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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New technology will help prevent the sale of adulterated honey – UKRI

New projects funded by the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) and led by researchers from Cranfield University have developed new ways to detect sugar syrup adulteration in honey. This paves the way for fast and accurate tests to discover fake products in a market worth many millions of pounds. There is growing consumer demand […]

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the tricky manoeuvre that will use Earth and the Moon to send the Juice mission to Jupiter

A European spacecraft is about to zip by both Earth and the Moon in the space of 24 hours. In the early 2030s, the Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (Juice) mission will be the first European probe to orbit Jupiter. But first, it needs to carry out a key manoeuvre to help set up its eventual […]

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Algorithm-free news, pro-Israel social media: A look at Moptu

Moptu, the brainchild of American Jewish tech entrepreneurs Josh Namm and Charles Haspel, has been disrupting the world of social media and news sharing long before Oct. 7. Yet as antisemitism has skyrocketed in the past nine months, with deadly misinformation being spread all over social media platforms, Moptu’s unique approach to social media could […]

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Mosquitoes use gut bacteria to fight the malaria they transmit – scientists are exploring how to use this to end the disease

The months of September to May are an unfortunate season in South Africa: malaria season. The mosquito-borne disease is found in the north-eastern districts of KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga and Limpopo provinces. There are fewer malaria cases in South Africa compared to other African countries. The World Health Organization estimated there were over 10 million cases of […]

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