Does the omicron variant mean you shouldn’t go to Christmas parties?

by

By Michael Le Page Omicron may spread much more easily at social functions than other variants Shutterstock Should you go to that festive party this year if you want to avoid being infected by the coronavirus? Probably not. In addition to the risk posed by the high levels of the delta variant in many countries, … Read more

Comet Leonard is at its closest to Earth right now. Here’s how to spot it.

by

Comet Leonard, the brightest comet of the year, made its closest approach to Earth today (Dec. 12) and should be visible through binoculars and telescopes, weather permitting. Officially known as Comet C/2021 A1 (Leonard), Comet Leonard was discovered in January by astronomer Gregory J. Leonard of the Mount Lemmon Infrared Observatory in Arizona. On Sunday, it … Read more

6 Great WordPress Frameworks for Free Theme Development

by

WordPress frameworks are a great way to start developing themes for WordPress blogs. Frameworks are designed by other developers to speed up your WordPress theme creation and save you a lot of time instead of coding everything from scratch. They often come pre-made with layouts columns and widget elements already defined for you. Here is … Read more

GPS: US Navy is developing navigation based on cosmic rays for the Arctic

by

At higher latitudes, traditional GPS navigation is not reliable, but muons produced when cosmic rays hit Earth’s atmosphere could be used to navigate in the Arctic, as well as underground or in the water Technology 7 December 2021 By David Hambling An artist’s representation of high-energy cosmic rays colliding with Earth MARK GARLICK/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY/Alamy … Read more

Former NASA astronaut Leland Melvin aims to help the next generation reach for the stars

by

Former NASA astronaut Leland Melvin is working to help the next generation reach the same lofty heights that he did. Melvin, a retired NASA astronaut, completed two space shuttle missions to the International Space Station during his tenure, one in 2008 and the other in 2009. But in the years since then, Melvin has been … Read more

Anti-trolling law: Australian legislation could be used to target political critics

by

A law intended to tackle anonymous trolls on social media is unlikely to stop online bullying, but it could allow Australian government ministers to continue a trend of suing their critics Technology | Analysis 7 December 2021 By Alice Klein Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison on 2 December 2021 MICK TSIKAS/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock Australia’s prime minister Scott … Read more

Pansexual astronaut Cameron Bess on launching with Blue Origin and why diversity matters in space

by

Pansexual Twitch streamer Cameron Bess fulfilled a lifelong dream to go to space on Saturday (Dec. 11), framing the opportunity as an important representation moment for the LGBTQ+ community. Bess launched on a suborbital trip with Blue Origin as one of six space tourists on the company’s New Shepard rocket. They flew with their father, … Read more

One year of covid-19 vaccinations: UK celebrates 12 months of its public vaccination campaign, but vaccine inequality persists worldwide

by

A year ago today, Margaret Keenan became the first person in the world to receive the Pfizer/BioNTech covid-19 vaccine outside of a clinical trial. 12 months and billions of shots later, several countries are already on a third round of coronavirus vaccinations Health 8 December 2021 By Clare Wilson Margaret Keenan was vaccinated at University … Read more

Europe’s Mars orbiter relays data from Chinese rover back to Earth

by

The European Space Agency’s Mars Express collected data from China’s Zhurong Mars rover and successfully sent it to Earth following a series of experimental communications tests. The Zhurong rover was designed only to communicate with its companion orbiter, Tianwen 1; however, the rover has long outlived its planned mission and the orbiter is no longer … Read more