A Huge Beam of Antimatter Has Been Caught Streaming From This Runaway Pulsar

A runaway dead star zooming through space at breakneck speeds has left behind a huge trail of matter and antimatter particles. The star is a pulsar called PSR J2030+4415 or J2030 for short; it’s around 20 kilometers (12 miles) in diameter, and it’s speeding through space at a breakneck velocity of around 450 kilometers per … Read more

A Rare, Repeatedly Exploding Star Has Been Caught Producing Powerful Gamma Rays

A rare star that repeatedly explodes appears to be also generating the most energetic form of light in the Universe. Analysis of an eruption from the binary system RS Ophiuchi has revealed that the shock wave expanding out into space acts as a particle accelerator that generates gamma radiation. This suggests the conditions that generate … Read more

Spiders Caught Hunting in Giant Synchronized Swarms, And Now We Know How

Pack hunting spiders exist in places other than your nightmares. While most spiders enjoy solitary lives, 20 of the roughly 50,000 known spider species live in colonies. One species, Anelosimus eximius, lives in extremely large colonies of up to 1,000 individual spiders that work together to build webs spanning several meters.   When prey falls into their … Read more

A Cat in Pennsylvania Caught The Delta Variant. But It’s Not All Bad News

SARS-CoV-2 is not picky about its host. Since the virus first started spreading among humans, it has jumped from our species to pets, livestock, and even wild animals. Cats appear to be particularly susceptible to contracting COVID, although they often don’t show symptoms, and it’s unlikely that they can pass the virus back to us. Even … Read more

Dinosaurs: First evidence giant animals caught potentially fatal coughs

The first evidence of a respiratory infection in a dinosaur suggests that a 15-year-old diplodocid suffered from coughing, sneezing and fever before dying Earth 10 February 2022 By Matthew Sparkes An artist’s impression of Dolly the dinosaur Woodruff et al. (2022) and Corbin Rainbolt The fossil record has revealed dinosaurs with broken bones, osteoarthritis and … Read more

Vets Race to Save Endangered Birds Caught in Oil Spill Off The Coast of Peru

A Lima zoo is racing to save dozens of seabirds, including protected penguins, left covered in oil after 6,000 barrels of crude spilled off Peru’s coast in the aftermath of the Tonga tsunami.   More than 40 birds, including Humboldt penguins – listed as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature – were brought … Read more

Scientists Catch a Mesmerizing Glimpse of a Super-Rare Giant Phantom Jelly

A deepwater robot, humming through the twilight zone of Monterey Bay, has managed to capture incredibly rare video footage of a giant phantom jelly. In 34 years of conducting deep sea studies, the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) has sent out remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) to the deep sea on thousands of occasions, and … Read more