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
Scientists have just found a new distinction between the brains of the two sexes: age-related changes to the brain occur more slowly in women than in men. The jury is still out on whether cognitive differences between men and women are created by nature or nurture – or to what extent they even exist –
Over the past week, record levels of rain have deluged Queensland in northeastern Australia, prompting emergency evacuations – as well as some surreal sights. Hundreds of people have been forced to leave their homes in and around Townsville, a city on the coast of Queensland that has suffered the bulk of the unprecedented flooding. Nearly
By the end of the century, if not sooner, the world’s oceans will be bluer and greener thanks to a warming climate, scientists reported Monday. And while the shift in color will be all but imperceptible to the human eye, it could hint at the profound changes in store for a wide array of marine
The story of Archaeopteryx – a Late Jurassic dinosaur known as ‘the first bird‘ – begins with a single, fossilised feather. But like any great scientific tale, that is far from where it ends. Today, 158 years after the initial discovery, one of the world’s most famous birds remains up in the air. Scientists now
While living under the path of aircraft is usually no cause for concern, you might want to keep an umbrella handy: a new study shows planes flying over patches of rain or snow can boost precipitation levels by as much as 14 times. This strange meteorological phenomenon is all down to the design of the
Apparently our galaxy really likes to boogie. It has, on several occasions, enjoyed a Monster Mash; now it’s been caught doing the Twist. A new study has revealed that the Milky Way isn’t a nice, neat, flat disc – it’s seriously warped around the edges. We often compare our home galaxy to our next-door neighbour,
Harvard Business Review’s recent cover story makes the case for prioritising time over money, and making daily decisions accordingly. Unfortunately, writes Harvard Business School professor Ashley Whillans, most of us do just the opposite. One of the most intriguing points in the article is this: “We overestimate the amount of time needed to enjoy an
Four years ago, this island arose out of almost nothing: a sprawling formation of jutting rock popping up in the South Pacific, where once there were only waves. This unbelievable place – emerging in between two existing islands of the Kingdom of Tonga – has no official name, but the locals call it Hunga Tonga-Hunga
Extreme cold weather can produce unusual phenomena, from so-called sea smoke to slushy ocean waves. As atmospheric scientist Scott Denning explains, these striking events are caused mainly by the behavior of water at very cold temperatures. Why do lake and ocean waters appear to steam during cold snaps? There are three phases, or states, of
A researcher studying whales and dolphins was treated to an extremely rare sight in January: a baby humpback whale swimming with its mum, less than 20 minutes after being born. It’s the closest Lars Bejder had been to a live birth in around 25 years – and lucky for us, he captured the extraordinary experience
3D printers work by laboriously printing objects layer by layer. For larger objects, that process can take hours or even days. But now scientists at the University of California, Berkeley have found a shortcut: a printer that can fabricate objects in one shot using light – and which could, potentially, revolutionize rapid manufacturing technology. The
Imagine being confined to a small, dark room, with no social interaction whatsoever for 30 days. Not many people would jump at this opportunity. But, in November 2018, a professional US poker player Rich Alati bet US$100,000 that he could survive 30 days alone and in total darkness. He was kept in a small, completely
Bigger dogs, with larger brains, perform better than smaller pups on certain measures of intelligence, new research shows. Larger-brained dogs outperform smaller dogs on measures of executive functions – a set of cognitive processes that are necessary for controlling and coordinating other cognitive abilities and behaviors. In particular, bigger dogs have better short-term memory and
Humans have travelled to the moon and uncovered the secrets of the Taos Hum, the Devil’s Kettle, and maybe even the pyramids of Egypt. But there are still plenty of phenomena that science can’t explain yet. Though scientists may have theories about the following phenomena, no one can say for certain why they occur. Here are nine mysteries
Since it was first detected hurling through our Solar System, the interstellar object known as ‘Oumuamua has been a source of immense scientific interest. Aside from being extrasolar in origin, the fact that it has managed to defy classification time and again has led to some pretty interesting theories. While some have suggested that it
It may be the biggest wild card in the climate system. Scientists have long feared that the so-called “overturning” circulation in the Atlantic Ocean could slow down or even halt due to climate change – which would have enormous planetary consequences. But at the same time, researchers have a limited understanding of how the circulation
It’s unclear whether the initial incursion happened stealthily at night or brazenly during the day – though authorities are almost certain the invasion occurred by sea. And federal employees who returned from the month-long partial government shutdown decided that it was probably not worth the effort to relocate the roughly 90 individuals involved. That’s because
Thomas Zurbuchen, the associate administrator for NASA’s Science Mission directorate, says it’s likely that there’s life beyond Earth. “Is there life beyond Earth? I think the answer is yes — but we just don’t know,” Zurbuchen said during an interview at Boston University. “The simple reason I think so is because we underestimated nature when we
Two decades after the hypothetical prediction that it should be possible, scientists have been able to produce fractal light from a laser. Not only that, they’ve shown the fractal light could be created in 3D rather than just 2D. Displaying one of nature’s most common patterns from a very human-made technology could open up opportunities
There aren’t many corners of the world left untouched by humanity. Recent research has highlighted that just 23 percent of the planet’s land surface (excluding Antarctica) and 13 percent of the ocean can now be classified as wilderness, representing nearly a 10 percent decline over the last 20 years. And more than 70 percent of what
Humanity is getting pretty good at looking deep into space. We’ve peered back over 13 billion light-years. We’ve seen – actually seen – two neutron stars colliding. We’re homing in on fast radio bursts, and we’re about to see, for the first time, the event horizon of a black hole. But there are still some
In the current polarized climate, it’s easy to find yourself in the midst of a political disagreement that morphs into a religious argument. People’s religious affiliation predicts their stances on abortion, immigration and other controversial topics, and disagreements about these issues can seem intractable. The seeming futility in arguing about politics and religion may arise
Record-smashing cold temperatures have led to a wave of headlines highlighting how parts of the US are now colder than Mars. In parts of media, this is now a near-yearly ritual: The Atlantic had a story on it in 2017, and even NASA’s Curiosity Rover tweeted it a few winters ago. But what does “colder
It happens to me more often than I care to admit. I check my calendar for the following workday and see a call I scheduled weeks ago, when I was busy and overwhelmed and couldn’t take on any new assignments. The only issue? Right now I am also busy and overwhelmed and can’t reasonably take
Curiosity has been puttering away out there on Mars since August 2012, but she still has a few surprises tucked inside her weathered chassis. Scientists have just figured out how to use the rover’s instruments to measure the gravity of the ground it’s been rolling across. In turn, this has allowed scientists for the first
On the evening of January 30, some Chicagoans were startled by seriously loud noises. It was difficult to pinpoint where they were coming from. Those noises probably weren’t gun shots or fireworks; although it hasn’t been confirmed by authorities, it’s most likely the people were experiencing a weird phenomenon known as ‘frost quakes’. These booming
With temperatures 50 degrees Fahrenheit below the freezing point of water (-46 degrees Celsius), the shoreline of Lake Michigan has turned into an icy winter wonderland that kind of makes you forget how bitterly, miserably cold it is outside. According to Tom Skilling, a longtime Chicago forecaster and WGN-TV’s chief meteorologist, Lake Michigan has never
Since the 1980s scientists have spotted a link between naval sonar systems and beaked whales seemingly killing themselves – by deliberately getting stranded on beaches. Now, researchers might have revealed the horrifying reason why. In short, the sound pulses appear to scare the whales to death, acting like a shot of adrenaline might in a
Artificial intelligence can play chess, drive a car and diagnose medical issues. Examples include Google DeepMind’s AlphaGo, Tesla’s self-driving vehicles, and IBM’s Watson. This type of artificial intelligence is referred to as Artificial Narrow Intelligence (ANI) – non-human systems that can perform a specific task. We encounter this type on a daily basis, and its
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