The scientists who re-engineered the plastic-eating enzyme PETase have now created an enzyme ‘cocktail’ which can digest plastic up to six times faster. A second enzyme, found in the same rubbish dwelling bacterium that lives on a diet of plastic bottles, has been combined with PETase to speed up theContinue Reading
“It was a brilliant red in the low morning light.” A mysterious, many-armed sea creature — initially described as a large “red glob” — lying on a rocky shore in Washington has drawn in cephalopod experts across the country, each wondering what this gelatinous animal is. The 3.5-foot-long (1 meter)Continue Reading
Unusual flashes of gamma rays could reveal that what appear to be giant black holes are actually huge wormholes, a new study finds. Wormholes are tunnels in space-time that can theoretically allow travel anywhere in space and time, or even into another universe. Einstein’s theory of general relativity suggests wormholesContinue Reading
It sank after being attacked by Japanese aircraft. Divers in Southeast Asia have located the lost wreck of what’s thought to be a U.S. Navy submarine that sank in 1943 after it was attacked by Japanese aircraft. The submarine wreck — almost certainly that of USS Grenadier — was foundContinue Reading
Black licorice contains a compound known to be toxic in large doses. A man in Massachusetts died after eating too much black licorice, which contains a compound known to be toxic in large doses, according to a new report. The 54-year-old man was in a fast food restaurant when heContinue Reading
Radiation exposure from two months on the moon is equivalent to roughly five months on the ISS A two-month stint on the moon would expose astronauts to roughly the same amount of radiation as they would get living on the International Space Station for five months, according to new measurementsContinue Reading
People infected by the novel coronavirus can have symptoms that range from mild to deadly. Now, two new analyses suggest that some life-threatening cases can be traced to weak spots in patients’ immune systems. At least 3.5 percent of study patients with severe COVID-19, the disease caused by the novelContinue Reading
Some mutations have no effect, while others could impact transmissibility. In early January, the first genome sequence of Sars-CoV-2 — the virus that causes COVID-19 — was released under the moniker “Wuhan-1”. This string of 30,000 letters (the A, T, C and Gs of the genetic code) marked day oneContinue Reading
SpaceX just popped another Starship test tank. The Starship SN7.1 tank was destroyed on purpose Tuesday night (Sept. 22) at SpaceX’s South Texas facilities, during a pressure test designed to take the stainless-steel hardware to its bursting point. SpaceX has performed several other such tests, including one this past JuneContinue Reading
Famous for the first-ever image of a black hole, M87* is now revealing how it changes over time Astrophysicists have gotten their first direct view of a supermassive black hole’s appearance changing over time. The black hole at the center of the galaxy M87, about 55 million light-years away fromContinue Reading