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Severance review: A compelling thriller about dividing work and play

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By Bethan Ackerley Mark Scout, played by Adam Scott, works for a shadowy corporation Atsushi Nishijima/Apple TV+ Severance Ben Stiller and Aoife McArdle Apple TV+ THE first thing you should know about Mark Scout is that he is an employee of Lumon Industries, the nebulous corporation at the heart of new sci-fi thriller series Severance from … Read more

These Lego Movie 2 and Overwatch deals at Amazon are the play of the game

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It seems like things are getting more expensive at an alarming rate these days, but at least these Lego sci-fi and gaming sets let you save while you play.  Queen Watevra’s ‘So-Not-Evil’ space palace from The Lego Movie 2 is £20 off on Amazon and comes with 997 pieces. If that’s not your thing though … Read more

Fowl play: Turkey turmoil at NASA center in California

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A flock of wild turkeys has gotten a little too interested in space exploration, so a NASA facility is helping the hefty birds explore a nice reserve instead. NASA’s Ames Research Center in California just south of San Francisco covers some 500 acres and hosts scientists working on topics from exoplanets to flight technology — … Read more

Antarctica’s Hidden Under-Ice Rivers Could Play a Significant Role in Sea-Level Rise

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Underneath Antarctica’s vast ice sheets there’s a network of rivers and lakes. This is possible because of the insulating blanket of ice above, the flow of heat from within the Earth, and the small amount of heat generated as the ice deforms.   Water lubricates the base of the ice sheets, allowing the ice to … Read more

Scientists Teach Cockatoos to Play ‘Golf’, Showing Off The Birds’ Clever Tool Use

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Goffin’s cockatoos have edged parrots closer to corvids in the battle of the brainiest birds, by revealing their extraordinary ability to use composite tools.  Using more than one tool simultaneously played a huge role in humanity’s technological development, but it’s a skill that’s rarely been observed in other animals. Chimps are a rare example, using … Read more

Gravitational waves play with fast spinning stars, study suggests

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Scientists observed changes in the signals coming from rapidly-spinning stars called millisecond pulsars that might point to the existence of subtle space-time ripples vibrating throughout the entire universe. Millisecond pulsars are stellar remnants that spin hundreds of times per second, producing precise radio pulses that can act as a cosmic metronome. Scientists think that ripples … Read more

‘Icemageddon’ Strikes Alaska in Record Bout of Extreme Weather

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Extreme weather in Alaska that has brought record high temperatures and torrential downpours has left authorities in the far northern US state warning of “Icemageddon”. Huge sheets of ice are blocking roads and choking traffic in Fairbanks, Alaska’s second largest city, reported the state’s transportation department, which has coined the neologism – a play on … Read more

Study Finds Alarming Levels of Microplastics in The Feces of People With IBD

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Motes of weathered plastic increasingly dust every corner of our planet, permeating our food, our air, and our water. From the moment we’re born – if not long before – we’re exposed to its effects, and we don’t fully know what that’s doing to our health and wellbeing.   A recent investigation by a team of researchers … Read more

Mini-brains: Clumps of human brain cells in a dish can learn to play Pong faster than an AI

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Hundreds of thousands of brain cells in a dish are being taught to play Pong by responding to pulses of electricity – and can improve their performance more quickly than an AI can Mind 17 December 2021 By Michael Le Page Living brain cells in a dish can learn to play Pong when they are … Read more