The macro world as we know it is governed by Newton’s laws of motion and gravity – what goes up, must come down. But a team of physicists from Columbia University have put forward a theoretical paper that turns this idea on its head. They say there might actually be particles with negative mass –
admin
Recognising faces is essential for how we interact in complex societies, and is often thought to be an ability that requires the sophistication of the large human brain. But new evidence we published in Frontiers in Psychology shows that insects such as the honeybee (Apis mellifera) and the European wasp (Vespula vulgaris) use visual processing
It might not be a happy ending, but in the circumstances, it’s the happiest we could have hoped for. Tahlequah, aka the orca mother J35, has finally surrendered her deceased newborn calf, after carrying her lifeless body for seventeen straight days in an arduous display of animal grief and denial that made headlines around the
Martian dust storms are a pretty common occurrence, and generally happen whenever the southern hemisphere is experiencing summer. Though they can begin quite suddenly, these storms typically stay contained to a local area and last only about a few weeks. However, on occasion, Martian dust storms can grow to become global phenomena, covering the entire
Scientists have sequenced the full genome of a tiny fern with leaves the size of gnats that could help in cutting atmospheric carbon dioxide, fixing nitrogen in agriculture, and shooing insects from crops. Azolla filiculoides is a water fern often found fertilizing rice paddies in Asia, but its ancestry goes much further back. “Fifteen million years
The saying goes that the Taj Mahal is pinkish in the morning, milky white in the evening, and golden when the moon shines. Though this may once have been true for the famously pristine marble monument, a mixture of pollution and poor management has now burdened the Taj with a 24-hour layer of yellowy-brown. Condemning
The heat wave that has swept Europe over the summer may not be very pleasant for the human population, but rare pink tropical birds at a nature reserve in southwest England sure seem excited. Officials at Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT) Slimbridge, a wetland wildlife reserve in Gloucestershire, said in a statement Thursday that six Andean flamingos laid
A grieving orca was spotted off the coast of Washington state Thursday, carrying her stillborn calf through the Pacific Ocean for the 17th day in a journey that has astonished and devastated much of the world. Tahlequah, as the mother has come to be called, gave birth on July 25 in what should have been
When drivers navigate busy intersections, most of them fail to look out for pedestrians or cyclists when turning right, according to a new study. In the summer, cars must share the road with more pedestrians and cyclists than usual, and in Toronto this is causing an epidemic of car accidents. By the start of June,
A galaxy in nearby space called Segue 1 is quite the oddity. It’s very small, and very faint, it hangs out very close to the Milky Way, and no one knows quite where it came from. But now astronomers have accurately measured its movement for the first time, which has finally offered some clues. So
When gold hunters in Russia collected the yellowish stone in 2016, they thought it might contain a precious metal. It didn’t – but what it did contain was far more rare and valuable. The rock had come from space, and it contained a new, never-before-seen mineral. It has yet to be officially documented, but scientists
Vice President Pence laid out an ambitious plan Thursday that would begin creating a military command dedicated to space and establish a “Space Force” as the sixth branch of the US military as soon as 2020, the first since the Air Force was formed shortly after World War II. Pence warned of the advancements that
When it comes to online dating, a majority of men and women pursue partners who are “out of their league”, reaching out to people who are 25 percent more desirable than themselves, according to a new study. University of Michigan professors Elizabeth Bruch and M.E.J. Newman, who study human behaviour, analysed the messages between heterosexual
Life is short, and we spend a lot of our time sleeping, which is why the idea of hypnopedia, or the ability to learn during sleep, has been tantalising scientists for so long. Now, a new study adds more evidence against the whole idea. According to the new research, while the brain is capable of
Physics is a huge, complex field. It also happens to be one of the most fascinating, dealing with everything from black holes and wormholes to quantum teleportation and gravitational waves. But unless you have an innate knowledge of the field, it’s pretty hard to figure out how all these concepts actually fit together – and
All around the world, countries are seeing dwindling birth rates and rising life expectancy. Ageing populations are leading to greater spending on healthcare and pensions, but the number of people working and paying taxes is steadily going down. As a result, these countries are at risk of becoming “demographic time bombs,” signifying a crisis of
If you’re in Bermuda at the right time of the month, you’re in for a treat. Around 2-5 days after the full moon, and around 55 minutes after sunset, the Bermuda fireworm swims to the ocean surface and flares into brilliance, lighting up with an incredible bioluminescent glow. The creature lives most of its life in mucus
In the Australian town of Jimboomba, 50 kilometres (30 miles) south of Brisbane, a tawny frogmouth had an unfortunate run-in with a barbed wire fence. “If you can picture a 6 foot chain fence with barbed wire at the top – that’s where it was stuck,” senior wildlife carer and president of Reptile Rehabilitation Queensland
Our DNA and chromosomes are the basic genetic information that make us what we are. Now, in a new first, scientists have figured out how our chromosomes move inside our cells – and that this movement may play a role in our health. There are 3 billion base pairs of DNA packed into 23 human
Scientists are pondering what might be called the volcanic solution to global warming. It would be the ultimate desperate measure, a climatological Hail Mary and, possibly, a very bad idea. The only reason it’s an actual subject of research is that human civilization has failed to take steps to stave off dangerous levels of climate
Aim your binoculars to the sky tonight, because we’re about to be visited by the remnants of a badass, glowing green comet nicknamed the ‘Incredible Hulk’. It’s likely the first time this comet will be visiting our Solar System, and is making its closest pass of our planet, reaching as close as 113.4 million km
When silkworms spin their cocoons so they can transition from caterpillar to moth, they produce one of the most valuable fibres in the world. Now a team of researchers has edited silkworm genes so that, in addition to producing their own silk, they spin that of another creature – the golden orb weaver spider. Spider
Whenever the 15th century polymath Leonardo da Vinci wasn’t painting masterpieces or coming up with new ways to launch humans into the sky, he could often be found outdoors, quietly contemplating the eddies of water flowing downstream. What amazed the Renaissance master has since puzzled countless scientists. Half a millennium later, we’re still scratching our
Our society has collectively decided that some weather is better than others. When was the last time 50 degrees Fahrenheit with rain was described as nice weather? How often do tourists flock to destinations where it’s 100 degrees with suffocating humidity? While it’s admittedly hard for even two people to agree on what ideal weather is,
Thousands of years before cats took up residence in 37 percent of American households, and managed to outnumber dogs by roughly 75 million across the globe, they were hopping continents with farmers, ancient mariners, and even Vikings, scientists have found. In the first large-scale study of ancient feline DNA, the results reveal how our inscrutable
The electromagnetic waves around Jupiter are much, much stronger around two of its moons. Around Europa, electromagnetic wave activity is 100 times stronger. And around Ganymede – the largest moon in our Solar System – it jumps to a massive 1 million times stronger. Around planets with a magnetic field, something strange and wonderful happens.
Every year, some 1,200 people make a mad dash for the summit of Mount Everest during the climbing season that begins in May – taking on the arduous, often congested route to the world’s highest peak that most will not complete and some will not survive. Working against them: temperatures far below zero, altitude sickness
Watching an explosion in super slow motion is what we expect from just about any Hollywood action blockbuster. But capturing details of an explosion that’s about the same size as a protein? That might not have the same appeal as a Michael Bay movie, but don’t let that fool you. There’s a lot we can
It’s easy to think the world is ending when natural disasters are pummelling vulnerable islands and politicians are threatening nuclear destruction. But take a step back and you’ll find a more encouraging picture of where the human race is headed – at least from a public health and quality of life perspective. Across the board,
China has successfully tested a new hypersonic aircraft, a potential “hypersonic strike weapon” that could one day be capable of carrying multiple nuclear warheads and evading all existing defence networks like the US missile shields, according to Chinese state-run and state-affiliated media, citing experts and the domestic designers. The Xingkong-2 (Starry Sky-2) hypersonic experimental waverider
Trees are ubiquitous around the globe. Everyone knows that a tree grows up from a seed in the ground. It’s a normal occurrence. But in order to do so, the tree needs to work against gravity – and now researchers have figured out the secret that allows them to do this. Spoiler: It’s bark. This
The coasts are gone. The waves crash high into what were once mountains. Many have perished, for food is scarce, and the deadly heat is inescapable. This bleak future scenario – called a “Hothouse Earth” – could be realised sooner than we think, scientists warn, if the planet breaches a pivotal climate threshold from which
Do you have a short temper? Uh, so, don’t hit us, but… you may not actually be as smart as you think you are. That’s according to a new study by researchers in Poland and Australia. And it’s because anger is strongly related to traits such as optimism and narcissism, which tend to lead a
County Wicklow in Ireland, has had a recent spate of wildfires threatening homes and forests. However, one good thing has emerged from this troubling situation – a message, hidden since the Second World War. The burnt remains of a gorse fire on Bray Head has revealed a sign saying ‘EIRE’ made of rocks, which would have
In 1959, Soviet scientists embarked on an audacious experiment to breed a population of tame foxes, a strain of animals that wouldn’t be aggressive or fearful of people. Scientists painstakingly selected the friendliest foxes to start each new generation, and within 10 cycles they began to see differences from wild foxes – fox pups that
NASA’s new planet-hunting space telescope TESS has been inserted into its orbit around Earth, and has just started its job of scanning the skies to look for planets beyond the Solar System. But before it even started work, NASA turned it on to do a few test observations – and it just so happened to
In 2016, the Nobel Prize in Physics went to three British scientists for their work on superconductors and superfluids, which included the explanation of a rather odd phase of matter. Now their discovery has a practical application – shrinking an electrical component to a size that will help quantum computers reach a scale that just
Facebook isn’t content to know just who you are, what you do, where you go, and who you talk to. It also wants to know how you spend your money. On Monday, The Wall Street Journal reported that Facebook is asking banks – including JP Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo, and Citigroup – to turn over
After more than 125 years of mystery, scientists think they have reconfirmed the final resting place of the world’s forgotten ‘eighth wonder’, clearing up much of the uncertainty from previous studies. On 10 June 1886, Mt Tarawera blew its top in one of the largest volcanic eruptions in New Zealand’s history, sending volcanic debris flying
Academics at Imperial Tech Foresight (ITF), an offshoot of Imperial College London, have been working to bring to life nebulous and intangible technological advances in a way you’ve never seen before. They have created a table of disruptive tech, taking inspiration from the periodic table of chemical elements. It contains 100 innovations, ranging from the
Using a new holographic technology, researchers have been able to twist and manipulate a beam of laser light to tie it into knots, creating complex, three-dimensional light structures. Why? To study what happens to the space around them, of course. It involves manipulating something called polarisation. To our eyes, a laser beam looks like it’s
Astronomers have detected yet another mysterious and powerful fast radio burst hitting Earth from an unknown source in space. If that’s not strange enough, this particular fast radio burst is incredibly low, in the 580 megahertz frequency range – nearly 200 MHz lower than any other fast radio burst we’ve picked up on before. If
For roughly 17 months, she patiently waited. Like many expectant mothers, she looked forward to the day she would get to welcome her baby into the world. On Tuesday morning, it finally happened. J35, a member of an endangered population of southern resident killer whales, gave birth near Victoria, B.C. It was a baby girl.
After decades of looking, researchers have identified a molecule that plays an important role in guiding sperm to find eggs. The discovery, observed in the cellular biology of sea urchins, isn’t just of importance for marine invertebrates – as the findings may reveal new secrets about human fertility that could help us to treat male
A failed assassination attempt against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro on Saturday was mounted with explosive-armed drones, according to news reports. Nine days earlier, and on the other side of the world, terrorists claimed to have sent an armed drone to attack the international airport in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates. No
Meetings of the International Congress of Mathematics are usually pretty tame affairs, despite handing out one of the most prestigious award in mathematics. But this year, the meeting was shaken up after the Fields medal, also known as the ‘Nobel Prize’ of mathematics, was stolen from one of the winners just 30 minutes after he
On September 8, a massive and controversial plastic-cleaning system will be launched into the Pacific Ocean. The goal of the system, created by The Ocean Cleanup, a nonprofit organisation founded in 2013 by 24-year-old Dutch innovator Boyan Slat, is to remove plastic debris from the now-famous marine area known as the “Great Pacific Garbage Patch“.
New parenting books seem to pop up all the time. How to do it the French way, the Tiger Mom way, the New Kid by Friday way, or how to just muddle through – the choice can be a little overwhelming. How can we know which guide will give us the answers to the questions
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 53
- 54
- 55
- 56
- 57
- …
- 66
- Next Page »