A supercomputer simulated the orbits of a million satellites between the Earth and the moon, but fewer than 10% survived.
New supercomputer simulations show that if a million satellites were placed at different points between the Earth and the moon, fewer than 10% would survive long enough to make it worth the effort to send them out in the first place. While this is not as dire as it initially seemed, research shows that it […]
Research group claims pre-eclampsia doomed Neanderthals, but experts say this is just a ‘thought experiment’
The mysterious disappearance of a Neanderthal cousin may have been linked to pre-eclampsia, a life-threatening complication of pregnancy and/or postpartum, doctors propose in a new study. But paleoanthropology experts aren’t convinced. In a paper published in the Journal of Reproductive Immunology on January 30, an international team of neonatologists and obstetricians and gynecologists argued that […]
Missing megaflood: How did the Mediterranean transform from a salt-filled bowl to a deep sea if it wasn’t a cataclysmic deluge?
On October 6, 1970, the deep-sea drilling vessel Glomar Challenger returned to port in Lisbon, Portugal, bearing a cargo that would revise history. During its 54-day voyage, the Challenger had punched 28 holes into the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea. The recovered cores pointed toward a startling conclusion: About 6 million years ago, the sea […]
Diagnostic dilemma: Cause of 83-year-old man’s unusual syphilis is ‘uncertain’
Patient: 83-year-old male resident in Belgium Symptoms: A man was admitted to the hospital after the muscles on one side of his face suddenly weakened and drooped. This condition is called unilateral peripheral facial paralysis. He also had a fever recently, but it has since subsided. Tests performed by a neurologist revealed that the man […]
New DNA research reveals that 5,500 years ago, a teenage girl was buried with her father’s bones on her chest
A rare Stone Age cemetery on a Swedish island shows that some of Europe’s last hunter-gatherers were buried with people who were more distantly related than extremely closely related, new DNA analysis reveals. But some burials included close biological family members, including, in the case of a teenage girl, whose father’s untidy bones were placed […]
China’s Unitree Robotics presents eerily lifelike robot kung fu performance during Lunar New Year
A humanoid robot took part in the world’s first fully autonomous martial arts performance to celebrate the Lunar New Year. New footage from the 2026 Chinese New Year celebrations in Beijing shows Unitree Robotics’ G1 and H2 machines performing intricate acrobatics and brandishing weapons. Unitree representatives said in a statement that the machine performed several […]
Lack of sleep triggers a cascade of harmful signals from the brain to the gut
A night or two of sleep deprivation not only causes fatigue, but can also disrupt stem cells in the gut, making the organ more susceptible to inflammatory diseases, a study in mice has found. A new study has revealed that sleep deprivation can impair intestinal stem cell function and increase the risk of inflammatory bowel […]
Our noodle-like ancestors had four eyes, 500 million-year-old fossil reveals
Our earliest known vertebrate ancestors had four eyes for spotting predators. And lo and behold, they were cute. A rare fossil from China reveals that the oldest recorded spine-bearing creature, a 500-million-year-old jawless fish, had two sets of peeping organs. Researchers have published an adorable reconstruction of one such four-eyed noodle as part of a […]
Slippery clay hidden on the ocean floor may have worsened Japan’s devastating 2011 tsunami
The 2011 Tohoku earthquake that triggered a devastating tsunami in eastern Japan was made worse by a thick layer of slippery clay, a new study has found. The clay layer on the ocean floor was up to 30 meters thick, creating a vulnerable spot where the motion of a magnitude 9.1 earthquake could travel to […]
Tibet’s vanished lake may have awakened faults in the Earth’s crust, causing earthquakes
A disappearing lake in southern Tibet may have “awakened” long-dormant faults in the Earth’s crust, triggering earthquakes in the region, researchers say. The discovery adds to the evidence for an unexpectedly strong link between our planet’s climate and geological activity deep beneath our feet. About 115,000 years ago, southern Tibet was home to huge lakes, […]