‘Ghost particle’ coming into focus: Scientists put upper limit on mass of neutrinos

Every second, about 100 trillion neutrinos pass through your body. These ghostly particles are fundamental to our understanding of the universe. But they’re extremely small — so small that scientists once thought they had no mass at all.  Neutrinos do indeed have mass, however, and physicists have now managed to put a new upper limit … Read more

This Ancient Peruvian Empire Put Hallucinogenics in Beer For Political Reasons

The ancient Wari empire of Peru might have used hallucinogenic beer to rally support in new territories. The remnants of a large feast, found at a Wari outpost from the ninth century CE, strongly suggest the seeds of a psychoactive plant called vilca (Anadenanthera colubrina) were once mixed with chicha, a beer made from the fruit … Read more

Why can’t we put a space station on the Moon?

This article was originally published at The Conversation as part of the Curious Kids series. The publication contributed the article to Space.com’s Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insight. Ian Whittaker, Senior Lecturer in Physics, Nottingham Trent University A space station on the moon could be very useful. It would provide future space missions with a stopping … Read more

Gene pinpointed that helps put human hearts in the right place | Science

From the outside, humans are pleasingly symmetrical, with arms, legs, and eyes that have matching right and left sides. But inside, it’s a different story: our heart is on the left; our liver is on the right. Lungs and kidneys are also asymmetric. Now researchers have pinned down a gene that helps developing organs find … Read more

Log4j: Serious software bug has put the entire internet at risk

A flaw in a commonly used piece of software has left millions of web servers vulnerable to exploitation by hackers Technology 13 December 2021 By Matthew Sparkes Hackers could use the Log4j bug to access secure data Shutterstock / Tammy54 A major security flaw has been discovered in a piece of software called Log4j, which … Read more