Brain cells: Special neurons may signal when to start new memories

Recordings from electrodes in people’s brains reveal that certain neurons in the hippocampus show a burst of activity to mark the boundary between different events Mind 7 March 2022 , updated 7 March 2022 By Clare Wilson Illustration of neurons in the hippocampus KATERYNA KON/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY A newly discovered kind of brain cell involved … Read more

A Major Signal From ‘The First Stars’ May Not Have Come From Space at All

A signal interpreted as the first light illuminating the Universe may not be from the far reaches of the Universe after all, a new study has found. In fact, it may not even be from space.   Far from being a problem, however, this new finding may just set the Universe to rights. The signal, … Read more

‘Weird signal’ hails from the Milky Way. What’s causing it?

All About Space (Image credit: Future) This article is brought to you by All About Space. All About Space magazine takes you on an awe-inspiring journey through our solar system and beyond, from the amazing technology and spacecraft that enables humanity to venture into orbit, to the complexities of space science. For 13 years, astronomers believed themselves … Read more

A New Planet Has Just Been Discovered Orbiting The Nearest Star to The Sun

What appears to be a teeny tiny alien world has just been found orbiting the Solar System’s closest stellar neighbor. The exoplanet candidate, named Proxima d, orbits a star named Proxima Centauri: a small, dim red dwarf star just 4.2 light-years from the Sun.   Amazingly, the exoplanet is just a quarter of the mass … Read more

What’s The Deal With 5G And Plane Safety? Here’s What You Need to Know

Several international airlines recently cancelled flights into certain US airports over concerns the rollout of 5G mobile communication technology could interfere with some planes’ equipment.   After warnings about the potential problem from aviation bosses and the Federal Aviation Administration, telecommunications companies AT&T and Verizon delayed activating some 5G masts around US airports. But how … Read more

Mysterious Signal of Hidden Lakes on Mars May Not Be What We Thought

The likelihood of lakes of liquid water hidden under Mars‘ southern polar ice cap is receding before our very eyes. Last year, a paper found that temperatures were likely far too cold for water to remain unfrozen in the region. Now, a new study has found that the radar signal interpreted as liquid water was … Read more

Scientists Have Detected a Faint Hint of The Background Hum of The Universe

Ever since scientists made the first detection of gravitational waves from a pair of colliding black holes in 2015, evidence has been growing that the Universe ought to be full of them.   Every massive event – every black hole or neutron star merger, every supernova – should have sent gravitational waves ringing out across … Read more

Detector designed for gravitational waves seeks signal from dark matter | Science

In a feat of scientific repurposing, a team of physicists has used a detector designed to sense gravitational waves—fleeting ripples in space and time set off by, for example, the collisions of two black holes—to search for something even more elusive, dark matter. Although researchers found no sign of the particular hypothetical particles they sought, … Read more

Babies: Mother’s smell helps infants bond with strangers

Maternal body odour signals to babies that they can safely build relationships with other adults, a trait that may have evolved so that mothers can share the load of child rearing Humans 10 December 2021 By Alice Klein A mother and daughter fizkes/Shutterstock Babies are more socially receptive to unfamiliar women when they can smell … Read more