Category: Technology

Lyte Aviation VTOL 44-seat SkyBus flies on standard jet fuel with hydrogen-electric assistance, to cover more than 1,000 km of range. Lyte Aviation’s SkyBus and its SkyTruck cargo version use hybrid hydrogen-electric VTOL for 40 passengers and for the cargo variant. With the continuous growth of our world population, demand for mass transit/cargo increases and […]

One of the most startling scientific discoveries of recent decades is that physics appears to be fine-tuned for life. This means that for life to be possible, certain numbers in physics had to fall within a certain, very narrow range. One of the examples of fine-tuning which has most baffled physicists is the strength of […]

Astronomers get to ask some of the most fundamental questions there are, ranging from whether we’re alone in the cosmos to what the nature of the mysterious dark energy and dark matter making up most of the universe is. Now a large group of astronomers from all over the world is building the biggest optical […]

NASA scientist flies to the edge of space on Virgin Galactic‘s 05 mission for suborbital research for the first time. Virgin Galactic announced the completion of its sixth space mission in six months and its tenth to date. The ‘Galactic 05’ mission saw Virgin Galactic’s spaceship converted into a suborbital lab for space-based scientific research […]

We are so fortunate to share the world with a huge diversity of creatures. For me, some of the most fascinating are reptiles and amphibians. Collectively called herpetofauna, reptiles and amphibians are ectotherms; they rely on external sources to regulate their body temperature. A person like me who works with these groups of animals is […]

From smart toasters to fitness collars for dogs, we live in a world where everything around us is gradually being connected to the internet and fitted with sensors so that we can interact with them online. Many people worry about the privacy risks of using these devices because they may allow hackers to listen to […]

On the shores of Lake Turkana in east Africa, about 5,000 to 4,000 years ago, pastoralists buried their dead in communal cemeteries that were marked by stone circles and pillars. The north-west Kenya “pillar sites” were built around the same time as Stonehenge in the UK. But these places have a different story to tell: […]

Sexism, harassment and bullying plague the Red Arrows, the UK Royal Air Force’s display team. This revelation was the outcome of investigations into complaints of bad behaviour in this elite organisation. Air Chief Marshal Sir Rich Knighton said that “behaviour that would be classed as unacceptable was widespread and normalised on the squadron”. To me, […]

Commercial companies are increasingly becoming involved in transporting astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS), as well as other activities in orbit. Some, such as Houston-based Axiom Space, eventually want to build their own space stations in orbit, where commercial astronauts could make extended stays. This could also provide more money and opportunities for science […]