When astronomers see something in the universe that at first glance seems like one-of-a-kind, it’s bound to stir up a lot of excitement and attention. This mysterious visitor from the depths of space first caught skywatchers’ attention in late August 2019 when it was officially discovered whizzing through the Solar System on a trajectory that […]
The Four Horsemen are figures in Christian theology, appearing in the New Testament’s final book, Revelation, an apocalypse written by John of Patmos, as well as in the Old Testament’s prophetic Book of Zechariah, and in the Book of Ezekiel, where they are named as punishments from God. In John’s revelation: The first horseman is […]
For years, paleontologists and dinosaur aficionados alike have debated what is the largest land-dwelling carnivore of all time. In the one corner, there’s Tyrannosaurus rex, the terror of prehistoric North America. In the other, Giganotosaurus — an equally large dinosaur that stalked ancient Patagonia, and one of the last of an impressive lineage that ruled […]
In the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, our best weapon is proper hand-washing. The novel coronavirus (known more formally as SARS-CoV-2) that is responsible for COVID-19 spreads two ways: directly, through droplets launched by coughs; and indirectly, through transfer from infected surfaces — where the coronavirus can last for up to three days. Because they’re […]
I’ve kept a stash of Band-aids in my backpack for as long as I can remember. Not so much for cuts and scrapes, but rather for my eczema, a chronic, inflammatory condition that plagues my hands and fingers with dry, itchy patches of skin. On the best days, my hands are just a tad dry; […]
When dealing with periods of hundreds of millions of years, it’s easy for time to seem a little compressed. In pop culture, especially, dinosaurs are often lumped together to create more vibrant scenes of gleaming teeth and twitching claws. But the fact of the matter is that dinosaurs have had an incredible run that’s still […]
Conspiracy theory and Conspiracy theorist. Those terms have become tactical labels used to portray opponents as tinfoil hat-wearing crackpots. This is the story of one UFO conspiracy theory, involving the US government and federal funding, that has been proven to be true. When the AATIP story broke in 2017, it put the […]
As COVID-19 blasts its way across the globe, viral wellness videos, tweets and social media posts are springing up in its wake. Whatever the platform, these blitzes share the same underlying message: Certain supplements and natural remedies can prepare your immune system to do battle against the infection caused by the novel coronavirus. Some online […]
This week, the White House issued a warning for anyone who recently fled New York City: Quarantine yourself for a full 14 days or risk spreading COVID-19 to a new community — regardless of whether you’re showing symptoms. “To everyone who has left New York over the last few days, because of the … number […]
Despite knowing dark matter is out there, astrophysicists are still missing one critical detail. “We know where it is and how much of it there is, but we don’t know what it is,” says Ben Safdi, an astrophysicist at the University of Michigan. Some think this mysterious substance is made of hypothetical subatomic particles called […]
You know, for how often we see the sun, there’s an awful lot we don’t know about it. I mean, we know it’s powered by nuclear fusion, that it’s 92.96 million miles away, and that it’s about a million times bigger than the Earth by volume. But there’s more to it than that. Like, why is […]
The world is in the grip of a serious pandemic as a novel virus sweeps from continent to continent, causing cases of sometimes-deadly COVID-19. Yet much of the global social media response has centered around a somewhat trivial and comical side effect: the hoarding of toilet paper. News reports cover accounts of people coming to […]
If an advanced, intelligent species had once inhabited Mars, but went extinct for some reason, would we have any way to know it today? Depending on how technologically advanced the civilization was some things will be visible. Archaeological evidence of structures, tools or even machinery could tell us a lot. The images below show some […]
As health care workers, grocery store employees and delivery truck drivers repeatedly expose themselves to COVID-19, one thing has become clear to engineers: Robots could be handling some of these dangerous tasks. In an editorial in Science Robotics, researchers argue that many essential but risky jobs could be performed by robots during health emergencies. Some […]
A large iceberg floats among sea ice floes off the coast of Greenland, as seen during an aerial survey on April 21, 2018. (Source: NASA/Linette Boisvert) Ordinarily, I wouldn’t be buoyed by news that an expanse of Arctic sea ice the size of Arizona and Nevada has gone missing. But given the state of the […]