An artist’s impression of a pliosaur. Palaeontologists from the University of Portsmouth have found evidence suggesting that pliosaurs, closely related to Leopleurodon, could have reached 14.4 meters in length, twice the size of a killer whale. Credit: Megan Jacobs, University of Portsmouth An Oxfordshire museum has discovered evidence that pliosaurs could have reached 14.4 meters … Read more
This artist’s concept depicts the planet GJ 1214 b, which is likely a “mini-Neptune” with a vaporous, hazy atmosphere. A new study based on observations from NASA’s Webb Telescope provides insight into these types of planets, which are among the most common in the galaxy. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/R. Hurt (IPAC)
Astronauts threw a bag of leftovers into space during last week’s spacewalk. Technically, it’s space junk. But NASA says throwing the bag into space is harmless. The bag does not spend much time in orbit and soon burns up in the Earth’s atmosphere. Loading Something is loading. Thanks for signing up! Access your favorite topics … Read more
Sign up for CNN’s Wonder Theory Science Newsletter. Explore the world with fascinating discoveries, scientific breakthroughs and more news. CNN – VAST — a California-based startup and one of the newest entrants into the world of privatized spaceflight — plans to use a SpaceX rocket to launch it. Think shuttle passengers to and from the … Read more
At the heart of this Hubble Space Telescope image lies a giant cluster of galaxies. (Image credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, H. Ebeling) A new image from the Hubble Space Telescope looks into the lair of Cosmic Leviathan, a gigantic cluster of galaxies nine billion light-years away in the Draco galaxy. Like the sea monster in … Read more
In a laboratory in Atlanta, thousands of yeast cells fight for their lives every day. Those that live another day grow faster, reproduce faster and form larger clumps. For about a decade, cells have evolved to hang on top of each other, forming branching snowflake shapes. These strange snowflakes are at the heart of experiments … Read more
Research published Wednesday suggests that the drought and its preceding climate conditions have an unlikely driver: the Australian bushfires of 2019 and 2020. According to the groundbreaking study, massive wildfires thousands of miles away spewed so much smoke that they triggered a chain of events in the atmosphere that eventually cooled the tropical Pacific Ocean … Read more
A partial section of a 30-meter-long quantum connection between two superconducting circuits. The vacuum tube (center) contains a microwave waveguide that is cooled to about -273°C and connects the two quantum circuits. Credit: ETH Zurich / Daniel Winkler A group of researchers led by Andreas Wallraff, professor of solid state physics at ETH Zurich, conducted … Read more
expand / A rendering of the Crew Dragon spacecraft attached to the Haven-1 space station. Wide A private space station company, VAST, announced on Wednesday that it intends to launch a commercial space station by August 2025. After this “Haven-1” space station is deployed in low-Earth orbit, four commercial astronauts will launch to the facility. … Read more
More than 20 years after scientists first released the draft sequence of the human genome, the book of life has undergone a long overdue rewrite. A more accurate and inclusive version of our genetic code was published Wednesday, a major step toward a deeper understanding of human biology and personalized medicine for people of a … Read more