demonstrating how this breakthrough is already leading to new scientific findings – and there’s much […]

Gamma rays are emitted in nuclear reactions and from the most extreme events in the universe such as supernova explosions, black holes, and more – but they can also come from closer to home. Over the last three decades, scientists have discovered that thunderstorms have the ability to create gamma rays. New research has highlighted […]

A fishing crew in southern Albania have caught a blue shark that, until then, had defied the odds. The animal had been skewered through its head by a swordfish and survived in what is the first known case of a shark living after receiving such a wound. Advertisement The shark was alive when it was […]

Dolphins open their mouths in what appears to us to be a smile when they are in the field of vision of others they like. Moreover, this smile is frequently reciprocated as a way for highly social animals to bond. The team who discovered this thinks it is no coincidence that the dolphin expression of […]

Scientists summiting Mount Po Ma Lung in Vietnam were gifted a surprise amphibian on their way back down the mountain. They were actually looking for Sterling’s toothed toad during a grueling eight-day survey of the mountain – but instead stumbled upon a new species with a bite all of its own. It’s been given the […]

NASA’s Voyager 1 and 2 spacecraft have traveled further away from Earth than any other human-made object, sending back useful science data from the edge of the Solar System. But now, having spent 47 years in space, the spacecraft are showing signs of their age, and coming to the end of their missions. Advertisement Problems […]

The Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) mission run by the European Space Agency (ESA) has taken the sharpest images ever produced of the Earth’s radiation belt. Advertisement JUICE has a long mission ahead of it. Launched in April 2023, the spacecraft has to make several gravitational assists before it reaches its target of Jupiter and […]

Time passes at different rates for different observers, depending on their relative speeds and their proximity to (and strength of) nearby gravitational fields. This doesn’t normally figure into your everyday calculations. If you want to meet someone next Tuesday, you don’t need to worry about your clocks being all that different – unless, in the […]

Back in May, Louisiana became the first state in the US to reclassify two of the most common medications used for abortions as “controlled dangerous substances”. Despite controversy and protests from both doctors and reproductive rights advocates, the change, as of October 1, is now in effect. Advertisement But what does that mean for patients […]

Are you ready to take a journey across the Solar System? PBS is ready to take us into the weird and wonderful worlds of our celestial neighborhood – and we are not exaggerating when we say weird. Did you know that one of Saturn’s moons is shaped like a raviolo (or your favorite type of […]

When the dinosaurs dominated the Earth, a piece of seafloor west of South America was drawn into the mantle as another crust rode over it. Curiously, it has survived despite oceanic plates of the same age usually having been recycled into the mantle, suggesting we need to tweak our understanding of Earth’s interior. Advertisement The […]

If you look up at the sky for long enough at dusk or dawn, or take a few seconds to Google its position, you may see the International Space Station (ISS) zipping its way over your head at 28,000 kilometers per hour (17,500 miles per hour). Advertisement While seeing it is pretty cool in itself […]