Science

This Footage From The First-Ever Probe to Touch The Sun Will Leave You Speechless

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Many science fans were freaking out this week when NASA confirmed that its Parker Solar Probe had become the first spacecraft ever to ‘touch the Sun’ back in April. But if you thought that was mind-boggling, hang on to your seat, because there’s actually time-lapse footage of the spacecraft’s view as it swoops into the … Read more

Poem: ‘The Scalar Nature of Snow’

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Science in meter and verse Credit: Detached Retina Imaging Getty Images Advertisement Edited by Dava Sobel elusive if not rare. there are always vectors and other values if not measured at least felt or experienced at the boundary of ground: imbalance and, therefore, movement. the creation comes, then with the condition of height and time: … Read more

News at a glance: A bold antitobacco plan, updated Arctic warming rates, and a COVID-19 infection from a lab | Science

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RESEARCH FACILITIES Tornado razes agricultural center A hub of agricultural research in the small city of Princeton, Kentucky, was among the many places left in ruins last week as a series of tornadoes ripped through the region, killing dozens. No employees of the University of Kentucky’s Research and Education Center were killed, and just one … Read more

Missed shots: Science revisits its 2020 Breakthrough of the Year | Science

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When Science crowned the development of effective SARS-CoV-2 vaccines the scientific Breakthrough of the Year in December 2020, it was a moment of celebration. “This breakthrough is a triumph for all of science,” Editor-in-Chief Holden Thorp wrote in an editorial. “There will be plenty of time for an exegesis of what went wrong. But for … Read more

Forget dogs: These rats could be the future of search and rescue | Science

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Think search and rescue animal, and you’re likely to picture a dog in an orange vest. But a Tanzanian nonprofit wants you to imagine something else: the African giant pouched rat. Donna Kean and her colleagues at APOPO, a nonprofit that trains pouched rats to save lives, have spent the past 2 decades working with … Read more

Ambergris: What fragrant whale excretions tell us about ancient oceans

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Ancient whale poo, known as ambergris, has long been prized by perfumiers – but it also contains precious information about ancient oceans that could help save today’s whales Humans 15 December 2021 By Claire Ainsworth Peter Crowther THEY say, where there’s muck, there’s brass. Anyone who has stumbled upon ambergris will confirm this. The weathered … Read more

Newfound Millipede Breaks World Record for the Most Legs

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A newfound species of millipede has more legs than any other creature on the planet—a mind-boggling 1,300 of them. The leggy critters live deep below Earth’s surface and are the only known millipedes to live up to their name.  “The word ‘millipede’ has always been a bit of a misnomer,” said Paul Marek, an entomologist at … Read more

‘False’ tree rings could provide a new record of long-ago hurricanes | Science

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A tree’s annual growth rings reveal how it has flourished—or floundered—over time, with the size of the rings indicating years of health or hardship. But sometimes nature throws a wrench into the works, and a tree will form more than one growth ring in a year. Now, such “false rings,” found in trees along the … Read more

Lateral flow tests: Do LFTs detect the omicron coronavirus variant?

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By Clare Wilson Positive and negative rapid lateral flow tests Anna Mente/Shutterstock With the omicron variant of the coronavirus on the rise, regular testing has become even more important, particularly as people decide whether to socialise during the Christmas period. Here’s everything you need to know about testing. What is the difference between a lateral … Read more