Arctic sea ice has passed its minimum extent for this year, shrinking to 4.72 million square kilometres on 16 September, the US National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) has reported. Owing to a cool and cloudy Arctic summer, this year’s annual minimum was the highest since 2014 — ice covered nearly 1 million square…
In the new paper, the researchers studied poison frogs in the genus Phyllobates that employ a toxin called batrachotoxin, which works by disrupting the transport of sodium ions in and out of cells — one of the most important physiological functions in the body. When your brain sends signals to the body, it sends them…
The Jupiter storm is larger than planet Earth, and astronomers have been observing it regularly for more than 150 years — with occasional other observations as early as the 1600s — providing evidence of change over a relatively long time. The storm speeds are incredible compared to what we see on Earth, but at Jupiter…
Scientists have identified ancient reptiles dating back to 289 million years ago that could detach their tails to escape the grasp of their predators – the oldest known example of such behaviour. The reptiles, called Captorhinus, weighed less than two kilograms and were smaller than the predators of the time. They were abundant in terrestrial…
The study, published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology, also found that adding plants and trees to the landscapes near factories and other pollution sources could reduce air pollution by an average of 27 per cent. Plants and trees may be better and cheaper options than technology to mitigate air pollution, says a new…
New astronaut and satellite images of an active volcano on the island of La Palma reveal the frightening beauty of the eruption, as well as its dangerous proximity to humans. La Palma Volcano Lava began gushing out of the Cumbre Vieja crater on the island, which is located off the coast of northwestern Africa and…
The moon‘s polar regions are home to craters and other depressions that never receive sunlight. Today, a group of researchers led by the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research (MPS) in Germany present the highest-resolution images to date covering 17 such craters. Craters of this type could contain frozen water, making them attractive targets…
One of the most popular teleconferencing programs in the world joins Facebook’s new vr co-working platform. Facebook today announced a partnership with Zoom Video Communications to bring the company’s popular teleconferencing software program to Horizon Workrooms, marking a major milestone for the recently released VR co-working platform. …
Hubble Space Telescope’s(HST) glamour shots of the universe are so revealing they nearly always have a discovery behind them. In this image, a remote galaxy is greatly magnified and distorted by the effects of gravitationally warped space. After its public release, astronomers used the picture to measure the galaxy’s distance of 9.4 billion light-years. This…
What do leafcutter ants and scores of middle-school students have in common? A mouth full of metal-laced teeth. Tiny arthropods such as ants, spiders and scorpions routinely bite, sting or otherwise pierce tough material like wood and skin. It’s a remarkable feat, given that humans have trouble chewing through so much as a piece…
