Asteroid study, trip duration to Mars, spacecraft propulsion in space, utilisation of asteroids, and NASA’s approach to exploring space are coming together in a way that may change the face of interplanetary travel. It has been discovered that some asteroids can be used to enable advanced propulsion systems that will cut down the duration of…
A new study by the Department of Meteorology and Geophysics at the University of Vienna has challenged many of the existing beliefs about where airborne microplastics originate from. In previous years, it was believed that most microplastics originated from the ocean, and this assumption has been refuted, based on a study published in Nature that…
Archaeologists discovered 120,000-year-old human footprints in northern Saudi Arabia, revealing a wetter, greener past. These prints, alongside those of ancient animals, suggest early humans ventured inland from Africa much earlier than previously believed, following natural waterways. The Arabian Peninsula is typically depicted as a sprawling area marked by shifting seas of golden sand and dry…
A recent underwater expedition in Kyrgyzstan’s Issyk-Kul lake has unearthed a vast, 700-year-old lost city. Researchers discovered a remarkably preserved medieval cemetery with intricate architecture and visible inscriptions, hinting at a thriving Silk Road civilization. The “Pearl of Central Asia” is an aptly named lake located in the upper reaches of the Tien Shan range…
For decades, the image of Tyrannosaurus rex has been defined by thunderous footsteps and earth-shaking chases, immortalised by films like Jurassic Park. The towering predator was imagined as a heavy, reptile-like creature, pounding across the ground with unstoppable force. New research is now challenging that long-held picture. A recent study suggests that T. rex may…
A New South Wales farmer’s routine task unearthed an extraordinary fossilized rainforest, preserved in iron-rich rock. This rare find at McGrath’s Flat offers scientists an unprecedented glimpse into a prehistoric world of giant insects and ancient flora, revealing soft-bodied details usually lost to time. On a calm day in 2024, a New South Wales farmer…
Scientists exploring off the coast of Alaska discovered a mysterious, glowing golden orb. DNA analysis revealed it to be the eggshell of an unknown marine animal, with the creature having already hatched. Image credit: NOAA Fisheries The ocean holds endless mysteries that can enchant any scientist, making them childlike with wonder at the marvels it…
The James Webb Space Telescope has been observing a distant planetary nebula called Tc 1, and the latest images have added fresh detail to something scientists have been trying to understand for years. The object sits about 10,000 light-years away in the constellation Ara. It is the remnant of a star similar in size to…
When James Watson and Francis Crick described the double-helix structure of DNA in 1953, the moment appeared decisive and complete. Yet that breakthrough rested on work carried out decades earlier by a scientist who rarely receives the same recognition. Friedrich Miescher had already identified a substance inside human cells that did not match any known…
Astronomers from the University of Cape Town (UCT) – working with colleagues from Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 (France), Swinburne University of Technology (Australia) and the INAF Osservatorio Astronomico di Cagliari (Italy) have mapped a massive structure in the Universe – a huge supercluster, partially obscured from us behind the Milky Way’s ‘Zone of Avoidance.’…
