LATEST
CHEMISTRY
This eco-friendly glitter gets its color from plants, not plastic
Minuscule arrangements in cellulose reflect light in specific ways to give rise to vibrant hues All that glitters is not green. Glitter and shimmery pigments are often made using toxic compounds or pollutive microplastics (SN: 4/15/19). That makes the sparkly stuff, notoriously difficult to clean up in the house, a
Physics and Technology
Science news this week: Atmospheric holes and smarter glasses
Dec. 3, 2023: Our weekly roundup of the latest science in the news, as well as a few fascinating articles to keep you entertained. his week in science news, we saw SpaceX rockets punching temporary holes in our planet’s atmosphere, heard about new technology for smart glasses that use sonar,
Chinese scientists build robo-chemist that can extract oxygen from water on Mars
The robot was tested in a simulated Martian environment, and can one day be used to aid humanity’s survival on the Red Planet. Scientists in China have created a robot chemist powered by artificial intelligence (AI) that can extract oxygen from Martian water without human supervision. Synthesizing useful resources from
Large Hadron Collider could be generating dark matter in its particle jets
If dark matter is made from “dark” versions of the basic building blocks of ordinary matter, the world’s largest particle accelerator should be able to pin it down, a new study suggests. A new search for dark matter has turned up empty handed — but, in a silver lining, the
AI can predict when massive rogue waves will strike next
Scientists train an AI on 700 years’ worth of ocean data to build an equation that can predict when these “maritime monsters” will strike. Scientists have used artificial intelligence (AI) to build an equation that can forecast when notoriously unpredictable rogue waves will strike. Rogue waves, also known as “monster
EARTH
Conservationists Promote the Annual Big Butterfly Count as Two-Fifths of British Butterflies Face Threat
In 2013, scientists said that around five out of the millions of invertebrates, including butterflies, were at risk of extinction. These beautiful creatures have shown signs of a significant decline in population and conservationists have been fighting for a law to be implemented to protect butterflies. The annual Big Butterfly
Alien earthworms have spread to almost all parts of North America
Invasive worms, considered a major threat to native ecosystems, have been found in 97 per cent of areas for which there are records in North America As North Americans have busied themselves about their various concerns, unseen invaders have slowly been amassing beneath their feet. There are now more alien
James Webb Space Telescope Set to Study Two Strange Super-Earths
Space agency officials promise to deliver geology results from worlds dozens of light-years away The James Webb Space Telescope plans to explore strange, new rocky worlds in unprecedented detail. The telescope’s scientific consortium has an ambitious agenda to study geology on these small planets from “50 light-years away”, they said
Amazon nears ‘tipping point’ where rainforest could transform into savanna
The Amazon may be nearing a “tipping point.” If deforestation continues, the Amazon rainforest could reach a critical tipping point where most of it transforms into a dry savanna, a new study warns. The study, published Monday (March 7) in the journal Nature Climate Change, suggests that more than 75%
HEALTH
Kids under 5 with HIV are dying at high rates. Here’s why.
Among people on HIV meds, young children are the likeliest to die, often due to late diagnosis or treatment interruptions. Among people with HIV, young children are the likeliest to die while receiving treatment. This is likely because many children under 5 already have severely weakened immune systems by the
Tinnitus may stem from nerve damage not detectable on hearing tests
People with tinnitus may be wrongly classed as having “normal hearing” because standard tests don’t detect the condition’s true cause, a new study suggests. People with tinnitus experience persistent ringing or buzzing in their ears that can significantly impact their quality of life — and now, scientists think they finally
US dogs suffer mystery respiratory illness: What we know so far
Across the country, pet dogs are falling sick with a flu-like illness, but scientists don’t yet know what’s causing it. Dogs across the U.S. are getting sick with an unexplained respiratory illness. As of Monday (Nov. 27), at least 14 states, including Oregon, New Hampshire, Colorado and Massachusetts, have reported
Italian woman’s rare ‘foreign accent syndrome’ caused her to sound Canadian
A woman’s strange case of “foreign accent syndrome” left doctors unsure of its cause. A woman in Italy who went to the emergency room experienced a puzzling symptom: She suddenly began speaking in a Canadian accent even though her native language was Italian, according to a new report. The woman
TRENDING
SPACE AND TIME
Science news this week: Atmospheric holes and smarter glasses
Dec. 3, 2023: Our weekly roundup of the latest science in the news, as well as a few fascinating articles to keep you entertained. his week in science news, we saw SpaceX rockets punching temporary holes in our planet’s atmosphere, heard about new technology for smart glasses that use sonar,
JWST spotted a new speedy jet stream in Jupiter’s atmosphere
The feature is at an altitude hidden to other telescopes New beauty shots of Jupiter, captured by the James Webb Space Telescope, reveal a speedy jet stream encircling the equator at an altitude never imaged before. Researchers have known about Jovian jet streams since Voyager spacecraft flew by in 1979.
The Milky Way may be spawning many more stars than astronomers had thought
Gamma rays reveal the galaxy’s star-making power The Milky Way is churning out far more stars than previously thought, according to a new estimate of its star formation rate. Gamma rays from aluminum-26, a radioactive isotope that arises primarily from massive stars, reveal that the Milky Way converts four to
The Kuiper Belt’s dwarf planet Quaoar hosts an impossible ring
The ring lies outside a typical, mathematically determined distance from the small world The dwarf planet Quaoar has a ring that is too big for its metaphorical fingers. While all other rings in the solar system lie within or near a mathematically determined distance of their parent bodies, Quaoar’s ring
HISTORY
1,400-year-old structure discovered near Sutton Hoo in England may have been a pagan temple or cult house
The site is part of a royal compound that archaeologists think may have been overseen by King Raedwald. Archaeologists in England have unearthed the 1,400-year-old remnants of a possible pagan temple or cult house that was once part of a royal compound. The discovery was made this summer during ongoing
2,400-year-old flush toilet unearthed in China could be one of the world’s oldest
The toilet was found in the Shaanxi province’s Yueyang City Ruins and was likely used by high-ranking officials during the early years of China’s first unified empire. Archaeologists in China have discovered one of the world’s oldest flush toilets, a “luxury object” that was likely used by elite individuals just
How did humans first reach the Americas?
During the last ice age, which route was taken by the first humans to reach the Americas, and did they travel by foot, boat or both? Humans first arrived in North America at least 15,500 years ago. Exactly how they got there, however, constitutes one of the longest-standing debates in
What’s the world’s oldest civilization?
Did the first civilization arise in Mesopotamia, or elsewhere? Countless civilizations have risen and fallen over the millennia. But which one is the oldest on record? About 30 years ago, this question seemed to have a straightforward answer. Around 4000 B.C., the earliest phase of the Sumerian culture arose as