Astronauts on the International Space Station have finally found the source of an air leak that was first detected a year ago in September 2019, according to NASA. Three members of the ISS crew were woken in the middle of the night on Monday by ground control to search for the leak’s source – as … Read more
An artificial intelligence equipped robot named ‘Curly’ beat one of the world’s best curling teams by quickly adapting to changes in the ice, its developers claim. The sport of curling involves constantly changing and uncontrollable environmental conditions – providing the perfect ‘test bed’ for an AI-driven robot. Curly, who delivers the stone but doesn’t sweep, … Read more
Frogs that live in wet environments have bigger testicles and higher quality sperm than those in drier regions, a new study has found. Frogs of the Crawling Toadlet species (Pseudophryne guentheri) are native to south-western Australia, and can experience between approximately 300 and 1250 mm of rainfall per year depending on where they live. The Aussie … Read more
Beekeeping has become TOO trendy and almost unsustainable in some urban areas because there is not enough nectar and pollen to go round, study warns The ‘World’s Plants and Fungi’ report warned urban beekeeping can do harm Beekeepers only raise honey bees — which can outcompete wild colonies Colonies need access to sufficient forage like flowering … Read more
Earth may have lost up to 60 per cent of its atmosphere in the collision that is thought to have formed the Moon Researchers carried out hundreds of collision simulations on a supercomputer They looked at different impact angles, planet densities and even atmospheres Earth could have lost 10-60 per cent of its atmosphere in an … Read more
Two fifths of the world’s plants are at risk of extinction, up from an estimated fifth in 2016, according to Kew Gardens. In total, 140,000, or 39.4 per cent, of plants are threatened with extinction, up from an earlier estimate of 21 per cent from four years ago, the organisation says. Kew’s annual State of the … Read more
How much you enjoy your food at a restaurant depends on the venue’s noise, a study reveals. Acoustic experts at Flinders University investigated a patron’s experience under different background noise types and levels. Relaxing music at 30 decibels increased the liking of food by 60 percent, but playing it at 40 decibels decreased it to … Read more
Asteroid impact 66 million years ago released aerosols and dust into Earth’s upper atmosphere that blocked the sun and killed the dinosaurs, study reveals Previous work suggests the black carbon that filled the air after an asteroid hit the Earth 66 million years ago was released by massive wildfires Now, researchers found evidence it was … Read more
Global warming has revealed mummified remains of Adélie penguins that have laid hidden under the ice in Antarctica for more than 5,000 years. Steven Emslie, a professor at the University of North Carolina, was studying Cape Irizar just south of the Drygalski Ice Tongue on the Scott Coast, when he and his team stumbled upon hundreds … Read more
Binge drinking soared during the coronavirus lockdown – with women’s alcohol consumption increasing 41 PER CENT over the previous year Researchers surveyed 1,540 US-based adults on their alcohol consumption They looked at habits in Spring 2019 and again in Spring 2020 during shutdown There was a 41 per cent spike in women binge drinking during … Read more