Science

Gravitational wave astronomy has just given us another amazing gift: the first observational confirmation of one of Stephen Hawking‘s predictions about black holes. An analysis of the very first gravitational wave detection made back in 2015, GW150914, has confirmed Hawking’s area theorem. It states that, under classical physics, the area of the event horizon of

New normal. Record-breaking. Unprecedented. In recent days, as Western Canada and the United States have been broiling under a climate-fueled heat crisis, all sorts of superlatives have been used to describe never-before-seen temperatures: the British Columbia community of Lytton hit a mind-boggling 49.5 C on June 29, breaking all-time temperature records three days in a

WASHINGTON — SpaceX launched 88 satellites on a Falcon 9 June 30 on the company’s second dedicated smallsat rideshare mission. The Falcon 9 lifted off from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 3:31 p.m. Eastern, more than halfway into a nearly hourlong launch window because of weather. A launch attempt

The most complex life forms ever developed entirely in Petri dishes can pump blood through tiny beating hearts, gradually growing nerves and muscles in a laboratory. These little collections of mammalian cells form rudimentary mouse embryos, built from scratch out of stem cells – cells that have the potential to develop into any other cell

The mineral pyrite was historically nicknamed fool’s gold because of its deceptive resemblance to the precious metal. The term was often used during the California gold rush in the 1840s because inexperienced prospectors would claim discoveries of gold, but in reality it would be pyrite, composed of worthless iron disulfide (FeS₂). Ironically, pyrite crystals can

A wooden stick carved into the shape of a snake dating back about 4,400 years has been discovered by a lake in southwest Finland. The stick may have been used for mystical purposes by a shaman. “I have seen many extraordinary things in my work as a wetland archaeologist, but the discovery of this figurine

For the first time, scientists have unambiguously confirmed the collision of a black hole and a neutron star: The fateful moment two extreme objects come together in an event so immensely powerful, its ripples across the cosmos can still be discerned a billion years later. Amazingly enough, this astronomical discovery has now been made not

As the world gets warmer, staggering transformations are taking place in some of Earth’s coldest locations – events that might go completely unnoticed by humans, were it not for our eyes in the sky. In a new study, satellite observations reveal one such stunning phenomenon: the sudden disappearance of a gigantic lake in Antarctica, which

Raytheon and Palantir each won $8.5 million contracts to design ground station prototypes WASHINGTON — Raytheon announced June 28 it is teaming with seven aerospace and data analytics companies to develop a ground station for the U.S. Army that can process data from air and space sensors. Raytheon and Palantir in January were selected to

A “heat dome” over western Canada and the US Pacific northwest sent temperatures soaring to new highs, triggering heat warnings from Oregon to Canada’s Arctic territories on Sunday. More than 40 new temperature highs were recorded in British Columbia over the weekend, including in the ski resort town of Whistler. And the high pressure ridge

Many of us hang on to keepsakes from loved ones who have died, and new research suggests that this habit is deeply human – and thousands of years old. The newly published study on this subject focuses on ‘deliberately deposited objects’ or ‘problematic stuff’ – items dug up by archaeologists that wouldn’t normally be there

In 2018, scientists made a discovery that could change our understanding of the dusty, dry red ball that is Mars. Radar signals bounced from just below the planet’s surface revealed a shining patch, consistent with nothing so much as an underground pool of liquid water. Subsequent searches turned up even more shiny patches, suggesting a

The United Nations calculated that extreme weather events resulted in 15,000 deaths and resulted in economic losses of US $170 billion in 2020. Storms, floods, and droughts can be catastrophic for people and the environment, but are these events on the rise? We asked 4 experts in climate science ‘Are extreme weather events becoming more

An exceptionally rare and critically endangered fungus, known as the tea-tree fingers, is rapidly losing its grip on the Australian mainland. Just off the coast, however, its finger-like tendrils are still clinging to life. On French Island, several kilometers from the Mornington Peninsula in the country’s southeast, scientists and volunteers have now discovered the largest

More than 120,000 years ago in the Levant, Homo sapiens lived side-by-side with a type of ancient human we didn’t know about – until now. That’s according to new fossil evidence of this human uncovered by archaeologists – fragments of ancient skull and jaw bones, and teeth, which seem to fit both Neanderthal and Homo

Life currently has a sample size of just one. Without an alien or two to expand the boundaries of biology, Earth’s evolutionary history sets the limits on whether we can expect other planets to spawn complex critters like, well, us. Given many life forms owe a great debt to the oxygen in our atmosphere, it’s

While grumbling skies and spectacular displays of air-splitting light can be a thrilling experience to witness, thunderstorms can also do an awful lot of damage. From igniting massive wildfires to causing flash flooding, damaging hail, and even tornadoes ,this wild weather can destroy homes and businesses and take lives. Thunderstorms that roil across the Southern

Col. Eric Felt: ‘Operating spacecraft beyond geosynchronous Earth orbit poses unique challenges’ WASHINGTON — A new report published by the Air Force Research Laboratory suggests the U.S. Space Force has to prepare for a day when the moon and the volume of space around it could become the next military frontier.  “A Primer on Cislunar

When you’re as tiny as a European robin, crossing the continent for the winter is no small feat. We now know its secret to keeping on track over vast distances – an innate ability to harness the weirdness that sits at the heart of quantum physics. Long hypothesized as means by which animals might sense

Over 3.5 million dead and counting. Long-term health problems, livelihoods destroyed and a long way yet to go. This is the age of COVID-19. Was it simply a natural disaster, part of living in a fast-paced, globalized world? Or can we identify preventable mistakes? The key is the term “natural disaster“: it’s a misnomer. Disasters

Venus may be a toxic hell-planet, but new evidence suggests it might have more in common than Earth than we realized. Scientists have just found evidence that Venus’ crust could have tectonic blocks that rub together, not dissimilar to broken blocks of pack ice. It’s not entirely like Earth’s plate tectonics, but the discovery does

In normal times, it’s easy to assume that desert plants will weather tough periods. These hardy organisms evolved to survive bouts of prolonged heat and dryness, after all. They can take it. These are not normal times, though. A new study analyzing over 30 years’ worth of satellite imagery captured over southern California reveals that

Have you ever chatted with a friend about buying a certain item and been targeted with an ad for that same item the next day? If so, you may have wondered whether your smartphone was “listening” to you. But is it really? Well, it’s no coincidence the item you’d been interested in was the same

WASHINGTON — A NASA-funded smallsat mission to Mars that lost its ride last year may get new life through a partnership with Rocket Lab. Rocket Lab announced June 15 it won a contract from the Space Sciences Laboratory (SSL) of the University of California Berkeley to begin design work on a new version of the

Drone footage has captured the social lives of southern resident killer whales like never before, and their friendships look surprisingly similar to our own. Tracking a single pod of 22 killer whales for 10 days, researchers observed a complex web of relationships, including close friendships. Resident killer whales live their whole lives in the same

Fear is a common response to darkness, especially in children, and now scientists think they might have figured out the brain mechanisms behind it,  mechanisms that work in a couple of areas of the brain in particular. The amygdala section of the brain is responsible for processing emotion and regulating our fear response, and a

As we gain greater ability to peer deeper and deeper into the Universe, we’ve been finding something very surprising: Supermassive black holes millions to billions of times the mass of the Sun, before the Universe was even 10 percent of its current age. This is quite the cosmological conundrum. Given what we know about the

One of the key steps to mitigating climate change is to better understand the multitude of factors that affect our planet’s temperature – and a new study reveals the important role that ocean microbes play in the process. Microbes are responsible for most of Earth’s naturally produced methane, a key greenhouse gas that contributes to

MacArthur Genius and MIT professor Linda Griffith has built an epic career as a scientist and inventor, including growing a human ear on a mouse. She now spends her days unpacking the biological mechanisms underlying endometriosis, a condition in which uterus-like tissue grows outside of the uterus. Endometriosis can be brutally painful, is regularly misdiagnosed