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This Weird ‘Breathing’ Cushion May Have a Surprisingly Useful Purpose

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After throwing 129 volunteers into the stressful situation of a sudden group math test, researchers found that people using a huggable ‘breathing’ cushion were more relaxed in the lead up to the questions than those without one.   “We were excited to find that holding the breathing cushion, without any guidance, produced a similar effect … Read more

Gaze in Awe at This Breathtaking Hubble Image of an Outburst From a Baby Star

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An epic outburst from a baby star still in the process of forming has been captured in a spectacular Hubble image. Roughly 1,250 light-years away, in the Orion molecular cloud star-forming region, jets from a protostar are punching through the cloud at supersonic speeds, heating the gas and causing it to glow brightly. The result … Read more

Here’s What You Need to Know About Power Cuts at Two Ukrainian Nuclear Plants

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The catastrophic disaster at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in 1986 was caused by an explosion at the Reactor 4 Unit. This expelled a sizeable quantity of radioactive material into the surroundings, alongside a partial meltdown of the reactor core. The last few decades have seen substantial international efforts to safely contain and decontaminate the … Read more

Spiders Use Electric Fields to Fly, And We May Finally Know How

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Having never evolved wings, many species of spider instead evolved an uncanny ability to take to the skies using nothing more than a few short threads of gossamer dangling from their dainty butts.   Just how this invertebrate answer to paragliding works has never been entirely clear, though historically biologists have assumed it probably has … Read more

Scientists Identify The Optimal Number of Daily Steps For Longevity, And It’s Not 10,000

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Conventional wisdom would have us believe the journey to a long and healthy life begins with 10,000 steps. Each and every day. For those living a more sedentary lifestyle, it’s a goal that can take some effort to maintain. We’ve also known for some time it’s also almost certainly wrong.   By analyzing data on … Read more

How a 19th-Century Breakthrough Could Revolutionize COVID-19 Diagnosis

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It sounds simple, but to treat someone you suspect has COVID, you need to confirm they are actually infected with the coronavirus. In the UK, it is easy to take this for granted – we’ve had a reliable detection method for diagnosing infected patients widely available since early on in the pandemic. This allowed for … Read more

What You Eat Has The Power to Reprogram Your Genes. An Expert Explains How

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People typically think of food as calories, energy, and sustenance. However, the latest evidence suggests that food also “talks” to our genome, which is the genetic blueprint that directs the way the body functions down to the cellular level.   This communication between food and genes may affect your health, physiology, and longevity. The idea … Read more

Giant Haul of Ancient Egyptian Artifacts Spills The Lost Secrets of Mummification

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A deposit of hundreds of embalming tools uncovered in Abusir, Egypt – probably the largest ever found – offers clues into a lavish funeral that likely took place about 2,600 years ago.    The deposit of at least 370 ceramic jars – some of which carried heads to represent sacred animal deities – could provide … Read more

A Mysterious Desert Bacterium Has Evolved Its Own, Unique Ability to Photosynthesize

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Photosynthesis quite literally changed our world. Plants ‘eating’ sunlight and ‘breathing out’ oxygen transformed Earth’s entire atmosphere into the one we now breathe, and fuel our ecosystems with energy.   Now researchers have caught a cunning species of bacteria with stolen photosynthesizing technology. And their molecular, light-eating device is unlike any we’ve ever seen. “The … Read more