1st sighting of ‘ball lightning’ in England uncovered

This article was originally published at The Conversation. The publication contributed the article to Space.com’s Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. Giles Gasper, Professor in High Medieval History, Durham University Brian Tanner, Emeritus Professor of Physics at Durham University, Durham University On June 7, 1195, a fiery spinning ball emerged from a dark cloud in an erstwhile sunny sky … Read more

1st image from NASA’s new IXPE X-ray telescope looks like a ball of purple lightning

IXPE’s first science image shows the supernova remnant Cassiopeia A.  (Image credit: NASA/CXC/SAO/IXPE) NASA’s newly-launched X-ray hunting probe has snapped its first science image and — wow — it’s spectacular. The Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) probe launched Dec. 9, 2021, on a mission to observe objects like black holes and neutron stars in X-ray … Read more

Babies can tell who’s closely related from whether they share saliva

Infants and toddlers seem to expect people who exchange saliva, for example by taking bites of the same food, to be close enough to comfort each other if one gets upset Mind 20 January 2022 By Alice Klein Sharing a spoon may be a sign of a close bond kate_sept2004/Getty Images Babies and toddlers can … Read more

Robot piloted by a ball of algae is powered by photosynthesis

By placing a marimo, a naturally forming ball of algae, inside a plastic shell, researchers have created a robot that can move through water powered only by photosynthesis Technology 14 January 2022 By Alex Wilkins The robot is able to navigate obstacles Phillips, N., Draper, T.C., Mayne, R. et al. (2022) A robot piloted by … Read more