With the COVID-19 pandemic still raging, a 14-year-old from Texas has won a national science competition for identifying a molecule that can bind to the virus and potentially disable it. Anika Chebrolu, who hails from Frisco, used computer modeling to search for a compound that binds tightly to the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein — a
Month: October 2020
The hole in the ozone layer over Antarctica has expanded to one of its greatest recorded sizes in recent years. In 2019, scientists revealed that the Antarctic ozone hole had hit its smallest annual peak since tracking began in 1982, but the 2020 update on this atmospheric anomaly – like other things this year –
About 24 million years ago, baby shark ancestors of the giant beast called megalodon needed a place to grow big before heading into the open ocean, so they swam around a coastal spot replete with easy-to-catch prey – a nursery in what is now South Carolina, according to new research. Until now, scientists knew of just
A cat lies in the Sun in Peru, its ears up and alert, its belly exposed, and tail stretched out. The cat is 37 metres (120 feet) long, and around 2,000 years old. It’s a geoglyph recently discovered in the famous Nazca desert in Peru. After authorities began improving access to a lookout point
A giant, catastrophic tsunami in Alaska triggered by a landslide of rock left unstable after glacier melting is likely to occur in the next two decades, scientists fear – and it could happen within the next 12 months. A group of scientists warned of the prospects of this impending disaster in Prince William Sound
The American pika (Ochotona princeps) is traditionally thought of as a canary in the coal mine when it comes to America’s rising temperatures. Making their homes high up in the cooler mountain regions of western North America, these adorable critters can overheat in high temperatures – making them incredibly sensitive to climate change. Or
Scientists have measured the shortest unit of time ever: the time it takes a light particle to cross a hydrogen molecule. That time, for the record, is 247 zeptoseconds. A zeptosecond is a trillionth of a billionth of a second, or a decimal point followed by 20 zeroes and a 1. Previously, researchers had dipped into
Since the mid-1990s, coral in the Great Barrier Reef has declined by more than 50 percent, and that goes for virtually every species, at every depth, and in every size, according to a new study. The research spanned the entire 2,300 kilometres of the Great Barrier Reef and found a disturbing loss at pretty
Have you ever been in more than one place at the same time? If you’re much bigger than an atom, the answer will be no. But atoms and particles are governed by the rules of quantum mechanics, in which several different possible situations can coexist at once. Quantum systems are ruled by what’s called
Early life may have been far more like animals than we thought, suggests new research that shows bacteria can ‘develop’ like an embryo. When bacteria band together, they ooze out a protective communal home of slime to form thriving, densely packed colonies known as biofilms. Together these teeny organisms are more powerful. Within the
An international traveler just broke the world’s record for longest nonstop flight. Among birds that is. A bar-tailed godwit (Limosa lapponica) just flew for 11 days straight from Alaska to New Zealand, traversing a distance of 7,500 miles (12,000 kilometers) without stopping, breaking the longest nonstop flight among birds known to scientists, The Guardian reported.
Many animals eat plants. Some plants eat animals. While the first scenario is not puzzling, the second still holds some mysteries, even for scientists. How, exactly, does a plant know how or when to eat an animal? In the case of the Venus flytrap (Dionaea muscipula) – one of the world’s most famous and
For something that largely exists in just two dimensions, graphene seems to be everywhere. The super-thin ‘wonder material’ is famous not only for its incredible strength, but also its unique, often surprising mix of thermal and electromagnetic properties. In recent times, many of the strangest experimental discoveries in graphene research have been made when
If your friends are also friends with each other, you might feel more supported when times get tough. According to a new psychology study, the closer and more interconnected someone thinks a social group is, the more they see that clique as a safety net in life. “You can have two friends who are
Solar panels offer huge potential to move more people away from electricity generated from burning coal, and a new innovation devised by scientists stands to more than double the amount of light captured by conventional solar cells. In a new study, a team of scientists from the UK, Portugal, and Brazil discovered that etching
The group climbed the steep mountainside, clambering across an Alpine glacier, before finding what they were seeking: A crystal vein filled with the precious rocks needed to sculpt their tools. That is what archaeologists have deduced after the discovery of traces of an ancient hunt for crystals by hunters and gatherers in the Mesolithic
As geological puzzles go, it’s a pretty good one. In the global greenhouse conditions of the early Eocene (56-48 million years ago), how did huge numbers of giant glendonite crystals manage to form? These rare calcium carbonate crystals – that need temperatures lower than 4 degrees Celsius to form – are composed from the
There’s no doubt our ancient and enduring relationship with good boys and girls has made dogs special in many ways. Dogs have influenced our evolution too – our bond is written in our genes. But some of their best traits may have already existed in their wild ancestors – like their ability to form
At first glance the apparently barren expanses of the Sahel and Sahara deserts feature little greenery, but detailed satellite imagery combined with computer deep learning has revealed a different picture. In fact, some 1.8 billion trees dot parts of the West African Sahara and Sahel deserts and so-called sub-humid zone, a previously uncounted bounty
As the US Presidential election comes ever closer, incendiary memes on social media have been emerging as a means to further drive a wedge between left- and right-wing voters. The online disinformation campaign is so well disguised, the US Senate Intelligence Committee is worried Facebook users might unwittingly share foreign propaganda. A new study by the defence
From a pile of seaweed to a packet of soy sauce. The London startup Notpla has created a plastic alternative from seaweed that’s biodegradable – and even edible. And it’s hoping it could put a dent in the 300 million tons of plastic waste humans generate each year. Notpla’s natural plastic-like casing is biodegradable within four to six
Global warming is beginning to penetrate even the deepest parts of our oceans. While the surfaces of these vast bodies of water have absorbed the vast majority of human-induced warming, as sea water circulates, the worrisome changes are slowly making their way downward. Scientists at the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have
The ‘penis bone’, or the baculum, is one of the most mysterious structures in mammal biology. To this day, no one really knows what it does or why it’s gone missing in humans, horses, elephants and a few other species. A 3D analysis of 82 penis bones from different animals has now found some
The storage and transfer of information is a fundamental part of any computing system, and quantum computing systems are no different – if we’re going to benefit from the speed and security of quantum computers and a quantum internet, then we need to figure out how to shift quantum data around. One of the
The human brain is a remarkable thing; our most complex machines are not even close to competing with our powers of higher consciousness and ingenuity. And yet, those 80 billion or so neurons are also incredibly fragile. If the tiniest thing goes wrong with a particular connection – maybe something misfires, or a certain neural pathway is
A major new milestone has just been achieved in the quest for superconductivity. For the first time, physicists have achieved the resistance-free flow of an electrical current at room temperature – a positively balmy 15 degrees Celsius (59 degrees Fahrenheit). This has smashed the previous record of -23 degrees Celsius (-9.4 degrees Fahrenheit), and
The world’s most indestructible critter just got even more indestructible. Not content with its existing abilities to survive extreme temperatures, pressures, and the airless vacuum of space, the humble yet seemingly unkillable tardigrade looks to have unlocked another amazing superpower: the ability to withstand lethal doses of ultraviolet (UV) radiation. While we have observed
Making eco-conscious choices at the shops can be tricky when we’re presented with so many options, especially when it comes to milk. Should we buy plant-based milk, or dairy? We’ve looked at the evidence to help you choose. Dairy has the biggest environmental footprint, by far Any plant-based milk, be it made from beans,
Old Faithful, the famed geyser in Yellowstone National Park, erupts with such captivating regularity, they named the whole gushing spring after it. Phenomenal bursts of hot water and steam – fed by the geothermal activity of the Yellowstone supervolcano underneath – spurt up with such punctuality they can even be predicted, giving the geyser the
The world’s wealth is built on our planet’s natural ecosystems, and if those collapse, so too might our global economy, experts warn. A new insurance index from the Swiss Re Institute has found just over half of all global GDP – nearly 42 trillion US dollars – is dependent on goods and services provided by
A massive World War II bomb exploded during a delicate operation on Tuesday to defuse the five-tonne device in a channel near the Baltic Sea but no one was harmed, Polish officials said. The device – nicknamed “Tallboy” and also known as an “earthquake bomb” – was dropped by the Royal Air Force in
Every year, for just two short weeks in June, the forests in the southeast US host an incredible phenomenon. Swarms of thousands of male fireflies take wing into the twilight, their abdomens brilliantly flashing in a breathtaking, synchronised mating display. It’s as mysterious as it is beautiful. For at least centuries, humans across the
The notion that people in long-term relationships start to look more like each other over time has been around for decades, and is in fact rooted in a scientific experiment conducted back in the 1980s. But is this strange phenomenon actually a thing? The unusual idea entered the world’s consciousness in a psychology study published
The German Alfred Wegener Institute’s Polarstern ship returned to the port of Bremerhaven after 389 days spent drifting through the Arctic trapped in ice, allowing scientists to gather vital information on the effects of global warming in the region. Mission leader Markus Rex said he and his team of 300 scientists from 20 countries
Many people love squishing their dogs’ cuddly faces while gazing deep into their canines’ soulful eyes to try and understand what they want. But new research suggests our four-legged friends don’t feel the same way about us. A study published Monday in the Journal of Neuroscience reveals that dogs’ brains are equally as excited by our faces
An international team of scientists has helped to unravel a longstanding mystery about how rare earth element deposits form underground – and sometimes seem to disappear without a trace. Rare earth elements (REEs) are a set of 17 valuable chemical elements that are incredibly important in manufacturing technological devices, being used as critical raw
An early medieval cemetery unearthed in Germany may not contain “a harem for the hereafter,” as some news outlets reported, but it’s still a remarkable find, likely holding the remains of a wealthy aristocrat and about 80 other people, some buried with riches such as glass bowls, gold jewelry and sharp weapons, according to the
Nuclear power is often promoted as one of the best ways to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels to generate the electricity we need, but new research suggests that going all-in on renewables such as wind and solar might be a better approach to seriously reducing the levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
If any animal understands the horrors of trench warfare, it has to be the mole. Faced with an enemy, there’s no time for pleasantries. No place to hide. Aggression is all that matters. To help them fight in this brutal world, evolution has granted the female mole a generous dose of ‘roid rage’ by
No matter how cute and fuzzy this critter looks, don’t touch it. This toupée-like insect is one of the most poisonous caterpillars in the US. Named the furry puss caterpillar – perhaps for its resemblance to less venomous house cats – people who brush up against its hairy coat have a painful reaction. And
When humans are on the prowl for something to eat, something in our brains appears to drive us towards junk food. This is what some scientists call ‘optimal foraging theory’, and it suggests our spatial memory, or our ‘cognitive maps’, have evolved to prioritise the most calorically rewarding snacks. For our hunter-gatherer ancestors, who never
Einstein’s theory of special relativity gave us the speed limit of the Universe – that of light in a vacuum. But the absolute top speed of sound, through any medium, has been somewhat trickier to constrain. It’s impossible to measure the speed of sound in every single material in existence, but scientists have now
Picturing how our species might appear in the far future often invites wild speculation over stand-out features such as height, brain size, and skin complexion. Yet subtle shifts in our anatomy today demonstrate how unpredictable evolution can be. Take something as mundane as an extra blood vessel in our arms, which going by current trends could
The ice-covered Grímsvötn volcano on Iceland produced an unusually large and powerful eruption in 2011, sending ash 20 kilometres into the atmosphere, causing the cancellation of about 900 passenger flights. In comparison, the much smaller 2010 eruption of Eyjafjallajökull led to the cancellation of about 100,000 flights. Understandably, any mention of another explosive eruption
The remains of a 1,200-year-old pagan temple to the Old Norse gods such as Thor and Odin have been discovered in Norway – a rare relic of the Viking religion built a few centuries before Christianity became dominant there. Archaeologists say the large wooden building – about 45 feet (14 meters) long, 26 feet
Researchers have unveiled details of a new dinosaur species, Oksoko avarsan, which had a parrot-like beak and just two functional digits on its forearms – one fewer than its close relatives, suggesting an ability to diversify and adapt to new surroundings. Based on six years of research, the experts behind this study say that
Pollution off the Pacific shoreline of the remote Kamchatka peninsula has caused the mass death of marine creatures, Russian scientists said Tuesday. Locals sounded the alarm in late September as surfers experienced stinging eyes from the water and sea creatures including seals, octopuses and sea urchins washed up dead on the shore. Coming on
Cats have a reputation for standoffishness, especially compared with dogs, but if you find your feline friend a little hard to bond with, maybe you’re just not speaking their language. Never fear – new research has shown that it’s not so difficult. You just need to smile at them more. Not the human way,