Not only is the mysterious substance invisible, but it’s also not all where we thought it was Dark matter just got even more puzzling. This unidentified stuff, which makes up most of the mass in the cosmos, is invisible but detectable by the way it gravitationally tugs on objects likeContinue Reading
The intricately painted coffins were stacked on top of each other. Archaeologists have discovered more than 13 ancient Egyptian coffins piled one on top of the other within a burial well at the desert necropolis of Saqqara, according to the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities. The 2,500-year-old wooden coffinsContinue Reading
The goat died 400 years ago but is still recognizable. A hairless, leathery horror found encrusted in Alpine ice is a chamois that died 400 years ago. The long-dead goat-antelope was discovered in Val Aurina, South Tyrol, Italy by Italian alpinist and champion skier Hermann Oberlechner, who was on aContinue Reading
The 1,100-year-old steel sword is nearly 3 feet long. Archaeologists in Norway have unearthed the 1,100-year-old grave of a Viking warrior, whose steel sword was placed in an unusual spot: on his left side. Though the sword’s sinistral position is still somewhat perplexing, one theory is that the Vikings perceivedContinue Reading
Parenting is tough work for freshwater gharials. Picking the kids up from school takes on a different meaning for crocodylian parents. In this photo, taken by India-based photographer Dhritiman Mukherjee, a male freshwater gharial shows us why. Bobbing in the waters of northern India’s National Chambal Sanctuary, the croc waitsContinue Reading
The bizarre geometry of this system is the first known of its kind In one of the most complex cosmic dances astronomers have yet spotted, three rings of gas and dust circle a trio of stars. The star system GW Orionis, located about 1,300 light-years away in the constellation Orion,Continue Reading
The blast was more powerful than 50 million tons of TNT, and was felt hundreds of miles away. In October 1961, the Soviet Union dropped the most powerful nuclear bomb in history over a remote island north of the Arctic Circle. Though the bomb detonated nearly 2.5 miles (4 kilometers)Continue Reading
A new study suggests hibernation is an ancient adaptation to harsh winters. Some 250 million years ago, a Seussian-looking beast with clawed digits, a turtle-like beak and two tusks may have survived Antarctica’s chilly winters not by fruitlessly foraging for food, but by curling up into a sleep-like state, meaningContinue Reading
Meteorites suggest that H2O in the mantle comes from local origins, contrary to expectations Earth’s deep stores of water may have been locally sourced rather than trucked in from far-flung regions of the solar system. A new analysis of meteorites from the inner solar system — home to the fourContinue Reading
The practicality of quantum computing hangs on the integrity of the quantum bit, or qubit. Qubits, the logic elements of quantum computers, are coherent two-level systems that represent quantum information. Each qubit has the strange ability to be in a quantum superposition, carrying aspects of both states simultaneously, enabling aContinue Reading