Back in 2017, neuroscientists used a classic branch of maths in a totally new way to peer into the structure of our brains. What they discovered is that the brain is full of multi-dimensional geometrical structures operating in as many as 11 dimensions. We’re used to thinking of the world from a 3-D perspective, so
Month: August 2019
You’ve probably heard before that Earth has witnessed five mass extinctions. It’s a number plucked straight from the fossil record, but that’s not the whole picture, not even close. Evidence from ancient rocks reveals the oldest die-off in our planet’s history most likely occurred among single-celled organisms more than 2 billion years ago. A recent
What comes to mind when you hear the words “artificial intelligence”? Perhaps you think of Apple’s digital assistant, Siri, or Rosie the Robot from The Jetsons? Perhaps you think of Haley Joel Osment as a robot boy in the 2001 film, AI? Elon Musk thinks you’re looking at it all wrong. “I think generally people
Silicon has had a very good run as the material upon which all of our electronics are based, but it’s starting to reach its limits. Now there’s a new contender for running our computers and smartphones: carbon nanotubes. Scientists just made the largest working computer chip to date out of this hugely promising material. And
Last Wednesday, a gravitational wave detection gave astronomers quite the surprise. As researchers were going about their work at the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO), a pair of gravitational waves rolled in just minutes apart. The first, labelled S190828j, was picked up by all three of LIGO’s gravitational wave detectors at 06:34 am, coordinated universal time. The
Sounds like the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) was just kicked out of mom’s basement. In an inexplicable tweet, DARPA asked for help finding “commercially managed underground urban tunnels and facilities able to host research and experimentation.” And nobody knows why. The ideal space would be a human-made underground environment spanning several city blocks w/
Given the extravagant profusion of moons in our own Solar System, it seems likely that there are way more exomoons out there in the Universe than there are exoplanets. We’re yet to conclusively find one – but astronomers just found a signal that could mean the presence of an exomoon. Not just any exomoon, either,
We’re sure you have your favourite animal. It may even be a really smart one. But corvids – such as crows, magpies and ravens – really are something special. In fact, they’re some of the most intelligent animals in the world. And here we’ve gathered some of the finest examples of just how clever these
Examples of how human societies are changing the planet abound – from building roads and houses, clearing forests for agriculture and digging train tunnels, to shrinking the ozone layer, driving species extinct, changing the climate and acidifying the oceans. Human impacts are everywhere. Our societies have changed Earth so much that it’s impossible to reverse
Across the Caribbean this week, island residents docked boats, emptied grocery stores, and boarded up buildings in preparation for Hurricane Dorian, which became a Category 1 storm on Wednesday. Meanwhile, high up in Earth’s orbit, satellites belonging to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) watched the hurricane form and churn. The storm has passed
The brain is the ultimate computing machine, so it’s no wonder researchers are keen to try and emulate it. Now, new research has taken an intriguing step in that direction – a device that’s able to ‘forget’ memories, just like our brains do. It’s called a second-order memristor (a mix of “memory” and “resistor”). The clever
Here’s a simple how-to on how to construct a traversable cosmic wormhole that could send your spaceship to the furthest reaches of space: take two charged black holes, place them back to back, and thread two cosmic strings through both. Stretch both strings to infinity and presto! You’ve got yourself a traversable wormhole. Confused yet?
With the Cold War over and our future on fire, few of us devote much thought to nuclear winter in today’s world. Rutgers University climatologist Alan Robuck is an exception. He still thinks about it. Quite a lot, in fact. Robuck worked with a small team of fellow environmental and atmospheric scientists to double check
How are black holes born? Astrophysicists have theories, but we don’t actually know for certain. It could be massive stars quietly imploding with a floompf, or perhaps black holes are born in the explosions of colossal supernovas. New observations now indicate it might indeed be the latter. In fact, the research suggests that those explosions are so
A new study has revealed an unsettling truth about the citation metrics that are commonly used to gauge scientists’ level of impact and influence in their respective fields of research. Citation metrics indicate how often a scientist’s research output is formally referenced by colleagues in the footnotes of their own papers – but a comprehensive
For the first time, brain tissue grown in a lab has spontaneously exhibited electrical activity, and it looks startlingly similar to human brain activity. More specifically, it resembles the brain activity of premature babies. This is a huge discovery that brings on possibilities for studying the early development of brain disorders. It also has left some
Development of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has been beleaguered by delays since the project started all the way back in 1996. But a major milestone has brought the finale closer: the glorious machine has now been fully assembled for the first time. The space observatory is being built at the facility of aerospace
In 2017, the Cassini spacecraft plunged into Saturn, ending an exploratory mission that had lasted nearly two decades. But even that final act has proven incredibly useful to scientists, some of whom have now used the data from Cassini’s final transmission to make a remarkable discovery about Saturn: the gas giant’s liquid interior might be
Fundamentally, the cranes that dot city skylines today aren’t hugely different from the ones that the Greeks invented sometime around the late sixth century BCE – a remarkable effort of engineering. But new research argues that the Greeks may have used a clever lifting mechanism more than a century before they even invented cranes. There’s
It was supposed to be extinct by now. The invasive tumbleweed Salsola ryanii only popped up on scientists’ scopes in 2002, but early research concluded it was nothing to worry about. A 2008 study predicted S. ryanii wouldn’t easily adapt, nor be able to expand its range. Those predictions have not aged well. Since the
Astronomers have found an exoplanet with an absolute doozy of an orbit. Rather than a nice, more-or-less circular path around its star, the exoplanet HR 5183 b slingshots around more like a comet – a long, elliptical orbit with the star at one end of the oval. It’s the first time any exoplanet has been
Another face of our Australopithecus ancestors can now peer at us from further back in time than ever before, after its recovery from Earth’s clutches in Afar, Ethiopia. Previously, this hominin species had only been known from skull fragments, teeth, and limb bones. A local, Ali Bereino, discovered the first piece of this elusive skull
Fires in the Amazon rainforest have captured attention worldwide in recent days. Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who took office in 2019, pledged in his campaign to reduce environmental protection and increase agricultural development in the Amazon, and he appears to have followed through on that promise. The resurgence of forest clearing in the Amazon, which
After what SpaceX’s founder Elon Musk called an “embarrassing” glitch with Starhopper, an experimental rocket ship, the company pulled off an impressive launch and landing on Tuesday. “Congrats SpaceX team!!” Musk tweeted shortly after the attempt. “One day Starship will land on the rusty sands of Mars.” Starhopper is a roughly 60-foot-tall (18 meters) vehicle
Manta rays usually like to swim on their own, but that doesn’t mean these creatures are complete loners. Despite their reputation as solitary fish, a five-year-long study in Indonesia suggests manta rays are more social than we give them credit for. Reef manta rays (Mobula alfredi) are known to congregate at feeding and cleaning sites, but
If all the hydro-power dams in the United States were removed and replaced with solar panels, it would take up a fraction of the land and produce substantially more electricity, according to a new analysis. The idea is ambitious, and for now, it’s really just a thought experiment. Today, hydropower is a significant source of
Amongst all of Earth’s abundant life, microorganisms have proven time and time again that they can live just about anywhere. Now, we have more evidence to add to the pile: living microbes have been found some 2.4 kilometres (1.5 miles) below the surface in a Canadian mine, a long way away from sunlight and clean air.
Water is a weird molecule, and no matter how many strange things about it we discover, it seems like there are always more unexpected surprises waiting around the corner – even after centuries of researching it. Case in point: in a new study, scientists in the US have discovered that in the right circumstances, water
There’s more than one way to look at a galaxy. Once you strip out all the lowest-energy electromagnetic radiation, you’re left with the most powerful processes the Universe can muster. This is the Southern Pinwheel Galaxy, or Messier 83, located around 15 million light-years away in the Southern constellation Hydra. And you are looking at
It was the largest, most elaborate society the Americas had ever seen. And it was about to come to an abrupt end. By the Late Horizon of the Inca Empire, the epic civilisation stretched all the way from Colombia in the north to Chile in the south. Imperial fortunes would soon change – violently, at
An uncrewed, solar-powered military plane has just broken its spaceflight-duration record, having now spent more than 719 days in orbit around Earth. Known as the X-37B, the space plane belongs to the US Air Force, and this is its fifth mission, Orbital Test Vehicle 5 (OTV-5). However, exactly what it’s achieving on its missions remains
Three new exoplanets have been found orbiting a nearby star, and one of them is ranked pretty highly for potential habitability. All three are rocky, and within the vicinity of Earth-sized – and the outermost is orbiting the star in the habitable zone, where temperatures are compatible with the possibility of liquid water on the
An international team of scientists trying to save the northern white rhino from extinction has just announced another significant victory. Yesterday we reported that 10 eggs had been successfully harvested from the two surviving females Najin and Fatu. Now, scientists have revealed that of those eggs, seven were successfully matured and artificially inseminated using a technique
“Why don’t we nuke them?” President Donald Trump asked during a White House briefing about hurricanes, according to an Axios report. Trump was advocating for a nuclear solution to the tropical storms that hit the southeastern US, according to Axios [although Trump has since denied the comment]. Sources who heard the president’s private remarks told
Black holes are some of the most powerful and fascinating phenomena in our Universe, but due to their tendency to swallow up anything nearby, getting up close to them for some detailed analysis isn’t possible right now. Instead, scientists have put forward a proposal for how we might be able to model these massive, complex
When two neutron stars collide, it’s not like we can just pop up there with a thermometer to measure the intense temperatures being generated at the heart of the collision. There are other observables that can help us calculate surface temperatures, but inside? That’s a little trickier. Add to that the fact that we’ve only
There are only two of them now: Najin, and her daughter, Fatu. This small family unit is all that remains of an entire subspecies – the last northern white rhinos on the planet. But even now, with just two females left, there is vibrant hope to keep this critically endangered animal alive, researchers say –
Saturday 24 August 2019 marked a vexing anniversary for planetary scientists. It was 13 years to the day that Pluto’s official definition changed – what was once numbered among the planets of the Solar System was now but a humble dwarf planet. But not everyone agreed with the International Astronomical Union’s ruling – and now
A gigantic floating raft of volcanic rock that emerged from an underwater volcano eruption in the Pacific Ocean is slowly drifting towards the Australian coast, heartening hopes it could benefit the imperilled Great Barrier Reef. The massive pumice raft – over 20,000 football fields in size and composed of volcanic rock that’s light enough to
Many of us know that feeling of waking up, headache in tow, struggling to remember what we said and did after that extra drink the night before. And then suddenly, the memories vividly resurface. Alcohol disinhibits us, making us say and do things that we’d otherwise keep under wraps. People will often drink to gain
In the digital age, connectivity and bandwidth are important, even if you’re in Low Earth Orbit (LEO). And when you’re performing research and experiments that could help pave the way for future missions to the Moon, to Mars, and other deep-space destinations, it’s especially important. Hence why NASA recently upgraded the ISS’ connection, effectively doubling
A NASA satellite captured harrowing images of carbon monoxide in the atmosphere due to the wildfires that continue to rage in the Amazon rainforest. NASA collected new data from their Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument, measuring levels of carbon monoxide at an altitude of 18,000 feet (5,500 meters) from August 8 to 22, according to
Up to 800,000 hectares of the unique Chiquitano forest were burned to the ground in Bolivia between August 18 and August 23. That’s more forest than is usually destroyed across the country in two years. Experts say that it will take at least two centuries to repair the ecological damage done by the fires, while
In 2014, we travelled to the northern boreal forests of Canada to set experimental fires that would help us understand the effect of wildfires on the global carbon cycle. Sadly, we never got the chance to set those fires, because the firefighters enlisted to help us were busy dealing with an area the size of
Palm tree-like Cycads are flowering and could possibly reproduce in the UK for the first time in human history – and experts think that climate change could be the cause. While Cycads (or more specifically Cycas revoluta) flower in several parts of the world, they only bloom like this in very warm climates. Not, usually,
No matter how many images we see of our Solar System, we never get tired of gazing out into space, and the latest pictures of Jupiter are enough to make the jaws of even the most seasoned cosmic observers drop. What you’re looking at in the picture above is a new radio wave image made
A magnetar that recently erupted with a storm of activity may have given us a lead on the mystery of fast radio bursts (FRBs). According to a new analysis of the magnetar XTE J1810-197, millisecond bursts of low-frequency radio waves sputtered out by the dead star show an unusual similarity to FRB signals. It’s far from
The study of exoplanets has matured considerably in the last 10 years. During this time, the majority of the over 4,000 exoplanets that are currently known to us were discovered. It was also during this time that the process has started to shift from the process of discovery to characterization. What’s more, next-generation instruments will
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