A United Arab Emirates company wants to tow icebergs from Antarctica to combat drought
Desperate times call for desperate measures, and it doesn’t get more desperate than the Emirates Iceberg Project – a new plan to lug giant ice cubes halfway across the world…
Scientists can now switch between electrons and photons in a single transistor
Researchers have developed a new kind of transistor laser that can switch between two stable energy states – electronic and photonic – which could one day enable data transfer 100…
We’ve finally cracked the secret of Prince Rupert’s Drops
Don’t let the fact that the objects known as Prince Rupert’s drops are made out of glass fool you – the pretty, tear-drop shaped baubles can withstand some pretty harsh…
Humanity’s strange new cousin could transform our understanding of human evolution
Homo naledi, a strange new species of human cousin found in South Africa two years ago, was unlike anything scientists had ever seen. Discovered deep in the heart of a…
This new study says forget what you think you know about salt
Eating more salt has long been associated with feeling thirstier and drinking more water, but a new study of Russian cosmonauts training for life in space has turned that well-established…
Up to 7,000 asylum graves are thought to be hidden under the University of Mississippi
The bodies of as many as 7,000 former patients of Mississippi’s first mental institution could be buried in the grounds of what is now the University of Mississippi’s Medical Centre…
Scientists achieve direct counterfactual quantum communication for the first time
Quantum communication is a strange beast, but one of the weirdest proposed forms of it is called counterfactual communication – a type of quantum communication where no particles travel between…
Gravitational waves could be the key to discovering extra dimensions in our Universe
If we want to find extra dimensions lurking within our Universe – something that string theory attempts to explain – gravitational waves could be our key to locating them, physicists…
MIT physicists have found a brand new way to unleash graphene’s superconductive power
In case it wasn’t already awesome enough, physicists have found a new way to turn ‘wonder material’ graphene into a ridiculously powerful superconductor, capable of shuttling electricity with zero resistance.…
This Robot can complete a 2-Hour Brain Surgery Procedure in Just 2.5 Minutes
Brain surgery is precision business, and one slip can spell doom for affected patients. Even in one of the most skilled jobs in the world, human error can still be…
Switching just 50% of our meat to insects can seriously reduce land use
If we want to cut the environmental impact of livestock, switching to insects and imitation meat products is our best bet, according to a new report. The inevitability of turning…
These radiation-proof flower seeds could help spark life on exoplanets
Seeds from the morning glory flower can withstand huge doses of ultraviolet radiation, scientists have discovered, giving us more evidence that certain types of plant could be able to hitchhike…
Turns out, livers grow by almost half during waking hours
Our liver is a pretty resourceful organ – it detoxifies our blood, helps regulate our metabolism, and if up to two-thirds of it is removed, it can regenerate. But new…
This guy fixed his teeth by 3D-printing his own plastic braces for $60
An undergraduate at New Jersey Institute of Technology made his own plastic braces using a 3D printer, US$60 of materials, and a healthy dose of ingenuity – and they actually…