People with extremist views aren’t only identified by their political, religious, or social beliefs, according to new research. Those ideological convictions run deep, scientists say – so deep, in fact, that they can be recognised in a ‘psychological signature’ of cognitive traits and aptitudes that typifies the thinking patterns of the extremist mind. “There
Scientific progress towards a quantum computing future has so far involved lots of different breakthroughs in lots of different (but related) fields, and there’s now a new one to report: the discovery of a crucial quantum speed limit. This latest research answers a fundamental question – how fast can a quantum process be? It’s
We find ourselves at a precarious time in global health. Many people are anxiously awaiting their turn to receive a vaccine for COVID-19, yet roll-out is slow and disorganized, with many countries facing supply shortages. The conditions are ripe for opportunists to exploit the situation. Reports of unethical line-jumping by wealthy elites have started
Researchers have discovered organic molecules trapped in incredibly ancient rock formations in Australia, revealing what they say is the first detailed evidence of early chemical ingredients that could have underpinned Earth’s primeval microbial life-forms. The discovery, made in the 3.5-billion-year-old Dresser Formation of Western Australia’s Pilbara Craton, adds to a significant body of research
Vampire squid have been lurking in the dark corners of the ocean for 30 million years, a new analysis of a long-lost fossil finds. Modern-day vampire squid (Vampyroteuthis infernalis) can thrive in deep, oxygen-poor ocean water, unlike many other squid species that require shallower habitat along continental shelves. Few fossil ancestors of today’s vampire squid survive,
The amount of sunlight reaching Earth’s surface has been fluctuating for decades now, and a new study supports the idea that human activity is to blame. In the late 1980s, researchers first noticed a steady decline or ‘dimming’ in Earth’s brightness in various parts of the world, including a near 30 percent drop in sunlight
They contaminate the air we breathe, tea we sip, water we drink, and food we eat. They’re strewn across the deepest ocean trenches and the highest mountains. They’re in fish, insects, whales, corals, and our own poo. They’re even showing up in human placentas. Microplastics are everywhere. But we still have no idea what,
Launch yourself from a great enough height and it won’t take long to see which would win in a battle between gravity and the forces that bind solid ground. Gravity’s relative weakness, at least compared to the strength of electromagnetism and the nuclear forces, appears to limits its power to phenomena on the vast scales
A whitetail deer was found stumbling through the streets of Farragut, Tennessee, with thick hair growing out of both of its eyeballs. The hair protruded from discs of flesh covering both the buck’s cornea — the transparent part of the eye that covers the iris and pupil. The bizarre condition, called corneal dermoids, has been documented
Once, holograms were just a scientific curiosity. But thanks to the rapid development of lasers, they have gradually moved centre stage, appearing on the security imagery for credit cards and bank notes, in science fiction movies – most memorably Star Wars – and even “live” on stage when long-dead rapper Tupac reincarnated for fans at
An oil rig explosion off the coast of Louisiana killed eleven workers on 20 April 2010. The world then watched helplessly as BP’s oil gushed out into the Gulf of Mexico for 87 days, killing untold millions of marine animals. Dolphins that survived one of the worst environmental disasters ever, still appear to be
When answering a question, your silence might say more than your words. A new psychology study has found pausing before replying, even for just a few seconds, can make you seem more insincere or dishonest. Even when listeners are told to ignore your pauses, they’re still more likely to judge a slower response as
Dogs might not be able to recognise themselves in a mirror, but that doesn’t mean our pets don’t have some level of self-awareness. Recent research has shown dogs can recognise the unique smell of their own odour, sort of like looking in an ‘olfactory mirror’, and now a new study suggests they might also have
Most of us living on planet Earth have to make it through some amount of cold weather for at least part of the year, and new research has identified a specific genetic mutation that makes a fifth of us more resilient to cold conditions. The genetic mutation in question stops the production of the
Creating a quantum computer requires an ability to stroke the edges of reality with the quietest of touches. Too much ‘noise’ and the delicate state of the system collapses, leaving you with a very expensive paperweight. One way to reduce the risk of this occurring is to build in checks and balances that help
Scientists have identified a new phenomenon they describe as “interactive dreaming”, where people experiencing deep sleep and lucid dreams are able to follow instructions, answer simple yes-or-no questions, and even solve basic mathematics problems. As well as adding a whole new level of understanding to what happens to our brains when we’re dreaming, the new
Fish poop is full of carbon, and the ocean is full of fish poop. A new study estimates up to 16 percent of all the carbon in the world’s oceans come from fish faeces, fish breath, and other fish excretions. That’s roughly 1.65 billion tons of carbon flushed into the depths each year, and
Americans often take electricity for granted – until the lights go out. The recent cold wave and storm in Texas have placed considerable focus on the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, or ERCOT, the nonprofit corporation that manages the flow of electricity to more than 26 million Texans. Together, ERCOT and similar organizations manage
A global period of upheaval 42,000 years ago was the result of a reversal in Earth’s magnetic field, new research has found. According to radiocarbon preserved in ancient tree rings, several centuries’ worth of climate breakdown, mass extinctions, and even changes in human behaviour can be directly linked to the last time Earth’s magnetic field
Not all water ice is the same. Locked inside, the arrangement of molecules varies significantly, based on the pressure and temperature conditions under which it forms. We knew of 18 of these distinct phases of ice, some occurring naturally, some only seen in laboratory conditions. Three years ago, a team of researchers tweaked one
The severe winter storm raging through the southern US brought such extreme cold that it confused weather satellites monitoring the situation. On Tuesday, the cold air advancing south from the Arctic chilled the ground so much that one monitoring satellite mistook the ground for tops of clouds, which are usually much colder than surface temperatures.
There’s something about mummies that always fascinates people. We see this from the attention given to mummies in museum exhibitions and in their frequent appearance in books, films and games. Perhaps it’s the fact that they are dead yet still very identifiable as people – in some way simultaneously dead and living. Whatever the
In 1928, the renowned British archaeologist, Dorothy Garrod, excavated the Shukbah Cave in the hills of Palestine, just north of Jerusalem. This was some of her earliest work in a long and successful career, revealing a rich collection of ancient stone tools, animal bones, and a single fossilised tooth – what looked like a large
Male and female wood roaches are one of the few insect couples suspected of truly mating for life. The secret to one species’ long-lasting love? A bit of mutual cannibalism. In a revelry of post-coital bliss, mating cockroaches (Salganea taiwanensis) have been filmed chowing down on each other’s wings for days on end, taking turns
In a feat right at the limits of our scientific capabilities, an international team of geneticists has recovered and sequenced the oldest DNA to date. From the teeth of three ancient mammoths that roamed Siberia between 700,000 and 1.2 million years ago, the researchers extracted extremely degraded DNA, and pieced it back together to reveal
Protons don’t like to stay close to one another for very long. But if you’ve got the right number balanced neatly among enough neutrons, they just might build an atom that won’t crumble apart in the blink of an eye. Theorists had suggested 114 could be one such ‘magic’ number of protons – but
Admit it. We all have our favourite world maps, the one where the continent we call home sits right at the centre. And when that world map is flipped upside down or shifted to the left or right, everything feels… unbalanced. More than just a classroom squabble, it’s a reflection of how maps can
Russian state laboratory Vektor on Tuesday announced it was launching research into prehistoric viruses by analysing the remains of animals recovered from melted permafrost. The Siberia-based lab said in a statement that the aim of the project was to identify paleoviruses and conduct advanced research into virus evolution. The research in collaboration with the
Amid record cold temperatures and skyrocketing energy demand, utilities across the central US have ordered rolling blackouts to ration electricity, leaving millions of people without power. Energy expert Michael E. Webber explains why weather extremes can require such extreme steps. 1. The Plains states have a lot of wild weather. Why is this cold
The way that the songs of fin whales echo back from the seabed could become a useful tool for scientists studying the sediment and rock that make up Earth’s crust, according to new research carried out in the northeast Pacific Ocean. These songs are some of the strongest and most far-reaching vocalisations in the
In the very smallest measured units of space and time in the Universe, not a lot is going on. In a new search for quantum fluctuations of space-time on Planck scales, physicists have found that everything is smooth. This means that – for now at least – we still can’t find a way to
Do you think the referee always has it in for your team? What about a sneaking suspicion that aliens have already visited Earth? “Everyone believes at least one conspiracy theory,” says sociologist Asbjørn Dyrendal from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). “These examples activate the same mechanisms that come into play when our
Cities don’t just have sea level rises to worry about – they’re also slowly sinking under the weight of their own development, according to new research, which emphasises the importance of factoring subsidence into models of climate change risk. Geophysicist Tom Parsons, from the United States Geological Survey (USGS) agency, looked at San Francisco
The waters below Antarctica are amongst the most inhospitable environments on our planet – or so we thought. It’s pitch dark, and temperatures are subzero; yet, when scientists drilled through an Antarctic ice shelf far from light or warmth, they found a seafloor boulder that’s home to several species we may have never seen before.
Every year, billions of songbirds migrate thousands of miles between Europe and Africa – and then repeat that same journey again, year after year, to nest in exactly the same place that they chose on their first great journey. The remarkable navigational precision displayed by these tiny birds – as they travel alone over
A new satellite image has captured the stunning white peaks of two volcanoes on the Big Island in Hawaii, which have experienced their second-most extensive snow coverage since current records began. The high-resolution image – snapped on Feb. 6 by the Operational Land Imager (OLI) onboard the Landsat-8 satellite – shows the striking contrast between the
A high-production brewery believed to be the world’s “oldest” has been uncovered by a team of archaeologists at the Abydos funerary site in southern Egypt, the tourism ministry said Saturday. “The joint Egyptian-American archaeological mission, headed by Dr. Matthew Adams of New York University, and Dr. Deborah Vischak of Princeton University, working in North
Environmentalists are more aware than most people of their effect on the planet, but a small new study suggests some lifelong greenies are not necessarily up-to-date on the latest sustainable options for life after death. Little research has been done on what environmentalists want to do with their bodily remains after they die, but
Pigs might not be able to fly, but they can play video games. In a new study, researchers from Purdue University in Indiana have shown that pigs can use a digital screen and joystick, operated by their snout, to move a cursor around for rewards. This is a complex task. The animals need to
Causality is one of those difficult scientific topics that can easily stray into the realm of philosophy. Science’s relationship with the concept started out simply enough: an event causes another event later in time. That had been the standard understanding of the scientific community up until quantum mechanics was introduced. Then, with the introduction of the
The Venus flytrap (Dionaea muscipula) is already a fascinating enough plant, but scientists have discovered something else amazing about it: It generates measurable magnetic fields as its leaves snap shut. And going way beyond D. muscipula, the latest research could teach us a lot about how plant life uses magnetic field signalling to communicate
People tend to be extremely nostalgic about the music they listened to when they were young. If you were a teenager in the 1970s, chances are you will love Queen, Stevie Wonder, or ABBA. And if you were young in the 1990s, “Wannabe” by the Spice Girls probably still gets you on the dance floor.
Just because you’re done with a Prozac pill, it doesn’t mean the pill is done. In fact, when you swallow something like an antidepressant, that’s not the end of the drug’s journey in the world. It’s the beginning. Most pharmaceutical drugs, including psychoactive medications such as fluoxetine (made famous under the Prozac brand), are only
COVID-19 is a global crisis that has claimed the lives of well over two million people worldwide, and some nations have handled the crisis much better than others. New research shows ‘tighter’ cultures, with stronger adherence to social norms and harsher disciplinary measures, have far more control over the infection. As of October 2020,
Remains of an ancient monument in west Wales indicate stones that stood at the site may have been dismantled and used to build the Neolithic standing circle Stonehenge, a new study suggested Friday. Researchers believe some stones used at Stonehenge, near Salisbury in southwest England, were used in an earlier monument 175 miles (280
Homo sapiens today look very different from our evolutionary origins, the microbes wriggling about in the primordial mud. But our emergence as a distinct species cannot, based on the current evidence, be conclusively traced to a single location at any single point in time. In fact, according to a team of scientists, who have
Artificial intelligence (AI) is learning more about how to work with (and on) humans. A recent study has shown how AI can learn to identify vulnerabilities in human habits and behaviours and use them to influence human decision-making. It may seem cliched to say AI is transforming every aspect of the way we live
Most cat owners know that allowing your snuggly pet outdoors puts wildlife at risk. In Australia alone, cats kill over 1.5 billion native animals a year. But some cat owners still prefer to let their cats roam free outside, often out of concern over their feline’s welfare if kept indoors 24/7. But now a small study