Science

Most of us have heard the one about if you cross your arms over your chest you’re feeling defensive or if you’re fiddling with your hair while talking you feel nervous – but is there really any truth to some of these body language stereotypes? Reading body language can be a useful skill in understanding

Astronomers have just found a cosmic cannonball. Around a star some 730 light-years away orbits an exoplanet the size of Jupiter, but with a density that boggles the mind. Astronomers have determined that the world, named TOI-4603b, has a mass of nearly 13 Jupiters. That means it’s nearly 3 times the density of Earth, and

The world is direly addicted to plastics. Try as we might to recycle them, plastics are cheaper to make anew, so unthinkable amounts of plastic waste are dumped into landfill and are clogging up our oceans. From all the new plastics ever made, over 6 billion metric tons of plastic waste (that doesn’t decompose but

The AI chatbot known as ChatGPT, developed by the company OpenAI, has caught the public’s attention and imagination. Some applications of the technology are truly impressive, such as its ability to summarize complex topics or to engage in long conversations. It’s no surprise that other AI companies have been rushing to release their own large

WASHINGTON — Several military allies of the United States in the Middle East have expressed interest in creating their own space forces, and have sought advice from the U.S. on how to accomplish this goal, Col. Christopher Putman, commander of U.S. Space Forces Central, said March 27. “We have a lot of nations that see

Bones found on the remote Arctic island of Spitsbergen suggest the ancient marine reptiles known as ichthyosaurs roamed Earth’s oceans for much longer than we thought. Dated to 250 million years ago, the remains represent the oldest evidence of ichthyosaurs we’ve ever seen. Moreover, the species represented by the bones was already large and well-adapted

Nearly a century has passed since scientists broke the Universe. Through a complex mix of experiment and theory, physicists discovered an engine built on the mathematics of probability ticks away below the façade of reality. Referred to in vague terms as the Copenhagen interpretation, this take on the theory underpinning quantum mechanics says everything can

More than 2,000 mummified ram heads and a palatial Old Kingdom structure have been uncovered by archaeologists at the King Ramses II Temple of Abydos. The finds, located roughly 270 miles (435 kilometers) south of Cairo, come from a period of over 1,000 years, from the Sixth Dynasty to the Heroic Age, making some of

There might be some hidden oceans lurking around Uranus. New evidence suggests that one or two of the gas giant’s 27 known moons might be harboring liquid oceans beneath their crusty rock-and-ice exteriors. The possible culprits for seeding the space around Uranus with plasma are Miranda and Ariel, one or both of which might be

In 2013, a monstrous marine heatwave known as ‘The Blob’ developed off the coast of Alaska and soon stretched as far south as Mexico along the Pacific coast of North America. It lingered far longer than anyone expected, decimating fisheries, triggering toxic algal blooms, disturbing kelp forests, and starving sea birds of food. At one

WASHINGTON — The Space Systems Command announced March 24 it has selected 18 vendors to provide data analytics and software services to help decision makers analyze information about the space domain. The companies are Agility Consulting, August Schell Enterprises, Avantus Federal, BAE Systems, Bluestaq, C3 AI, Enlighten IT Consulting, Ernst & Young, Kinetica, MAG Aerospace.,

A new species of orchid with delicate, glass-like blooms has been discovered by Japanese scientists, who found the pink and white plant hiding in plain sight. Despite its presence in Japan’s parks and gardens, it took researchers at Kobe University a decade to confirm that the plant – dubbed the Spiranthes hachijoensis – was a

For the first time, an international team of physicists has successfully manipulated small numbers of light particles – known as photons – that have a strong relationship with each other. That may sound a little obscure, but it’s a fundamental breakthrough in the quantum realm that could lead to technology we currently can’t even dream

Looking to the stars for constellations that preside over birth and life has a long and complex history, and archaeologists have just uncovered a small piece of it. A spectacular series of relief paintings on the ceiling of an ancient Egyptian temple depict 12 signs of the zodiac, and you might be surprised to recognize

A newly proposed propulsion system could theoretically beam a heavy spacecraft to outside the confines of our Solar System in less than 5 years – a feat that took the historic Voyager 1 probe 35 years to achieve. The concept, known as ‘pellet-beam’ propulsion, was awarded an early-stage US$175,000 NASA grant for further development earlier

The world will cross the key 1.5 degree Celsius global warming limit in about a decade, the United Nations (UN) said Monday, warning that devastating impacts of climate change are hitting faster than expected. ​In the final instalment of a major series of reports, delivered in a crucial decade in human history, the UN’s climate

WASHINGTON — Relativity Space’s first Terran 1 rocket successfully got off the launch pad March 22 but failed to reach orbit because of an upper stage malfunction. The Terran 1 rocket lifted off at 11:25 p.m. Eastern from Launch Complex 16 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on a test flight dubbed “Good

Nobody writes an obituary for the last of a species dying alone in the wild. So, knowing precisely when to confirm an extinction comes down to a mix of clever sleuthing, mathematics, and no small amount of guesswork. On 7 September 1936, a thylacine (Thylacinus cynocephalus) held captive in a small Hobart zoo became the

The ghost, at long last, is actually in the machine: For the first time, scientists have created neutrinos in a particle collider. Those abundant yet enigmatic subatomic particles are so removed from the rest of matter that they slide through it like specters, earning them the nickname “ghost particles”. The researchers say this work represents

We might be getting closer to understanding why hundreds of large stone structures were built across the deserts of northwest Saudi Arabia thousands of years ago. According to an in-depth new analysis, the mysterious, rectangular enclosures were used by Neolithic people for unknown rituals, depositing animal offerings, perhaps as votives to an unknown deity or

A sample extracted from an asteroid far from Earth has confirmed that RNA nucleobases can be found in space rocks. Analysis of dust ferried home from asteroid Ryugu has been found to contain uracil – one of the four nucleobases that make up RNA – in addition to niacin, a form of the vitamin B3,

The world hungers for more food while wildlife yearns for untouched habitats. So goes the conflict between our seemingly insatiable need for agricultural land, razing forests to make way for cattle and crops. But an unlikely food source could go some way to ameliorating the loss of forested lands to agriculture. A new study suggests

WASHINGTON — NASA’s plan to spend up to $1 billion on a tug to deorbit the International Space Station is a missed opportunity to instead repurpose or recycle the station, some in industry argue. NASA announced plans as part of its fiscal year 2024 budget proposal this month to develop the tug to help deorbit

A large-scale animal study from 2021 revealed something interesting about yawning: Vertebrates with larger brains and more neurons tend to have longer-lasting yawns. Researchers collected data on 1,291 separate yawns from zoo trips and online videos, covering a total of 55 mammal species and 46 bird species. They found “robust positive correlations” between how long

Walk through a maze of mirrors, you’ll soon come face to face with yourself. Your nose meets your nose, your fingertips touch at their phantom twins, stopped abruptly by a boundary of glass. Most of the time, a reflection needs no explanation. The collision of light with the mirror’s surface is almost intuitive, its rays

For all the damage that the 2019 Notre Dame fire wrought, it presented archaeologists in Paris with a unique opportunity to peer into through the landmark’s history. Parts of the famous cathedral that were concealed for centuries are now being picked apart and put back together, providing a window into the architectural innovations that once

Most of the light streaming through the Universe is invisible to human eyes. Beyond the mid-range wavelengths we can see, there’s a whole cosmos shining in high- and low-energy radiation. But we humans are clever little animals and have managed to build instruments that can see the light we cannot. One of these is NASA’s

An eight-year survey of the famous SS Thistlegorm shipwreck has revealed that it’s been transformed by marine life into an artificial reef, where dozens of different species have made their home. A team of researchers from the University of Bologna in Italy enlisted the help of volunteer divers to check off organisms on a list

SAN FRANCISCO – Satellogic, the South American company known for high-resolution multispectral imagery, is selling Earth-observation satellites for $10 million or less. Satellogic’s new Space Systems product is designed to appeal to customers eager to establish or expand their space capabilities rather than simply buying imagery. “Space agencies around the world want access to this

It’s sometimes difficult to imagine how the planet we call home, with its megalopolis cities and serene farmlands, was once dominated by dinosaurs as big as buses and five-story buildings. But recent research has helped deepen our understanding of why dinosaurs prevailed: the answer may lie in their special bones, structured like Aero chocolate. Brazilian