Space station telescope sees X-ray hot spots merge on supermagnetic star corpse

For the first time, a powerful NASA telescope aboard the International Space Station observed merging “hot spots” on a weird star, known as a magnetar. The telescope is called the Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER), and seeks to understand more about the extreme conditions present in super-dense, city-sized neutron stars and their variants. (Magnetars, … Read more

How Hong Kong ‘Sees’ Invisible Tailpipe Emissions, and Pulls Polluters Off the Road

Christopher Intagliata: Air pollution causes millions of premature deaths around the world every year, according to an estimate by the World Health Organization. And one of the most significant drivers of air pollution in cities is exhaust that comes out of tailpipes from cars, trucks and buses.  In an effort to tame its air pollution, … Read more

Covid-19 news: Third wave sees continued ethnic disparities in deaths

By Michael Le Page, Clare Wilson, Jessica Hamzelou, Sam Wong, Graham Lawton, Adam Vaughan, Conrad Quilty-Harper, Jason Arunn Murugesu and Layal Liverpool A covid-19 vaccination centre at St Thomas’ Hospital in London, England Vuk Valcic/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images Latest coronavirus news as of 12pm on 27 January People in England from some ethnic backgrounds … Read more

Bizarre Transparent Fish That Sees Through Its Own Head Captured in Rare Footage

Thousands of feet beneath the surface of Monterey Bay off California, scientists recently captured footage of a fish with a bulbous, translucent head and green orb-like eyes that peer out through its forehead.   This bizarre creature, known as a barreleye fish (Macropinna microstoma), is very rarely seen. Researchers with the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research … Read more