Category: Technology

For the first time, an imaging method has been used to investigate Iron Age bronze Iranian swords. This has revealed significant modern modifications that prove the weapons have been altered to increase their commercial value in the illicit antiquities market. Early Iron Age Iranian bladed weaponry is crucial in understanding the metalworking technologies in one […]

Megi Sharikadze, a research manager at the Leibniz Supercomputing Centre in Munich, Germany, first became aware of the need for more specialised, local search engines during her quest to find the nearest post office.  For several years, Google maps was directing her to a post office quite a long way from her home. But as […]

Microbial communities – vast ecosystems teeming with millions of different cells from different species – play a fundamental role in life on Earth, from producing oxygen to aiding digestion. Despite their importance, it has been a challenge for scientists to fully understand how these intricate communities form and function. But in a new study, my […]

An annular eclipse, sometimes known as a “ring of fire” eclipse, is taking place on October 2. It will be visible from Argentina and Chile, while a partial eclipse will be seen in parts of the Pacific, other parts of South America and from Antarctica. Throughout history, eclipses have fascinated people. People around the world […]

The Spanish government has announced plans to ban harmful experiments on great apes as part of a wider initiative to give them increased rights closer to the ones humans enjoy. These plans are forward thinking compared with most of the rest of the world but the move is a double edged one. Bestowing human rights […]

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is the largest and most powerful space telescope built to date. Since it was launched in December 2021 it has provided groundbreaking insights. These include discovering the earliest and most distant known galaxies, which existed just 300 million years after the Big Bang. Distant objects are also very ancient […]

Discovering extraterrestrial life would be one of the most profound scientific and philosophical revelations that our species has ever made. But such a big discovery won’t come easy. Our starting point is to first search other worlds for signs of habitability, that is, the potential for life to exist. Nasa is doing just that: launching […]

Does the effort you invest in seeking a romantic partner intensify as summer ends? During the colder, darker months, people have been known to engage in “cuffing season”, which means attaching yourself to or having a physical relationship with someone just for the cold winter months. You know this is not going to be a […]

In the film My Old Ass, on a trip to an island with friends and some hallucinogenic mushrooms, Elliott has a unique experience where she gets to meet her older self. This sets the scene for a dialogue where 39-year-old Elliott gets to reflect and impart advice about the things she wishes she had done […]

In the past decade, cyber-attacks on Europe’s power infrastructure have intensified so much that energy companies, experts and politicians called for help. Researchers came together to boost the resilience of European energy networks. The International Energy Agency warned in a November 2023 report that the average number of cyber-attacks against utilities worldwide more than doubled between […]