Throughout Earth’s history, one question rises, again and again: what were the factors that killed off a species or a population of animals? Many of them are terrestrial in origin, but a mysterious event that killed off 36 percent of the ocean’s genera 2.6 million years ago in the Pliocene, including the famous giant, bus-sized
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Share to facebook Share to twitter Share to linkedin SOURCE: https://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/facts-and-stats/impact-higher-education/Documents/made-at-uni-breakthroughs.pdfUniversities UK MadeAtUni is a campaign celebrates the transformational impact of UK universities. From inventing the television to observing the flight of mosquitoes to drive the future of transport, UK universities have been making breakthroughs for decades. 2018 has been no different, but many have gone unnoticed
Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.): “We will have a conversation within our committee about the best way to place a greater emphasis on space.” WASHINGTON — There is “bipartisan concern” that standing up a Space Force as a separate military service is wasteful and not the best way to address space security challenges, Rep. Adam Smith
You probably don’t stop to think about this often, but right after the birth of the Universe, matter was not in the form we recognise today. Instead, scientists think it was very much in a state of soup, ‘quark soup’ to be precise – a state also known as quark-gluon plasma. Now, researchers say they’ve managed
The Geminids meteor shower peaks on the mornings of December 13 and 14, 2018 – but if you look up any time there’s a clear night sky up until December 17, you might just catch a glimpse of a Geminid meteor. The Geminids shower is unusual as it is one of two meteor showers confirmed
(Reuters) – Three-time NBA champion Stephen Curry on Tuesday signaled that he is willing to take NASA up on its offer to tour its lunar lab in Houston after his pronouncement this week that he does not believe humans ever walked on the Moon. December 10, 2018; Oakland, CA, USA; Golden State Warriors guard Stephen
There is a gradual change afoot at fuel forecourts in several markets, whether developed or developing, being led by none other than the refining and marketing units of energy behemoths, including the top 20 international oil and gas companies ranked by market capitalization – that’s the increasing visibility of electric vehicle (EV) charging points. In Europe, much
Late last month, Amazon announced its entry into an industry new to the global giant: satellite data link services. Through a partnership with defense industry veteran Lockheed Martin, the AWS Ground Station service will eventually have a global network of 12 antenna ground stations – facilities that provide communications between the ground and satellites by using
Even the tiniest organisms can make it to the big leagues. The number one fastest animal movement in the world now belongs to an ant no bigger than the tip of your finger. Ominously named the Dracula ant (Mystrium camillae), this minuscule species is shy and elusive, a subterranean predator that enjoys sucking the blood
Every 5.4 years, the comet 46P/Wirtanen orbits the Sun, swinging through Earth’s skies on its way. This year, its visit is in December, and we’re going to be able to see it – in fact, it’s visible in the sky now if you have binoculars or a telescope. Usually, 46P/Wirtanen is too far away for
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Two Russian cosmonauts have taken samples of their capsule’s exterior in the sixth hour of a spacewalk seeking to resolve the mystery of a small hole found in the craft docked at the International Space Station, a live broadcast by Russian space agency Roscosmos showed early on Wednesday. Roscosmos has ruled out
Annie Jump Cannon shared the experience of being deaf with her colleague Henrietta Leavitt.Smithsonian Institution https://www.flickr.com/photos/25053835@N03/3322793868/ December 11 is the birthday of astronomer Annie Jump Cannon, who developed the system astronomers use to classify stars. But the most famous female astronomer in history almost abandoned her scientific career before it started. Astronomers classify stars based
WASHINGTON — Virgin Galactic plans to perform the next test flight of its SpaceShipTwo suborbital spaceplane as soon as Dec. 13, a flight that could be the first by the vehicle to reach at least one definition of space. In a Dec. 11 statement, the company said the next powered test flight of VSS Unity,
On January 2, 2018, Kirstin Blaise Lobato, who was charged and convicted of murder, walked free from a Nevada prison due entirely to forensic entomology. Forensic entomologists study the insects colonizing a dead body to estimate how long they have been active on the body and infer time of death. What was so unusual in
Being in space can have weird and sometimes harmful effects on the human body, and we’ll have to work through those issues if we’re to make it out to Mars and beyond, and stay healthy. But it looks like we have finally found one feature of the human body that’s untroubled by microgravity – and
Human activity has shifted the chemical composition of our waterways. Now, it’s beginning to corrode our freshwater supply. A new study has confirmed that in the last 25 years, at least a third of the rivers and streams in the United States have gotten saltier. If nothing is done to curb this trend, the results suggest
Greens can be greener.Georgia Tech “Don’t forget to eat your fruits and vegetables,” mom always said. The latest advice for healthy living may be growing those berries and greens with wastewater. Once you get past the “ick” factor, it’s actually better for the planet. The U.S Department of Agriculture has awarded a $5 million grant to
WASHINGTON — With both the current Congress and his political career nearing their ends, Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) said Dec. 10 he’s continuing to fight to extend operations of the International Space Station through the end of the next decade. In a speech on the Senate floor that will be one of his last in
Earth is not the home you think it is. Far below the scant surface spaces we inhabit, the planet is teeming with an incredibly vast and deep ‘dark biosphere‘ of subterranean lifeforms that scientists are only just beginning to comprehend. Hidden throughout this subsurface realm, some of the world’s deepest and oldest organisms thrive in
Last year, uptake of home DNA tests sailed into the stratosphere, giving millions of people around the world a whole new level of insight into the ways their genes work, and helping predict their genetic risk for disease. But knowledge is a dangerous thing. New research suggests this kind of genetic knowledge isn’t just informative,