Science

Giant kangaroos and tortoises as big as cars that once roamed Down Under weren’t killed off by humans, according to scientists. Modern archaeological research suggests that the first settlers reached the remote continent at least 65,000 years ago – almost 20,000 years earlier than previously thought. This means that humans lived alongside Australia’s huge and astonishing […]

The Kilauea volcano eruption in Hawaii has drawn much attention and is a reminder for Californians of the sleeping giants in their own backyard. As geologists specializing in volcanoes flock to Hawaii, among them are specialists from the United States Geological Survey (USGS) stationed in Menlo Park, Calif. The geologists from the California Volcano Observatory […]

Photographers have been gathering to catch that perfect shot of the smaller explosions inside Hawaii’s Kilauea crater, but plumes of ash and steam signal a bigger explosion could be coming. Glyn Williams-Jones, a volcanologist at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia, Canada says that if there are big explosions, large rocks or volcanic bombs could […]

The SpaceX Falcon 9 Rocket was shutdown seconds before the scheduled launch. The launch at Cape Canaveral, Florida  was automatically canceled by an automatic abort code with 59 seconds remaining. The Falcon 9 was set to carry the Bangladeshi communications satellite Bangabandhu 1 to orbit, however, systems will be checked and the launch will be […]

Police use breathalyzer tests for alcohol to great effect, but detecting whether a suspect is under the influence of drugs has been far more difficult–until now. Researchers from the University at Buffalo, New York, and Fudan University in China have developed a low-cost chip that can reportedly detect the presence of cocaine in only a […]

A study by the University of Toronto proved that music helps boost intelligence in children. About 50% of IQ is determined by our genetic makeup, but we can stimulate brain connections by studying and enjoying music, especially at a young age. Would you sign your child up for music lessons if you knew it would […]

NASA has released an animated video based on infrared images of Jupiter’s polar cyclones. NASA’s Juno satellite aimed its Jovian Infrared Auroral Mapper to scan the heat signatures of the enormous cyclones which permanently rotate above and below the gas giant. The animation uses white to indicate heat and darker colors to show increasing coldness. […]

A team of astronomers from England’s University of Manchester have figured out how our sun will die. In about 5 billion years, they predict, the sun will expand into a massive ring of glowing interstellar gas and dust called a planetary nebula. The team developed a new model to analyze existing data, and predicted that […]

Scientists studying planets outside our solar system have made an extraordinary discovery—an exoplanet with a missing atmosphere. The find is “a pivotal breakthrough in the quest for greater understanding of the planets beyond our solar system,” the University of Exeter said in a statement. An international team of astronomers have found that the atmosphere of the […]

  The British government says it may ban wet wipes as part of a broader crackdown on plastic trash, in measures designed to protect the environment. If they are outlawed, shoppers will no longer be able to buy them in their current form. Wet wipes are mostly made of polyester and, when flushed down the […]

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif.—An Atlas 5 rocket soared into space early on Saturday, May 5, from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, carrying NASA’s first robotic lander designed for exploring the deep interior of another planet on its voyage to Mars. The Mars InSight probe lifted off from the central California coast at 4:05 […]

Scientists in the UK are developing a method to transform normal soil into a novel building material that could one day cut our dependence on traditional brick. The problem with brick production is that it requires firing a kiln at extremely high temperatures, which is costly and creates pollution. “For a fired brick, that is typically fired at over […]

LOS ANGELES—After decades exploring the surface of Mars, NASA is set for the weekend launch of its first robotic lander dedicated to studying the red planet’s deep interior, with instruments to detect planetary seismic rumblings never measured anywhere but Earth. The Mars InSight probe is due for liftoff on Saturday before dawn from Vandenberg Air […]

Mistletoe, the traditional yuletide decoration, is apparently the only species on Earth that no longer needs a protein every other multicellular organism possesses. According to a study published in Current Biology, two independent teams of researchers found that European mistletoe appears to survive without a protein otherwise indispensable for life. This critical substance is known […]

Researchers at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland have created laser-shooting contact lenses. The ultra-thin membrane laser can be placed on the eye and shines a green beam 20 inches away. Researchers say the lasers can be used as a wearable security tag, could help spot counterfeit banknotes, and aid in a medical context. […]

A new NASA video shows an active region of the sun taken April 24-26. NASA published a video of the sun’s tangled magnetic field lines swaying and twisting when viewed in a wavelength of extreme ultraviolet light. Charged particles spinning along the field lines are what illuminate them. No significant solar storm eruption occurred, but […]

Researchers from the University of Bristol have revealed how a raccoon-sized, feather-clad dinosaur, the Sinosauropteryx, had multiple types of camouflage which enabled it to survive in a world roaming with larger meat-eating dinosaurs. The Chinese dinosaur, the Sinosauropteryx, which lived 130 million years ago, had a dark stripe around its eye or “bandit mask,” a […]

Researchers have kept the brains of decapitated pigs alive outside their bodies, opening up potential treatments for diseases like dementia and cancer. Scientists have been quick to point out, however, that the development doesn’t mean humans will be able to cheat death. A team led by Yale University neuroscientist Nenad Sestan circulated an oxygen-rich fluid […]

VICTORIA—A dinosaur museum in the tiny northeast British Columbia community of Tumbler Ridge is facing a struggle against extinction as local politicians and residents feud over funding, operation, and development of the potential tourism gold mine. The District of Tumbler Ridge council denied the museum its annual funding grant of $200,000 last month, essentially leaving the […]

The European Space Agency announced on Thursday that it is collaborating with NASA to look into the possibility of bringing Martian soil samples to Earth. “Spacecraft in orbit and on Mars’s surface have made many exciting discoveries, transforming our understanding of the planet and unveiling clues to the formation of our Solar System, as well […]