Wisdom, a Laysan albatross (Phoebastria immutabilis) who is at least 68 years old, has done it again – she’s hatched a new chick at her nesting ground in Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge. Each year since at least 2006, Wisdom and her mate Akeakamai have been coming back to the atoll in the Pacific Ocean near Hawaii
Remember Mars One, the startup that said it was going to fund a crewed mission to Mars by turning the journey into a reality television spectacle? Now the company is bankrupt, according to financial documents published online. Engadget confirmed the bankruptcy with Mars One co-founder Bas Lansdorp, who told the publication that he was working
Fences have risen around kindergartens. Special vehicles transport military personnel to their work sites. Residents of the island settlement are afraid to leave their homes. Novaya Zemlya is a Russian archipelago stretching into the Arctic Ocean. It once played host to Soviet nuclear tests, including the largest human-made explosion, when the “king of bombs” detonated
In recent years, scientists have been warning us about the disappearance of a type of creature we think we wouldn’t miss much – but the dramatic fall of insect numbers across the world has been driven into sharp focus by a new report which warns of a “catastrophic” collapse of natural ecosystems. A newly published
Nobody knows who she was, just that she was different: a teenage girl from over 50,000 years ago of such strange uniqueness she looked to be a ‘hybrid’ ancestor to modern humans that scientists had never seen before. Only now, researchers have uncovered evidence she wasn’t alone. In a new study analysing the complex mess
Prior to Columbus’s arrival in the Americas in 1492, the area boasted thriving indigenous populations totalling to more than 60 million people. A little over a century later, that number had dropped close to 6 million. European contact brought with it not only war and famine, but also diseases like smallpox that decimated local populations.
You know you’re a tough nut when the two options that could explain your continued existence are either having spent the last ice age in a cave buried by a sheet of ice, or having ‘fast’ travelled between continents in the last few tens of thousand years. But those are the two most likely stories
It’s one of the weirdest, most magical-seeming tricks there is: the ability to instantly transform hot, boiling water into an icy mist in the blink of an eye. This bizarre demonstration of what’s called the Mpemba effect might seem like sorcery, but just because you can impressively fling hot, scalding water into the sky above
We’re not sure why it happened. Even ‘when’ is a topic of ongoing debate. But at some point, for some reason, our brains got big. There are plenty of hypotheses as to how we got here, but to find supporting evidence we need experiments on the brains of chimpanzees and humans, which involves practical (not to
My ideas about animal behaviour were turned upside down in 2002 when I watched Betty, a New Caledonian crow, fashion a hook from a piece of wire and use it to pull a small container with meat from a tube. Betty’s behaviour captivated scientists because it seemed so creative: there was no obvious solution to
The most distant object our species has ever visited, a space rock called 2014 MU69, is less snowman-shaped than scientists previously thought. NASA flew its New Horizons probe by the rock, which is nicknamed Ultima Thule and located 4 billion miles from Earth, on New Year’s Day. New Horizons flew within 2,200 miles of MU69,
Life is miraculous, and watching it unfold in real time is even more so. A new video from Netherlands-based filmmaker Jan van IJken now lets you watch a baby salamander twisting and turning as it grows in its transparent egg. Simply called Becoming, this beautiful short film follows a single salamander embryo (Ichthyosaura Alpestris) as
We’ve seen 3D printed rockets before, but never on this scale. UK space startup Orbex just showed off its Prime Rocket’s gigantic second stage — the “world’s largest 3D printed rocket engine,” according to a press release. The entire rocket, including the engine, will stand at 56 feet (17 meters) tall — roughly a quarter
There’s a saying in medicine: You’re not dead until you’re warm and dead. Turns out it applies to cats, too. The polar vortex was raging in the Upper Midwest last week, and temperatures had dropped below zero on the morning of Jan. 31 in the city of Kalispell, Mont., near Glacier National Park. Fluffy —
We’ve been gazing out at the Solar System for a very long time, and by now we know, more or less, where things go. Sun, planets, asteroid belt, more planets, then millions more asteroids (we’re not really sure how many). Maybe another planet. OK, so it’s a little tricky. But a new discovery has hinted
The amount of close and comforting contact that young infants get doesn’t just keep them warm, snug, and loved. A 2017 study says it can actually affect babies at the molecular level, and the effects can last for years. Based on the study, babies who get less physical contact and are more distressed at a
There’s no two-ways about it, the Universe is an extremely big place! And thanks to the limitations placed upon us by Special Relativity, traveling to even the closest star systems could take millennia. As we addressed in a previous article, the estimated travel time to the nearest star system (Alpha Centauri) could take anywhere from
Some 115,000 years ago, Homo sapiens were still living in bands of hunter gatherers, largely confined to Africa. We still shared the globe with the Neanderthals, although it’s not clear we had met them yet. And though these various hominids didn’t know it, the Earth was coming to the end of a major warm period.
Mind reading and the ability to predict the future are not skills people generally associate with the human race. Yet, research shows many people genuinely believe in the existence of psychic powers. You would think that instances of proven psychic fraud over the years would weaken the credibility of psychic claims. There have been historical
Valentine’s Day. It’s for suckers, right? A Hallmark holiday designed just to part you with your money. But El Paso Zoo in Texas can help you celebrate in a way that will warm the cockles of your cold, black heart – and it won’t cost you a thing. In a livestreamed event called “Quit Bugging
In 2021, Rosalind Franklin will set down on the rust-stained sands of Mars before setting off in hunt for chemical building blocks that could indicate the presence of life. The new name of the European Space Agency (ESA) ExoMars rover was selected to honour a British chemist who contributed to the discovery of DNA’s helical
Back in 2005, professional yo-yo performer Dave Schulte AKA “Dazzling Dave” started having weird sensations in the index finger of his right hand. It felt cold, and later became tender and even began to turn purple – not ideal in the hand he uses for yoyo tricks. “I had no idea what caused it ..
The scientific community has strict standards for organ transplant research. Researchers can’t use organs from executed prisoners or ones obtained without the consent of the donor, and an international ethics committee must green light every study prior to publication in a research journal. But a startling new report reveals that Chinese researchers may have transplanted
Humans are in the process of herding the world’s largest animals right over the brink of extinction, and the main driving force is our insatiable appetite for meat. It’s a dire warning, and it comes from the first analysis to look at how humans have impacted the world’s “megafauna”. Bringing together over 300 species of unusually
Astronomers have been treated to a truly special look at some of the organic building blocks of the Universe, thanks to a newborn star that’s been spotted around 1,300 light-years away from Earth. That star is V883 Ori - as it grows, the bursting heat is pushing back the star’s ‘snow line’ – that’s the area around the
We’ve seen it before, but never this clearly. For the first time, China’s Longjiang-2 satellite photographed the entirety of the Moon’s far side and the Earth in a single shot, Popular Mechanics reports. The 16 kilobyte image was downloaded by the Dutch Dwingeloo Radio Telescope over the course of about 20 minutes. We already received
Maggots repulse us. Despite being the innocent babes of the insect world, there’s something about these larval critters that just gets under our skin. Yes, literally too. And dangerously. But there are good reasons we should overcome our aversion. It’s becoming increasingly clear how incorporating insects into our diets stands to benefit the environment –
A month after China pulled off its historic Chang’e 4 mission, which landed robots on the moon’s far side for the first time, NASA has released an image further proving the feat was a success. NASA photographed the Chinese landing site on January 30 with a moon-circling spacecraft called the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. Researchers published
Two bird lovers in Erie, Pennsylvania were only expecting to enjoy the company of their colourful feathered friends when they began setting up backyard feeders 25 years ago. But then the lavish spread attracted an unusual visitor: a northern cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) that was half the brilliant vermilion of the male of the species, and
A pair of researchers in New Zealand made a surprising discovery several weeks ago while analyzing a pile of seal poop. Nestled inside one of the excrement samples – about the size of two dinner rolls, if you must know – was something unusually hard: a USB stick. Needless to say, memory drives are not
Humans have learned to travel through space, eradicate diseases and understand nature at the breathtakingly tiny level of fundamental particles. Yet we have no idea how consciousness – our ability to experience and learn about the world in this way and report it to others – arises in the brain. In fact, while scientists have
Black holes are the Universe’s most jealously guarded secrets. We all want to know what’s going on inside such exclusive space clubs, yet the best we can do is stand outside and listen to the beat. To do this, scientists host their own parties. Sure, these aren’t as fun as twisted pits of spacetime, but
On 30 October 2018 Kepler, NASA’s planet-hunting space telescope, sent its last signal. It had been on the ropes for years due to failing reaction wheels, but engineers had managed to keep it operational. Then, last year, it finally ran out of fuel. Its mission had originally been planned for a duration 3.5 years. The
Five different organizations that track temperatures have all come to this conclusion: 2018 ranked among the five warmest years on record, landing in fourth place. All of them – NOAA, NASA, Berkeley Earth, the United Kingdom’s Hadley Centre and the Japan Meteorological Agency – crunched the numbers using different methods, but they each arrived at
The humble honeybee can use symbols to perform basic maths including addition and subtraction, shows new research published today in the journal Science Advances. Despite having a brain containing less than one million neurons, the honeybee has recently shown it can manage complex problems – like understanding the concept of zero. Honeybees are a high
Scientists have identified two proteins that can partially stimulate growth in amputated toes in mice, a discovery that puts us one step closer to one day being able to replace amputated limbs in humans. While bone growth has been achieved before, the new research demonstrates signs of joint growth as well – this shows a
Science has the power to change the world, but it’s not always an easy path to enlightenment. At many junctures throughout history, proponents of revolutionary ideas have come up against criticism and pushback from the establishment. Science is all about experimentation, trial, error, and evidence. It may have taken years, but each of the following
For Elon Musk and SpaceX, the company he founded to reignite space exploration, a great deal hinges on the creation of the Starship. This super-heavy launch vehicle, which was has evolved considerably in the past few years, will eventually replace the Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy as the mainstay of the SpaceX fleet. Once operational,
Russian news agency RIA Novosti revealed images last week of a hypersonic uncrewed spacecraft reportedly in development by the country’s space agency. The aircraft will be outfitted with a single Briz-M upper stage engine – a Russian space rocket that’s been in use since 2000 – and is designed to fly at altitudes of up to
When an earthquake struck near the Indonesian island of Sulawesi on September 28 last year, thousands of people lost their lives. Dragged out to sea, buried in mud, they were the victims of 2018’s most devastating earthquake. Satellite data has now revealed that the grinding sections of crust responsible for the 7.5 magnitude tremor unravelled
Some of the most spectacular pictures of deep space are of nebulae – gorgeously coloured clouds of dust and gas glowing from within. They look peaceful and serene, but in actuality, they’re scenes of violence. Usually, nebulae are either the lingering ghosts of exploded stars, or stellar nurseries – regions where stars are being born
It’s been an exciting week for scientists in Hawaii after a puffy, disturbing-looking ‘marshmallow’ of a whale carcass keeps coming back to land. On top of that, a famous great white shark has popped up nearby, having travelled all the way from Mexico. The poor, deceased sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus) has been an unwelcome guest
Magnetic north is not where it used to be. Since 2015, the place to which a compass points has been sprinting toward Siberia at a pace of more than 30 miles (48 kilometres) a year. And this week, after a delay caused by the month-long partial government shutdown in the United States, humans have finally
Once, about 300 million years ago, when southern Africa was joined at South America’s hip, this now arid region was covered in a wide expanse of glaciers. You wouldn’t know it today, looking out over the dry volcanic desert of the Twyfelfontein area in northern Namibia. But throughout its 4.5 billion year history, our planet
It sounds like something out of a sci-fi movie, but it’s a wild possibility scientists are actually exploring: how to fit a space station inside an asteroid. Why would we attempt such a bizarre feat of astro-engineering? Because the spin of the asteroid would create enough gravity for mining equipment to be effectively used, giving
Alarming video captured by a Twitter user in Philadelphia highlights a rare but little-known danger of electroshock Taser-style weapons. In the footage, posted on Saturday, a man is seen struggling with security guards on the street, before being fired upon with a Taser-style device. Almost instantly, the man is alight, screaming in agony as his
From a distance, anybody would have been fooled. It was the same size as a potato, and its brown, dirty appearance resembled every other muddy spud in the potato chip factory. But this was no harmless vegetable. The unusually heavy spud-like object discovered in a Hong Kong potato chip plant this weekend was in fact
When dinosaurs roamed the Earth in ancient Patagonia, one particular type of dinosaur might have stuck out amongst the rest. Living 140 million years ago in the early Lower Cretaceous, the newly discovered herbivore Bajadasaurus pronuspinax had a thing for growing spikes. It was part of the Sauropod family, but looked a little like a small Brontosaurus crossed
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