A dazzling new direct image of an exoplanet has just broadened our understanding of the diversity of planetary systems out there in the big, wide Universe. The exoplanet in question is called b Centauri b, and it’s orbiting not one, but two stars – a binary system called b Centauri, located 325 light-years away. This
For such simplistic looking and easily overlooked creatures, hydra sure have incredible powers – including the absurd ability to regrow their own heads if decapitated. These invertebrate fresh water animals are also one of the closest examples we have of an immortal being. Unless thoroughly destroyed within a predator’s digestive system or consumed by fire, hydra stem
A precious-gem-studded “lotus flower” pendant similar to one worn by ancient Egypt’s Queen Nefertiti has been unearthed in a set of tombs in Cyprus. The pendant is one of hundreds of opulent grave goods from around the Mediterranean region that have been uncovered at the site, including gemstones, ceramics and jewelry. Archaeologists from the New
What, exactly, is your cat thinking? Scientists have come up with a questionnaire that might give you some idea of where your feline friend fits on what’s known as the triarchic model of psychopathy. The model measures levels of boldness, meanness, and disinhibition in order to assess overall psychopathic tendencies. Ordinarily, the test is for
Astronomers have finally observed the satisfying solution to a perplexing cosmic problem: the apparent mystery of stars that are basically too small to exist. White dwarfs that are considered to be too tiny to exist in the current lifetime of the Universe have now, however, been spotted having their mass slurped off by binary companions
While southern Australia experienced a wet winter and a soggy spring, northern Australia has seen the opposite. Extreme fire weather in October and November led to bushfires across 120,000 square kilometers of southern savanna regions. Significant fires continue to burn in the Kimberley, the Top End, Cape York, and the northern deserts. And while recent
On 4 December 2021, a total solar eclipse dazzled a few thousand lucky people in Antarctica and countless penguins, who got to witness nearly 2 minutes of totality as the Moon‘s shadow blotted out the Sun’s light. During a total solar eclipse, the Sun, Moon and Earth line up (in that order), allowing the Moon’s shadow to block the
NASA announced Monday its 10 latest trainee astronauts, who include a firefighter turned Harvard professor, a former member of the national cycle team, and a pilot who led the first-ever all-woman F-22 formation in combat. The 2021 class was whittled down from a field of more than 12,000 applicants and will now report for duty
An exotic and totally new state of matter called a quantum spin liquid has been hypothesized for decades, and now scientists have been able to observe it in a laboratory for the first time. The ‘liquid’ part refers to electrons that are constantly changing and fluctuating inside a magnetic material at low temperatures. Unlike regular magnets,
Oxygen is a fundamental part of life on Earth. Following a surge in this gas in the atmosphere, roughly 2.5 billion years ago, multicellular life on our planet began to thrive. The timing is no coincidence, yet oxygen can’t take all the credit. According to some scientists, there’s another element out there also crucial to
The term “binge-watch” was a contender for the Oxford English Dictionary’s 2013 word of the year. Although it didn’t win (“selfie” ultimately took the crown), this pointed to the rise of what was becoming a popular activity of watching multiple episodes of a TV show in a single sitting. Today, millions of us – including
The Solar System exists in a bubble. Wind and radiation from the Sun stream outwards, pushing out into interstellar space. This creates a boundary of solar influence, within which the objects in the Solar System are sheltered from powerful cosmic radiation. It’s called the heliosphere, and understanding how it works is an important part of
At a distant end of the Earth – hidden somewhere on the remote Australian island of Tasmania – a strange structure is about to witness and record the end of the world as we know it. The project, called Earth’s Black Box, is a giant steel installation, soon to be filled with hard drives powered
The western United States has built their water infrastructure on a melting foundation, and unless we do something about global warming, scientists worry the consequences will be catastrophic. According to new models, the snow season in states like California could be virtually nonexistent by the end of the century, impacting water supply systems as well
There’s something strange in the lunar neighborhood. In its exploration of the Von Kármán Crater on the far side of the Moon, China’s Yutu 2 rover has spotted a peculiar object on the horizon. In a very blurry image, it appears to be a cube-shaped protrusion in an otherwise relatively featureless landscape. On a post
A NASA plant experiment, which consisted of growing and harvesting chile peppers in space, broke a record for feeding the most astronauts from a crop grown in space. The experiment also made history as the longest one to take place on the International Space Station (ISS). It was the second time chile peppers had been grown in
Seagulls don’t exactly have the best reputation among humans. Along with pigeons, scientists have historically placed these small-brained waterbirds in a relatively low level of cognitive complexity. Yet some of these species might be smarter than we have assumed. A new study among ring-billed gulls (Larus delawarensis) has found the first evidence these waterbirds can solve
When we’re looking at the world around us, our eyes are constantly readjusting and reassessing what we’re seeing – and new research shows how these shifts also involve a very brief period of ‘blindness’ when our vision is automatically blocked. The research looks at the foveola, a tiny part of the retina that we use
We can add suggesting and proving mathematical theorems to the long list of what artificial intelligence is capable of: Mathematicians and AI experts have teamed up to demonstrate how machine learning can open up new avenues to explore in the field. While mathematicians have been using computers to discover patterns for decades, the increasing power
Archaeologists discovered the skeletal remains of a man killed by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 CE, offering new insights into one of the most famous volcanic eruptions in history. The man, who researchers believe was between 40 and 45 years old, was killed just steps from the sea in the ancient Roman town
A tiny galaxy orbiting the Milky Way called Leo I could be harboring a huge secret. According to a new analysis, the central region of Leo I has an absolutely monster supermassive black hole, compared to the mass of the galaxy. The galaxy itself is around 20 million times the mass of the Sun. The
Scientific ingenuity means cameras keep on getting smaller and smaller, and the latest to appear is not only incredibly tiny – the same size as a grain of salt – it’s also able to produce images of much better quality than a lot of other ultra-compact cameras. Using a technology known as a metasurface, which
Life in the cold can be difficult for animals. As the body chills, organs including the brain and muscles slow down. The body temperature of animals such as reptiles and amphibians mostly depends on the temperature of their environment – but mammals can increase their metabolism, using more energy to warm their body. This allows
Tens of thousands of monarch butterflies are flocking to the California coast for the winter, filling tree branches with fluttering orange wings – a remarkable rebound from years of near-extinction. Millions of monarchs used to winter in California each year, but their numbers haven’t breached half a million since the 1990s. In 2018, the population
The human brain gobbles up to 10 times more energy than the rest of the body, eating through 20 percent of our fuel intake on average when we’re resting. Even in comatose patients who are said to be ‘brain dead’, only two to three times less energy is consumed by the brain. It’s one of
What’s the mass of a neutrino? This problem has vexed physicists for decades. It’s tiny, no doubt, but by virtue of one of the particle’s most fundamental features, it can’t be zero. This still leaves plenty of room for guesswork. Like most riddles, the solution might be found by thinking outside of the box. Physicists
With the dawn of legal cannabis in some US states, the number of Americans smoking, ingesting or applying the psychotropic drug has more than doubled in the last decade – and yet we are still lacking basic facts about the plant. Only now are scientists getting closer to teasing apart which of the many chemicals in cannabis
The Sun hasn’t set in Antarctica since October. Earth’s southernmost continent is currently experiencing a long summer’s day, one that stretches from mid-October until early April. But on Saturday December 4, darkness will sweep across the ice of West Antarctica. The Moon will pass directly in front of the Sun, blocking its light and producing
A major milestone has been breached in the quest for fusion energy. For the first time, a fusion reaction has achieved a record 1.3 megajoule energy output – and for the first time, exceeding energy absorbed by the fuel used to trigger it. Although there’s still some way to go, the result represents a significant
As far as years go, you could do a lot better than 536 CE. By some historians’ standards, it may have well been ‘the worst year to be alive in human history’. Depending on where a person lived around the globe, those cold, bleak times kept on truly sucking for many years to come. Now, it seems
According to the old English legend, Excalibur is a magical sword wielded by the legendary King Arthur – purveyor of round tables and protector of Britain in the 5th and 6th centuries. Today, the legend of that enchanted blade lives on… in the name of a prehistoric worm that you could crush between two fingers. Meet Lepidocoleus caliburnus.
An absolute oddball of a newly discovered exoplanet has been found orbiting a star just 31 light-years away. It’s called GJ 367b, and it’s one of the smallest exoplanets ever discovered, just slightly larger than Mars; but also one of the most compact, with a density almost the same as that of pure iron. Furthermore,
The North Pacific Subtropical Gyre is home to a diffuse haze of garbage commonly known as the ‘Great Pacific Garbage Patch’. Though spread across 1.6 million square kilometers (610,000 square miles) of open ocean, the patch is estimated to contain 79,000 metric tons of plastic waste. Different ideas have been floated for how to deal
As our living ark swings around the Sun, its current loop is fairly circular. But Earth’s orbit isn’t as stable as you may think. Every 405,000 years, our planet’s orbit stretches out and becomes 5 percent elliptical, before returning to a more even path. We’ve long understood this cycle, known as orbital eccentricity, drives changes in the
I’m outside at my rural Saskatchewan farm, chatting with my neighbors who I’ve invited over to appreciate the night sky through my telescope. After exclamations and open-mouthed wonder over Saturn’s rings, and light that has been travelling through space for more than two million years to reach our eyes from the Andromeda Galaxy, our conversation
A larger-than-usual asteroid is due to make a flying visit past Earth next week, on December 11. It’s called 4660 Nereus, a relatively frequent visitor to near-Earth space, which means it’s been well characterized, with a diameter of 330 meters (1,083 feet). That’s a little bit smaller than the height of the Empire State Building.
Archaeologists in Peru working on a site in the outskirts of the capital Lima have unearthed a mummy believed to be between 800 and 1,200 years old – and, surprisingly, bound with rope. The remains are thought to be of a man aged 18-22 at the time of his death, with his hands covering his
Paleontologists in subantarctic Chile have discovered the remains of a “very weird” ankylosaur that had a deadly armored tail like no other known dinosaur, the researchers said. “The tail would have looked like a sword; it’s so flat,” study co-lead researcher Alexander Vargas, a vertebrate paleontologist in the Department of Biology at the University of Chile,
The comet Bernardinelli-Bernstein (BB) – the largest our telescopes have ever spotted – is on a journey from the outer reaches of our Solar System that will see it flying relatively close to Saturn’s orbit. Now, a new analysis of the data we’ve collected on BB has revealed something rather surprising. Digging into readings logged
A staggering 3.7 million years ago, an unknown species walked on two legs across a blanket of volcanic ash in what’s now northern Tanzania. These steps, immortalized by the volcanic ash gradually turning into rock, were unearthed back in 1978 and mistakenly dismissed as being bear-like. But not everyone agreed. “Reliable identification of these enigmatic
Just 89 million light-years away, in the galaxy NGC 7727, two supermassive black holes are destined to become one. New measurements that probe the heart of the galaxy have found that the nucleus consists of a binary supermassive black hole pair. It’s the closest such binary we have found to date, beating out the previous
Are you in the market for a loophole in the laws that forbid perpetual motion? Knowing you’ve got yourself an authentic time crystal takes more than a keen eye for high-quality gems. In a new study, an international team of researchers used Google’s Sycamore quantum computing hardware to double-check their theoretical vision of a time crystal, confirming
NASA postponed a spacewalk on Tuesday due to a threat that’s becoming routine: space debris that might fly too close to the International Space Station (ISS). A pair of astronauts was supposed to don spacesuits, drift out of the ISS, and spend six-and-a-half hours replacing a faulty antenna system. But NASA announced early Tuesday that it had received a
We’ve seen how 3D-printing can revolutionize certain manufacturing processes – whether on Earth or anywhere else – but there’s a growing field of research looking at ways this can be applied to producing living, biological structures as well. In a new study, scientists have outlined a new type of ‘living ink’ or bioink made from
Knowing when to head out looking for food and when to stop and eat instead is an important judgment call for any species that wants to survive for an extended period of time – and the switch in the brain managing these behaviors has just been identified. While the discovery was made in the relatively
Even though jellyfish don’t have brains, scientists have figured out a way to read their minds – in a manner of speaking. With a clever bit of genetic tinkering, we can now watch how the neurons in a tiny species of see-through jellyfish work together to make complex autonomous movements, like grabbing and eating prey.
Without an explosion in ocean life more than 2 billion years ago, many of Earth’s mountains might never have formed, according to new research. When tiny organisms in the shallows of the sea, like plankton, die and sink to the bottom, they can add organic carbon to Earth’s crust, making it weaker and more pliable.
Scientists have unearthed the oldest fossils to date of the mysterious human lineage known as the Denisovans. With these 200,000-year-old bones, researchers have also for the first time discovered stone artifacts linked to these extinct relatives of modern humans, a new study finds. First identified a little more than a decade ago, the Denisovans –
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