Tag Archives: Science

The spooky-looking amphibian is less scary than it appears to be. But it might already be endangered, as deforestation rates continue to go up. Everything is dark. There’s no one around. The raindrops fall heavily. Suddenly, the call ― it’s time to dig. The man digs with his bare hands …

Research combines data from fossils with climate models, revealing the effect of climate on body and brain size A well-known pattern in human evolution is an increase in body and brain size. Our species, Homo sapiens, is part of the Homo genus and emerged about 300,000 years ago. We are …

The search is on for more galaxies lacking Hubble findings deepen the mystery surrounding galaxy missing dark matter, with more work needed in order to understand how these galaxies formed without dark matter.

Shenzhou-12, meaning ‘Divine Vessel’, will be the third of 11 missions needed to complete China’s space station by 2022. A Chinese spacecraft will blast off from the Gobi Desert on a Long March rocket in the coming days, ferrying three men to an orbiting space module for a three-month stay, …

Bdelloid rotifers typically live in watery environments and have an incredible ability to survive. Russian scientists found the creatures in a core of frozen soil extracted from the Siberian permafrost using a drilling rig. “Our report is the hardest proof as of today that multicellular animals could withstand tens of …

Despite a massive reduction in commuting and in many commercial activities during the early months of the pandemic, the amount of carbon in Earth’s atmosphere in May reached its highest level in modern history, a global indicator released on Monday showed. Scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) …

NASA is now on the perplexing UFO case. NASA chief Bill Nelson, who assumed his post just last month, has asked agency researchers to look into the spate of UFO sightings that U.S. Navy pilots have reported over the past two decades, media reported. “Now that I’m here at NASA, …

NASA has just approved two missions to Venus that will provide the scientific community with a wealth of new data on Earth’s closest planetary neighbor. “The combined results of these missions will tell us about the planet from the clouds in its sky through the volcanoes on its surface all …

Heat-related deaths are a serious problem in a warming world Heat is a killer — and climate change is driving up its body count. On average, about 37 percent of heat deaths can be tied back to human-caused climate change, according to a new study in Nature Climate Change. The …

In a first-of-its-kind, peer-reviewed study, researchers have turned back the biological clock in 43 healthy adult males, by up to three years and over just eight weeks, through diet, sleep, exercise, and relaxation interventions. In the randomized, controlled clinical trial, all of the volunteers were aged between 50 and 72 …

Dry weather this year raises the risk of severe fires in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest and Pantanal wetlands, scientists say, warning that drought could fuel the destruction of biomes critical to curbing climate change. Last year, dry weather helped fuel record fires in the Pantanal, while the Amazon experienced the worst …

Doctors for the first time have used a form of gene therapy to restore partial vision in a blind person, according to findings announced Monday. The research team genetically altered retinal ganglion cells to become light-sensitive in a man whose vision was destroyed by retinitis pigmentosa, a genetic disorder that …

Using a variety of probes including the new Solar Orbiter, NASA and the ESA have captured multiple solar eruptions, made up of billions of tons of plasma, in unprecedented detail. NASA and the European Space Agency launched the Solar Orbiter probe in February 2020 and it made its first close …

An uncrewed Chinese spacecraft successfully landed on the surface of Mars on Saturday, state news agency Xinhua reported, making China the second space-faring nation after the United States to land on the Red Planet. The Tianwen-1 spacecraft landed on a site on a vast plain known as Utopia Planitia, “leaving …

The technology has enabled a paralyzed man to communicate by text at speeds rivaling those achieved by his able-bodied peers texting on a smartphone. A paralyzed man has used a brain-computer to write on a screen at speeds almost as fast as an able-bodied adult, according to a new study. …

Scientists monitoring the ruins of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine have seen a surge in fission reactions in an inaccessible chamber within the complex. They are now investigating whether the problem will stabilize or require a dangerous and difficult intervention to prevent a runaway nuclear reaction. The explosion …

In 2010 scientists from the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) sailed into the South Pacific Gyre, a marine desert more barren than all but the most arid places on Earth. Near the center of the gyre is the Oceanic Pole of Inaccessibility—best known by fans of H. P. Lovecraft as …

Researchers have identified a new tsunami risk posed by strike-slip faults located menacingly close to major population centers around the globe, warning that there would be little to no warning before catastrophe struck. Strike-slip faults have long been studied, though the particular mechanics of the tsunamis they can generate have …

The fossil remains of nine Neanderthal men have been found in a cave in Italy, the culture ministry announced Saturday, a major discovery in the study of our ancient cousins. All the individuals found in the Guattari Cave in San Felice Circeo, located on the coast between Rome and Naples, …

Debris from a Chinese rocket is expected to fall back to Earth in an uncontrolled re-entry this weekend. The main segment from the Long March-5b vehicle was used to launch the first module of China’s new space station last month. At 18 tonnes it is one of the largest items …