Science

  We talk often about how big space is, and indeed, it is really, mind-bogglingly big. However, space around Earth is feeling smaller all the time. SpaceX has launched the first few dozen of what will eventually grow to a swarm of thousands of satellites. Several days ago, the ESA …

The blue-banded sea snake (Hydrophis cyanocinctus) uses a complex system of large blood vessels in its head to draw in extra oxygen when it dives and swims underwater, according to new research. The modified cephalic vascular network provides the blue-banded sea snake (Hydrophis cyanocinctus) with a complementary supply of oxygen …

An international team of scientists from the United Kingdom and the United States has discovered a previously unknown type of electromagnetic wave: a Dyakonov-Voigt surface wave. Mackay et al found theoretically a new type of electromagnetic surface wave. Image credit: Arek Socha. University of Edinburgh’s Dr. Tom Mackay and his …

A team of scientists at the University of Georgia has used CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing to engineer brown anoles (Anolis sagrei) with transmissible mutations in TYR (tyrosinase), a gene involved in the synthesis of the pigment melanin. Albino (left) and wild-type (right) anole lizards. Image credit: Rasys et al, doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2019.07.089. …

Venus’ surface has never been seen by the human eye because of opaque, highly reflective clouds which permanently cover the planet. What is curious about Venus’ upper clouds is that in those clouds are mysterious dark patches, called ‘unknown absorbers’ as the tiny particles that make up them soak up …

Sleep is crucial for our survival, and many conditions, including cancer, autoimmune disorders, cardiovascular disease, and Alzheimer’s, are linked to poor sleep quality. Before we can use sleep to enhance our health and performance and alleviate diseases associated with poor sleep, a greater understanding of sleep regulation is necessary. After …

A team of researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has developed a thread-like ferromagnetic robot that can glide through complex and constrained environments, such as the labrynthine vasculature of the brain. Kim et al developed robotic thread that can be steered magnetically and is small enough to work …

Archaeologists have uncovered almost two hundred stone artifacts, including projectile points and flake tools, and bone fragments from large mammals at the Cooper’s Ferry site in western Idaho, the United States. The discovery suggests that humans lived in the area 16,000 years ago, more than a thousand years earlier than …

  Development of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) stretches all the way back to the mid-90s. No one at the time could have anticipated how long it would take to get the monstrously complex instrument built, but we’re in the home stretch now. Engineers at Northrop Grumman’s facilities in …

One of the fundamental principles of quantum mechanics is quantum superposition, in which a particle exists in two or more states simultaneously. In a paper published in the journal Nature Communications, University of Queensland physicist Magdalena Zych and colleagues show that particles are not the only objects that can exist …