Vortex rings are no longer just for fluids Smoke rings are being seen in a new light. Doughnut-shaped structures called vortex rings are sometimes seen swirling through fluids. Smokers can form them with their mouths, volcanoes can spit them out during eruptions and dolphins can blow them as bubble rings.Continue Reading
The asteroid will zoom safely past Earth at 47,200 mph. An enormous asteroid four times the size of the Empire State Building will make a close approach to Earth on May 27, according to NASA’s Center for Near Earth Object Studies (CNEOS). Fear not: the asteroid, named 7335 (1989 JA),Continue Reading
Synthetic biology could help displace petroleum as a chemical feedstock Chemicals cost more than just money: Today, petrochemical production spews out nearly 2% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. Now, researchers have taken an important step to vastly reduce that footprint, by using bacteria and waste gases from steel plants,Continue Reading
No one knew if orcas could take down the largest animal on the planet – until now Killer whales are skilled assassins, hunting everything from herring to great white sharks. Now, for the first time, scientists witnessed a pod of killer whales bring down the world’s largest animal: an adultContinue Reading
Only the most successful campaigns are highlighted on social media, giving a skewed impression of success Online crowdfunding for medical expenses raises less money than social media posts suggest and deepens health care inequities, a new study reports. The first large-scale assessment of medical crowdfunding in the United States showsContinue Reading
You’ve heard of disappearing ink. Now get ready for suddenly appearing ink. Using a clear liquid, researchers can print a full rainbow of colors on transparent surfaces. The trick is printing the liquid in precise, microscale patterns that create structural color. Structural colors arise from the way different wavelengths ofContinue Reading
An angel shark has never been filmed in this part of the world before. A young shark glides to the ocean floor, slaps the sandy ground with its head and disappears in a cloud of dust. A pause. A small fish swims by. And then… SNAP! The fish doesn’t knowContinue Reading
Climate change is not only a human problem; animals have to adapt to it as well. Some “warm-blooded” animals are shapeshifting and getting larger beaks, legs, and ears to better regulate their body temperatures as the planet gets hotter. Bird researcher Sara Ryding of Deakin University in Australia describes theseContinue Reading
Ordinary human dilemmas are tougher to solve than the most difficult problems of physics and mathematics\ As a boy, I was a rock hound, and I learned how to identify minerals with the Mohs hardness test, named after the mineralogist who invented it. You take a known specimen, like quartz,Continue Reading
Self-targeting antibodies attack part of the immune system that plays a key role in fighting infection Antibodies that turn against elements of our own immune defences are a key driver of severe illness and death following SARS-CoV-2 infection in some people, according to a large international study. These rogue antibodies,Continue Reading