Category: News
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New evidence suggests climate change is affecting animal behavior
Weather and climate have a significant influence on life on Earth. Weather is the condition of the atmosphere at a specific time and place. It is described by several elements such as temperature, precipitation, wind, and clouds. Climate refers to the long-term pattern of weather in a particular area. When we talk about climate change,…
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SpaceX’s new Starship builds hopes for Mars missions
Recently, Elon Musk, founder of SpaceX, laid out his plans for the company’s new Starship and Super Heavy booster projects to reach orbit within the next six months. Their current aim is to get the rocket and booster to orbit the Earth as well as complete missions to the Moon and Mars. In the longer…
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The rediscovery of a prehistoric crocodile species
Two and a half centuries after their discovery, the fossil remains of a mysterious creature has been identified as a new species. The remains turned out to belong to Mystriosaurus Iaurillardi – a Jurassic relative of modern-day crocodiles. The fossils were discovered in Altdorf, a town in southern Germany, in the 1770s, and were established…
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Mapping the human synaptome: the origins of thought?
The field of neuroscience has grown exponentially since it began. From the humble works of Ramón y Cajal, delicately hand-drawing the first images of human cortical neurons, to the advances by Karl Deisseroth manipulating neural activity using light. This progress is driven by one goal: a complete understanding of the most complex organ in the…
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Second Interstellar Object has been discovered by Gennady Borisov
The astronomy community has been buzzing since astronomer Gennady Borisov, from Crimea, made the remarkable discovery of the second known interstellar object to have passed into our solar system – a comet labeled C/2019 Q4 . This object has left scientists surprised, yet satisfied with how easy it was to uncover its identity. Although some…
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J.K. Rowling Donates £15.3 Million to Multiple Sclerosis Research
Author J.K. Rowling has recently donated £15.3 million to research at the University of Edinburgh’s Anne Rowling Regenerative Neurology Clinic. The Clinic was opened in 2010 in the name of J.K. Rowling’s mother, who had died of complications relating to multiple sclerosis (MS) in 1990. When Rowling turned 45, the age at which her mother…
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Scale of suicides by pesticide poisoning revealed by new study
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), pesticide self-poisoning is one of the most frequent means of suicide across the globe, killing an estimated 115,000 people a year and around 15 million people since 1960. The ingestion of highly hazardous pesticides (HHPs) affects Asia in particular, with it accounting for 60-90% of suicides in China,…
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New funding to fight antibiotic resistance
Since the 1940s, we have been abusing antibiotics, using them to treat any infection under the sun. In the short term, this worked. Our sore throats went away, our infections subsided, and we went on with our daily lives. The rash use of antibiotics to treat everything, however, has a long-term effect, one that is…
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A tale of two wildfires: the Amazon Rainforest and the Congo Basin
When NASA released satellite imaging of the Brazil forest fires on the 24th August, it quickly became apparent that Brazil was not the only country set alight. The image, taken from NASA’s Terra Satellite, displays red bands of fire in Brazil, around Bolivia’s border with Brazil and a large band across Central Africa. Emerging from…
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PTSD: The evolutionary advantage
A third of people who survive traumatic events experience post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). PTSD survivors involuntarily and vividly relive their trauma through flashbacks and nightmares. To escape these painful reminders, they try to avoid any potential triggers, and they are constantly on edge. This has devastating consequences on their quality of life. Jacqui, a rape…