Category: Technology

A conflict between the US and China over computer chips – or semiconductors – has been escalating in recent months. In particular, the US has taken steps to limit China’s access to advanced chip technology amid heightened international competition in the area. The US recently tightened export controls to undercut China’s access to high-end chip […]

Really, we should envy spiders. Imagine being able to make silk like they do, flinging it around to get from place to place, always having a strong-as-steel safety line or spinning a comfy hammock whenever they need a rest. The fascinating properties of spider silk make it no wonder that scientists have been trying to […]

Hurtigruten Norway unveils its first zero-emission cruise ship, the world’s most energy-efficient cruise vessel. Hurtigruten Norway on its 130th anniversary unveiled plans for its first zero-emission ship ‘Sea Zero,’ the world’s most energy-efficient cruise ship. With the first ship ready in 2030, the company plans to transform its entire fleet into zero-emission vessels. Since only […]

Bending time: The successful time travel experiments using Kozyrev Mirrors. “In December 1990, in a remote village above the Arctic Circle, two Russian scientists embarked on a daring experiment. Their goal was to enhance human “super-perception” or ESP. They built a device that could shield subjects from electromagnetic interference and amplify their biological energy. The […]

Citizen science is a popular method of gathering data for natural and social scientists, with the number of projects and publications produced growing year by year. A typical citizen science project uses volunteers to gather data that would otherwise be unaffordable or inaccessible. But, based on the evidence we gathered during our study of a long-running planning dispute […]

BIRD Aerosystems will launch a new environmental monitoring system at the Paris Air Show later this month. The defense technology company usually develops solutions for governments and related agencies to protect the air, sea and land. Its new ASIO solution will address the critical challenge of maritime pollution detection by preventing costly and ecologically devastating […]

Stories of virgin births, where young are produced without fertilisation, have been told throughout history. Mars the ancient Roman god, Horus the ancient Egyptian god and Qi from ancient Chinese mythology were all born to virgins. But virgin births actually do happen in the natural world. The first evidence of a virgin birth in crocodiles […]

The latest generation of artificial intelligence (AI), such as ChatGPT, will revolutionise the way we live and work. AI technologies could significantly improve education, healthcare, transport and welfare. But there are downsides, too: jobs automated out of existence, surveillance abuses, and discrimination, including in healthcare and policing. There’s general agreement that AI needs to be […]

First detected accidentally by US military satellites in the late 1960s, cosmic explosions known as gamma ray bursts (GRBs) have come to be understood as the brightest explosions in the universe. Typically, they are the result of the cataclysmic birth of a black hole in a distant galaxy. One way this can happen is through […]

“Spanking the monkey”, “petting the poodle” and “pulling the python”: all fitting euphemisms for masturbation, and closer to the truth than you might imagine. Self-pleasure is common across the animal kingdom: from dogs humping unwitting teddy bears to dolphins thrusting their penises into decapitated fish (yes, really), animal masturbation is a raucous affair. In my […]