Science

Physicists at JILA, a joint institute of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the University of Colorado Boulder, have produced a gas of potassium-rubidium molecules at temperatures as low as 50 nanokelvin (nK) — that’s 50 billionths of a Kelvin, or just a smidge above absolute zero. …

Fairy circles are extremely ordered round patches of bare soil within arid grasslands. They are known from southwestern Africa around the Namib Desert and from Western Australia. Up to now, scientists offered several theories to explain the honeycomb-like pattern formed by these circles. Some believed termites or ants nibble away …

  The Israeli lunar lander Beresheet has suffered a snag in its efforts to reach the Moon. On Monday, the lander built by Israeli startup SpaceIL missed an orbital maneuver while it was out of communication with the ground. “During the pre-maneuver phase the spacecraft computer reset unexpectedly, causing the …

Paleontologists in Arizona have identified microfossils of what are thought to be the oldest known frog relative in North America. A Chinle frog, inside the jaw of a phitosaur. Image credit: Andrey Atuchin. The newly-discovered microfossils represent the first known and earliest equatorial remains of a salientian — the group …

DNA is naturally composed of four basic molecules called nucleotides (commonly known as ‘letters’) — A (adenine), T (thymine), C (cytosine) and G (guanine) — that form hydrogen bonds in order to pair. A research team led by Dr. Steven Benner of the Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution added an …

The atomic nucleus is made of protons and neutrons, which are themselves composed of quarks and gluons. The latter two are far smaller and operate at much higher energy levels than the protons and neutrons in which they are found. Physicists have therefore assumed that a quark should be blithely …

  NASA will take a step closer to restoring the United States’ space exploration capabilities in less than a week. The organization has given SpaceX the green light to launch a test flight to the International Space Station for the first unmanned test of the Crew Dragon capsule. The seven-seat …

  Japan’s Hayabusa 2 probe successfully met the surface of the asteroid Ryugu last week. While it was there, it fired a small bullet into the surface to (hopefully) collect a sample. The probed backed away after making its attack run, but it appears Ryugu has been changed by the …

Scientist in South Africa have discovered a new species of widow spider and they reckon it could be the biggest in the world. May I be the first person to say on behalf of all arachnophobes, nope. The Phinda button spider is the first new species of widow spider to …

Humans have travelled to the moon and uncovered the secrets of the Taos Hum, the Devil’s Kettle, and maybe even the pyramids of Egypt. But there are still plenty of phenomena that science can’t explain yet. Though scientists may have theories about the following phenomena, no one can say for certain why they …