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Smallest rogue planet discovered seems to be a free-floating exo-Earth
A simulated image of how microlensing works, where the gravity of a foreground planet distorts the light from a background star. Jan Skowron/Astronomical Observatory, University of Warsaw – By Michael Irving 2020 Oct 29 – While almost every planet we’ve ever found orbits a …
US hospital systems facing ‘imminent’ threat of cyber-attacks, FBI warns
An alert said malicious groups are targeting the healthcare sector with attacks designed to lock up information systems and steal data. The FBI warned that the US healthcare system is facing an ‘imminent’ cybercrime threat. Photograph: J David Ake/AP – By Guardian staff …
Ares turns the C8 Corvette into a jaw-dropping roofless hypercar
A long, low, mean look for the Project S1 Spyder. Ares Design View 10 Images – By Loz Blain 2020 Oct 29 – The 2020 Corvette C8 Stingray is absolutely one of the most exciting supercars on the market at the moment, largely because …
Five Reasons to Love Bats
From leaf-engineering to complex social circles, there’s more to bats than flying and echolocation. (Charles J Sharp) – By Erin Malsbury 2020 Oct 27 – Bats have had a rough year. Brought into the limelight by the coronavirus pandemic, their already spooky public …
Pal-V Liberty flying car is now street-legal in Europe
Yes, that’s a license plate on the back of the Pal-V Liberty, which this Dutch company claims is the world’s first production-model flying car. Pal-V — View 13 Images – By Loz Blain 2020 Oct 28 – Dutch company Pal-V has celebrated a milestone …
Candy Corn Hasn’t Changed Since the 19th Century
The Halloween sweet was invented in the 1880s (Robert Marien/Corbis) – By Danny Lewis SmithsonianMag.Com 2015 Oct 30 – Whether you love it or hate it, candy corn has been a Halloween favorite for more than a century. This year, candy companies like …
Animals Keep Evolving Into Crabs, Which Is Somewhat Disturbing
It’s okay if this weirds you out. Maarten Wouters/Getty Images – By Caroline Delbert 2020 Oct 19 – The internet has rediscovered carcinization: the separate, five-time evolution of crabs. Parallel evolution isn’t unheard of by any means, but crabs have done it a …
‘Sleeping giant’ Arctic methane deposits starting to release, scientists find
Exclusive: expedition discovers new source of greenhouse gas off East Siberian coast has been triggered. Researchers worry that the Laptev Sea findings may signal a new climate feedback loop has been triggered. Photograph: Markus Rex/Alfred-Wegener-Institut – By Jonathan Watts Global environment editor, @jonathanwatts …
About the FinCEN Files investigation
An ICIJ investigation reveals the role of global banks in industrial-scale money laundering — and the bloodshed and suffering that flow in its wake. Journalists gathered in Hamburg for a FinCEN Files meeting. – By Fergus Shiel and Dean Starkman Image: Scilla Alecci/ICIJ 2020 …
Twenty years of the International Space Station – but was it worth it?
Has the ISS benefited society? Scientists are divided: for some, it’s a beacon of unity; for others, just a set for an action film. Astronaut Mike Hopkins during a spacewalk from the ISS in December 2013. Photograph: Nasa/Reuters – By Robin McKie 2020 …
The Global History of the Bandana
How an Indian export became part of the fabric of American life. The classic Turkey red, sported by everyone from Rosie the Riveter to Tupac Shakur. (National Museum of American History) – By Laura Hilgers Smithsonian Magazine | Subscribe 2020 Nov – Long …
Entire state of South Australia powered solely by solar in a world first
For one hour in October, the entire state of South Australia drew its energy purely from solar. gyuszko/Depositphotos – By Nick Lavars 2020 Oct 25 – Climate change, advances in technology and lower costs are driving the adoption of solar around the world, but …
Two British Teens Using Metal Detectors Discovered 1,000-Year-Old Coins
One of the coins is a silver penny dated to Harold II’s brief reign in 1066. The other dates to the time of Henry I. 17-year-old Reece Pickering found one of just three surviving silver pennies dated to Harold II’s reign. (Courtesy of …
General Atomics and Boeing team up on high-energy laser weapon
The laser weapon system is designed to be mounted on a variety of platforms. General Atomics – By David Szondy 2020 Oct 23 – General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems (GA-EMS) and Boeing have entered into a partnership to develop a scalable 100 kW to 250 …
The True Story of Pocahontas
Historian Camilla Townsend separates fact from fiction, as a new documentary premieres about the American Indian princess. Pocahontas wasn’t even a teenager when John Smith claims she saved him from execution. Whether the story happened the way Smith tells it—or even at all—is …
Electric-wheeled Veelo is pulling for rollerbladers
Veelo is presently on Kickstarter. Veelo – By Ben Coxworth 2020 Oct 22 – Although there are electric rollerblades and skateboards, sometimes people just want a temporary boost while using their existing non-electric set of wheels. That’s why Veelo was invented. Created by Canadian …
The Cute-but-Deadly Slow Loris Reserves Its Flesh-Rotting Venom for Its Peers
The world’s only venomous primates just got weirder. Javan slow lorises are now one of only six mammal species known to use venom against individuals of their own species. (Aprisonsan via Wikimedia Commons under CC BY-SA 4.0 International) – By Rasha Aridi SmithsonianMag.Com …
Robert F. Kennedy believed JFK was killed because of him
“I knew they’d get one of us, I thought it would be me.” Robert F. Kennedy Wikimedia/Public Domain – IrishCentral Staff @IrishCentral 2018 Nov 20 – Robert F. Kennedy had his own suspicions regarding the assassination of his brother, President John F Kennedy, …
New tardigrade species fends off killer light with a fluorescent shield
The tardigrade is known to be one of nature’s hardiest creatures, and scientists have just discovered a new species that uses a previously unknown tool to survive. DenisSmile/Depositphotos – By Nick Lavars 2020 Oct 13 – The tardigrade is one of nature’s toughest …
Chemists propose spinach as a better, cheaper battery catalyst
While it’s always been a boon to Popeye’s “muskles,” it looks like spinach may also have a role to play in clean future batteries. Credit: Ataly/Shutterstock – By Robby Berman 2020 Oct 06 – Scientists are seeking sustainable, clean chemicals for use in …
Nazca Lines: Archaeologists discover 2,000-year-old cat figure in Perú
Nazca Lines: Archaeologists discover 2,000-year-old cat figure in Perú. Credit: Jhony Islas/AP – Written by Oscar Holland, CNN Published 2020 Oct 19 – A huge feline figure carved into an arid hillside over 2,000 years ago has been discovered in southern Perú, according …
Vitamin D may lower risk of contracting COVID-19, says new research
A series of recent studies found that people with healthy levels of vitamin D were less likely to contract COVID-19 and suffer severe complications from it. Vitamin D supplement. Credit: ExQuisine via Adobe Stock – By Stephen Johnson 2020 Oct 06 – Vitamin …
Droughts and Human Interference Wiped Out Madagascar’s Gigantic Wildlife 1,500 Years Ago
The species had survived droughts before, but human interference was the final nail in the mega-sized coffin. Humans once lived alongside megafauna such as this elephant bird, giant lemurs, dwarf hippos and giant tortoises on Madagascar. (Public domain via Wikimedia Commons) – By …
How the needs of monks and empire builders helped mold the modern-day office
The East India House, 1928. From ‘A History of Lloyd’s,’ by Charles Wright and C. Ernest Fayle. Macmillan and Company Limited, London, 1928. Photo by The Print Collector/Getty Images – By Nicole Kay Peterson, Assistant Professor, Iowa State University 2020 Oct 15 – …
The Father of Robotics – Al Jazari
Father of robotics? Al Jazari was an Arab Muslim scholar, inventor, and mechanical engineer during the Islamic Golden Age (Middle Ages) – Iowa State University University Library 2007 Oct 10 News Newsletter – Do you know who is considered to be the “father …
An eye for nature: The 2020 Wildlife Photographer of the Year awards
Winner in the Animal Portraits category: The Pose. A young male proboscis monkey cocks his head slightly and closes his eyes. Mogens Trolle/Wildlife Photographer of the Year – By Loz Blain 2020 Oct 17 – After more than 49,000 entries were whittled down to …
Rare Ancient DNA Provides Window Into a 5,000-Year-Old South Asian Civilization
The Indus Valley Civilization flourished alongside Mesopotamia and Egypt, but the early society remains shrouded in mystery. Mohenjo Daro, or “Mound of the Dead” is an ancient Indus Valley Civilization city that was abandoned in the 19th century BCE as the Indus Valley …
Hundreds of Native American Treaties Digitized for the First Time
The National Archives has scanned more than 300 agreements between the United States and Indigenous tribes. Ratified Indian Treaty 37: Eel River, Wyandot, Piankashaw, Kaskaskia, and Kickapoo—Vincennes, Indiana Territory, August 7, 1803 (Courtesy of the National Archives) – By Nora McGreevy SmithsonianMag.Com 2020 …
What the first US case of Covid-19 reinfection means for future vaccines
You can get coronavirus twice — scientists explain why. Second Time Around – Emma Betuel 2020 Oct 13 – Recently, scientists reported the case of a Nevada man grappling with a new, and frustrating development in the story of Covid-19. The 25-year-old appears …
Fossilized Footprints Found in New Mexico Track Traveler With Toddler in Tow
Prehistoric tracks detail a moment when mammoths, sloths and humans crossed paths. The footprints found at White Sands National Park are more than 10,000 years old. (Courtesy of the National Park Service) – By Livia Gershon SmithsonianMag.Com 2020 Oct 14 – A small …
Do We Live in a Simulation? Chances Are about 50–50
Gauging whether or not we dwell inside someone else’s computer may come down to advanced AI research—or measurements at the frontiers of cosmology. Credit: Floriana Getty Images – By Anil Ananthaswamy 2020 Oct 13 – It is not often that a comedian gives …
The True Story of the ‘Free State of Jones’
A new Hollywood movie looks at the tale of the Mississippi farmer who led a revolt against the Confederacy. Deep in the swamps of Jones County. – By Richard Grant; Photographs by William Widmer Smithsonian Magazine | Subscribe 2016 March – https://youtu.be/3EMkxEKKSQI – …
Nuclear weapon transporter truck undergoes rocket crash test
The Mobile Guardian Transporter about to be hit by a rocket-propelled truck. Sandia National Laboratories – By David Szondy 2020 Oct 11 – Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) has successfully conducted a full-scale crash test of the semi-tractor-trailer truck that will be used to transport …
China insists Genghis Khan exhibit not use words ‘Genghis Khan’
Museum in Nantes pulls show after intervention by Beijing, which comes as Communist party hardens discrimination against ethnic Mongols. Genghis Khan statue in Mongolia. Photograph: G Adventures, Inc – Agence France-Presse 2020 Oct 13 – 22.06 EDT – A French museum has postponed …
Increasing occurrence of an extra arm artery shows evolution at work
A new study suggests an increasing prevalence of a third forearm artery in humans over the past couple of hundred years. piotr_marcinski/Depositphotos – By Rich Haridy 2020 Oct 11 – A human fetus transitions through a number of developmental stages in the womb. Some …
Asteroid Bennu Could Shed Light on How Ingredients for Life Reached Earth
New, detailed imagery of the asteroid’s surface show that it’s covered in boulders and carbon-containing molecules. The asteroid, discovered in 1999, was named Bennu in 2013 by a third grade student who won a contest. (NASA/GSFC/University of Arizona) – By Theresa Machemer SmithsonianMag.Com …
Earth’s first mammals took it easy and lived far longer than their modern counterparts
Morganucodon (left) and Kuehneotherium (right) hunting in Early Jurassic Wales 200 million years ago – By Amy Woodyatt, CNN Updated 11:05 AM ET, Mon 2020 Oct 12 – Earth’s earliest mammals spent their lives at a more leisurely pace than their modern counterparts, …
Oklahoma is – and always has been – Native land
Delegates from 34 Native tribes at the Creek Council House in Indian Territory, now called Oklahoma, 1880. National Archives – By Dwanna L. McKay, Assistant Professor of Race, Ethnicity, and Indigenous Studies, Colorado College 2020 Jul 16 – Some Oklahomans are expressing trepidation …
Amid COVID-19 spike in ultra-Orthodox areas, Jewish history may explain reluctance of some to restrictions
COVID-19 has spiked in ultra-Orthodox Jewish parts of New York City. Spencer Platt/Getty Images – By Joyce Dalsheim, Associate Professor of Global Studies, University of North Carolina – Charlotte 2020 Oct 07 – A spike in coronavirus cases in several Orthodox Jewish areas …
See Yourself As You Truly Are in This Mysterious Metal Mirror
Made in Kerala, the “Aranmula kannadi” won’t distort your reflection. Photo by Chris Griffiths / Getty Images. – Atlas Obscura Susan Paul Savera John – In Aranmula, Kerala, a heritage village on the banks of the Pamba river, a group of skilled, metal-casting …
Smallest rogue planet discovered seems to be a free-floating exo-Earth
A simulated image of how microlensing works, where the gravity of a foreground planet distorts the light from a background star. Jan Skowron/Astronomical Observatory, University of Warsaw – By Michael Irving 2020 Oct 29 – While almost every planet we’ve ever found orbits a …
US hospital systems facing ‘imminent’ threat of cyber-attacks, FBI warns
An alert said malicious groups are targeting the healthcare sector with attacks designed to lock up information systems and steal data. The FBI warned that the US healthcare system is facing an ‘imminent’ cybercrime threat. Photograph: J David Ake/AP – By Guardian staff …
Ares turns the C8 Corvette into a jaw-dropping roofless hypercar
A long, low, mean look for the Project S1 Spyder. Ares Design View 10 Images – By Loz Blain 2020 Oct 29 – The 2020 Corvette C8 Stingray is absolutely one of the most exciting supercars on the market at the moment, largely because …
Five Reasons to Love Bats
From leaf-engineering to complex social circles, there’s more to bats than flying and echolocation. (Charles J Sharp) – By Erin Malsbury 2020 Oct 27 – Bats have had a rough year. Brought into the limelight by the coronavirus pandemic, their already spooky public …
Pal-V Liberty flying car is now street-legal in Europe
Yes, that’s a license plate on the back of the Pal-V Liberty, which this Dutch company claims is the world’s first production-model flying car. Pal-V — View 13 Images – By Loz Blain 2020 Oct 28 – Dutch company Pal-V has celebrated a milestone …
Candy Corn Hasn’t Changed Since the 19th Century
The Halloween sweet was invented in the 1880s (Robert Marien/Corbis) – By Danny Lewis SmithsonianMag.Com 2015 Oct 30 – Whether you love it or hate it, candy corn has been a Halloween favorite for more than a century. This year, candy companies like …
Animals Keep Evolving Into Crabs, Which Is Somewhat Disturbing
It’s okay if this weirds you out. Maarten Wouters/Getty Images – By Caroline Delbert 2020 Oct 19 – The internet has rediscovered carcinization: the separate, five-time evolution of crabs. Parallel evolution isn’t unheard of by any means, but crabs have done it a …
‘Sleeping giant’ Arctic methane deposits starting to release, scientists find
Exclusive: expedition discovers new source of greenhouse gas off East Siberian coast has been triggered. Researchers worry that the Laptev Sea findings may signal a new climate feedback loop has been triggered. Photograph: Markus Rex/Alfred-Wegener-Institut – By Jonathan Watts Global environment editor, @jonathanwatts …
About the FinCEN Files investigation
An ICIJ investigation reveals the role of global banks in industrial-scale money laundering — and the bloodshed and suffering that flow in its wake. Journalists gathered in Hamburg for a FinCEN Files meeting. – By Fergus Shiel and Dean Starkman Image: Scilla Alecci/ICIJ 2020 …
Twenty years of the International Space Station – but was it worth it?
Has the ISS benefited society? Scientists are divided: for some, it’s a beacon of unity; for others, just a set for an action film. Astronaut Mike Hopkins during a spacewalk from the ISS in December 2013. Photograph: Nasa/Reuters – By Robin McKie 2020 …