How we’re using ‘chaos engineering’ to make cloud computing less vulnerable to cyber attacks

Cloud computing has emerged as a crucial element in today’s technology, serving as the backbone for global connectivity. It empowers businesses, governments, and individuals to employ and construct cloud-based services and forms the foundation for a huge range of systems we use every day including telecommunications, transportation, healthcare, banking, and even streaming services. Such systems, […]

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We discovered a new way mountains are formed – from ‘mantle waves’ inside the Earth

In 2005, I was navigating winding roads through the Drakensberg Mountains, in Lesotho, Southern Africa. Towering cliff-like features known as escarpments interrupt the landscape, rising up by a kilometre or more. Taken aback by the dramatic scenery, I was struck by a question: how on Earth did it form? The outer shell of our planet […]

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how specialist search and rescue teams work underwater

Search and rescue for missing persons is always challenging for the specialist recovery teams involved, regardless of the environment they’re working in. But the teams looking for the missing aboard the Bayesian yacht which sank off the coast of Sicily leaving several people dead, have faced particularly challenging conditions. Even though the boat lies in […]

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Israel offers NIS 16m. for ag-tech innovation in Gaza border area

The Agriculture and Raw Food Security Ministry, Israel Innovation Authority, and the Tkuma Directorate – tasked with leading the revival of the Gaza border area – put out a joint call for agricultural technology (ag-tech) companies in the pilot stage, and will offer a total of NIS 16 million in funding to companies using […]

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The Moon was once covered by an ocean of molten rock, data from India’s space mission suggests

Data from India’s recent Chandrayaan-3 mission supports the idea that an ocean of molten rock once covered the Moon. Scientists from the mission have published their new findings in the journal Nature. On August 23 2023, a lander called Vikram successfully touched down on the lunar surface. Controllers then deployed a rover called Pragyan, which […]

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Avalanches can grow 100 times larger under the sea than on land – here’s why they’re a risk to the internet

Underwater avalanches are powerful natural events that happen all the time under the surface of the ocean. They are impossible to see and extremely difficult to measure, which means we know little about how they work. Yet these phenomena pose a hazard to our global communication networks. The proliferation of the internet has required an […]

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Babies and animals can’t tell us if they have consciousness – but philosophers and scientists are starting to find answers

Consciousness is a subjective, personal thing, so scientists who study it usually rely on people to tell them what they are conscious of. The problem is that infants are presumably conscious but, without speech, they can’t let us know. Animals like dogs, cats, octopuses and maybe insects might also be conscious, but they can’t tell […]

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What the unique shape of the human heart tells us about our evolution

Mammals, from the mighty blue whale to the tiny shrew, inhabit nearly every corner of our planet. Their remarkable adaptability to different environments has long fascinated scientists, with each species developing unique traits to survive and thrive. Despite such vast biological diversity, it was believed until recently that the structure and function of the heart […]

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How accurate are wearable fitness trackers? Less than you might think

Back in 2010, Gary Wolf, then the editor of Wired magazine, delivered a TED talk in Cannes called “the quantified self”. It was about what he termed a “new fad” among tech enthusiasts. These early adopters were using gadgets to monitor everything from their physiological data to their mood, and even the number of nappies […]

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