NASA’s Parker Solar Probe has successfully made the closest approach to the Sun. On Christmas Eve, the spacecraft passed within a record-breaking 6 million kilometres of the scorching star. NASA received an all-clear message from Parker on Thursday night confirming it survived the journey.
Scientists have trained African giant pouched rats to sniff out illegally traded animal parts. And they get to wear tiny vests.
Researchers have known for several decades that thunderstorms can act as miniature particle accelerators that produce antimatter, gamma rays and other nuclear phenomena. But they did not know how common the phenomenon was. In observations taken by a retrofitted U2 spy plane, they’ve discovered essentially all large thunderstorms produce gamma rays in many dynamic, unexpected and unknown ways.
For 20 years, researchers have been fascinated by the white substances smeared around the necks of three ancient mummies in China. New analysis has shown they are chunks of preserved kefir cheese. Dating back around 3,600 years, it is the oldest cheese ever found.
The Moon is always with us, but what we don’t realise is that it is slowly drifting away from Earth. But no need to panic, it’s only a little over 3.5 cm every year.
Air pressure during a storm can be so low as to make water boil at 98°C, totally ruining your chance of making a decent cup of tea. During a massive storm across southern England, France and Channel Islands last year, millions of people found this out the hard way.
The solar eclipse on 8 April was quite the event by all accounts, but what else happens aside form millions of humans looking upwards?
Dental issues and teeth cleaning have become topical in our house this week, as our daughter started orthodontic treatment. I wondered: how did people manage to keep their teeth clean and healthy before modern toothbrushes and toothpaste?
You can help researchers learn more about echidnas – where they are, what they are doing and if they are healthy.
Lorikeets in northern New South Wales and southern Queensland are becoming paralysed, often resulting in death. Scientists are beginning to discover why – but need your help.
It’s not entirely clear why we have an appendix. Some other primates don’t have one at all and it seems they are more prone to diarrhoeal diseases, especially when they are infants.
It seems our noses sense smells differently between each nostril.
Do you wash behind your ears, between your toes and in your belly button? Doing so is good for the bugs that live on your skin.
It’s been rough few weeks and laughs have been a bit thin, so when I saw that farmers deliberately place magnets in cows, it appealed to my slightly odd sense of humour. Turns out it’s actually quite important.
I saw several articles on Neanderthals this week. One showed their continuing influence on modern humans and the other that they were quite sophisticated hunters.
