Pucker up! Why humans evolved a taste for sour foods | Science

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Bite into a lemon and you’ll likely experience a clashing rush of sensations: crushing sharpness, mouth-watering tanginess, and pleasant brightness. But despite its assertiveness—and its role as one of the five main taste profiles (along with sweet, salty, savory, and bitter)—scientists don’t know much about how our acidic taste evolved.   Enter Rob Dunn. The … Read more

The James Webb Space Telescope’s first images have scientists excited (and a bit relieved)

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The James Webb Space Telescope has captured its first grainy images of a distant star and mission scientists are, to put it mildly, ecstatic.  Today (Feb. 11), NASA unveiled the first images from the James Webb Space Telescope, which has identified starlight for the first time using its NIRCam instrument (which is essentially a camera … Read more

Enigmatic High-Energy X-Rays Have Been Spied Coming From Jupiter

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Jupiter has finally been observed spitting out X-rays in high-energy wavelengths. Emanating from the giant planet’s permanent auroras, and detected by NASA’s space-based X-ray telescope NuSTAR, the emissions are the most energetic light seen coming from any planet in the Solar System (aside from Earth).   The detection could shed light on the most powerful … Read more

How many stars are in the universe?

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Looking up into the night sky, you might wonder just how many stars are in the universe. It’s challenging enough for an amateur astronomer to count the number of naked-eye stars that are visible and, with bigger telescopes, more stars become visible, making counting a lengthy process. So how do astronomers figure out how many … Read more

The precious genes of the world’s first cloned ferret could save her species | Science

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Behold the 1st images from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope!

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The wait is finally over. The team behind NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope released some of the first images from the much-anticipated observatory on Friday (Feb. 11). The main photo, which doesn’t even hint at the power Webb will bring to the universe once it’s fully operational, shows a star called HD 84406 and is … Read more

Who wore it better? How masks can make you more attractive, or less

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Josie Ford The eyes have it Valentine’s Day fast approaches – indeed, given the state of many postal services, you may thankfully already be hearing its Doppler-shifted whoosh to lower frequencies. This can only mean the world is agog for the latest top tips on love and dating from Feedback’s stationery cupboard-cum-boudoir. Giving us all … Read more