Category: Technology

In 1872 Leland Stanford, the founder of California’s Stanford University, hired an eccentric inventor named Eadweard Muybridge to help resolve a supposed (but undocumented) bet: did a trotting horse’s feet leave the ground with all four feet or not? Muybridge was a skilled photographer and managed to get blurry snapshots of an “airborne” horse in […]

Using radar, a Nasa spacecraft, Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), has confirmed the existence of caves beneath the lunar surface. Here’s why such geological features will be key for establishing a base on the Moon, and what they can tell us about Earth and our Moon’s shared cosmological origins. Lunar orbiting satellites first spotted pits on […]

Lesotho is a small, land-locked, mountainous country located in the middle of South Africa. Its Eastern Lesotho Highlands are often referred to as the region’s “water tower” because they receive some of the highest rainfall amounts in southern Africa, providing water to South Africa and electricity to Lesotho through the Lesotho Highlands Water Project. Despite […]

The Madagascar Ridge, in the southwestern Indian Ocean, is a remote, elevated area of seabed south of Madagascar. In 2016, my colleagues and I discovered a new cartilaginous fish species in its deep waters; a catshark that we named Bach’s catshark (Bythaelurus bachi) after German composer Johann Sebastian Bach. (In 2017 we discovered another new […]

We’ve all seen men lash out angrily when their masculinity is threatened – not least in Hollywood movies. And the extent of such behaviour has also been uncovered in scientific research. But how, when and why does this tendency arise? A recent psychological study has found that some young boys display feelings of aggression when […]

When considering human settlements on the Moon, Mars and further afield, much attention is given to the travel times, food and radiation risk. We’ll undoubtedly face a harsh environment in deep space and some thinkers have been pointing to genome editing as a way to ensure that humans can tolerate the severe conditions as they […]

Nasa’s missions are some of the most technologically advanced and critically important endeavours. From the Mars Rover explorations to the Artemis missions to the Moon, the space agency’s projects push the boundaries of science and technology. However, these missions are also prime targets for cyber-attacks. In a bold move to counter the escalating threat of […]

DSIT Secretary of State Peter Kyle has unveiled a £33 million programme at Farnborough Airshow for 23 national space projects, including three projects to be spearheaded by RAL Space, operated by the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC). The £33 million investment, part of the UK Space Agency’s National Space Innovation Programme, aims to foster […]

Google’s talks to acquire Wiz, the Israeli-founded cybersecurity firm, have allegedly fallen apart, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday, citing sources with knowledge of the talks. The Journal was able to see an email sent by Wiz CEO Assaf Rappaport, where he said, “Wizards, I know the last week has been intense, with buzz […]

Almost 55 years after the launch of Apollo 11 – the first mission to land humans on the Moon – scientists have found evidence of a large cave system near the landing site of those astronauts. Using radar images taken by Nasa’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft in 2010, researchers have been able to determine that […]