News about PaperPanda, Open Access, and Research
One of the best entries in the ranks of “Star Trek” feature films was director Jonathan Frakes’ “Star Trek: First Contact.” Actress Alice Krige’s irresistible performance as the seductive Borg Queen was a standout turn in a blockbuster movie with many admirable attributes and a memorable cast. The 1996 feature recently celebrated its 25th anniversary … Read more
According to legend, the devil once took a walk down the side of a volcano in southern Italy, each step preserved forever in solid rock. The tracks are known as the “Ciampate del Diavolo“‘ or “Devil’s Trail” – but details published in 2020 reveal a less diabolical yet far more interesting story on how they … Read more
Christopher Intagliata: Salvador Dali had a peculiar way of refreshing his mind—something he called “slumber with a key.” In his 1948 book “50 Secrets of Magic Craftsmanship,” he described how it worked. “You must seat yourself in a bony armchair, preferably of Spanish style,” he wrote. In your left hand, you were to clench a … Read more
China’s Tianwen 1 spacecraft at Mars pulled a big New Year’s surprise with stunning new images captured by a small camera that flew free of the orbiter to snap epic selfies above the Red Planet. The new images published by the China National Space Administration show Tianwen 1 above Mars’ north pole, with its solar … Read more
During a ransomware hack, attackers infiltrate a target’s computer system and encrypt its data. They then demand a payment before they will release the decryption key to free the system. This type of extortion has existed for decades, but in the 2010s it exploded in popularity, with online gangs holding local governments, infrastructure and even … Read more
We may soon be able to test one of Stephen Hawking’s most controversial theories, new research suggests. In the 1970s, Hawking proposed that dark matter, the invisible substance that makes up most matter in the cosmos, may be made of black holes formed in the earliest moments of the Big Bang. Now, three astronomers have … Read more
On a summer day several years ago, Fabrice Lambert, a climatologist at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, met one of his colleagues in Quinta Normal, a 35-hectare public park in central Santiago. The researchers weren’t there for a picnic. They carried with them a drill-tipped tool known as an increment borer and a package … Read more
A detailed new image provides a great look at the Perseverance Mars rover’s Red Planet home and shows why the mission team is so excited to explore it. Perseverance landed inside the 28-mile-wide (45 kilometers) Jezero Crater on Feb. 18, 2021, kicking off a surface mission that centers on hunting for signs of ancient Mars … Read more
Dominik Hülse, an Earth system modeler based at University of California Riverside, worked on a November 2021 study that explored how ancient microbes may have prolonged the Permian extinction by producing a toxic gas. Here, Hülse poses with a finger to his nose to highlight the toxic “rotten egg” scent of hydrogen sulfide. (Image credit: … Read more
Human sexual activity affects cognitive function, health, happiness and overall quality of life—and, yes, there is also the matter of reproduction. The huge range of benefits is one reason researchers have become alarmed at declines in sexual activity around the world, from Japan to Europe to Australia. A recent study evaluating what is happening in … Read more