Asteroid 2024 YR4 may hit the moon MARK GARLICK/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY Astronomers are running out of time to decide whether to prevent asteroid 2024 YR4 from hitting the moon in 2032. A small observing window with the James Webb Space Telescope will open in February, and new data could see the chance of an impact…
“This year, the Leonid meteor shower is timed almost perfectly with a new moon…” WALTER PACHOLKA, ASTROPICS/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY There is something magical about watching a meteor shower. Part of this is down to the shower’s unpredictability – the conditions can appear perfect, yet you may still end up underwhelmed, especially when you are promised…
Channels, pits and caves in the Hebrus Valles on Mars may have been carved by ancient flowing water NASA’s Mars Global Surveyor Caves carved by water that once flowed beneath Mars’s surface could have been ideal for life to thrive, if it once existed on the Red Planet, and they might still preserve traces of…
A team of researchers, including a scientist from the Earth-Life Science Institute (ELSI) at the Institute of Science Tokyo in Japan, has identified a new principle in biology that mathematically explains why the growth of living organisms slows down when nutrients become plentiful. This well-known phenomenon is referred to as the “law of diminishing returns.”…
Pallab GhoshScience Correspondent Getty Drug tests on rabbits could end by the end of the year The government has detailed for the first time how it aims to fulfil its manifesto pledge to work toward phasing out animal testing. The new plans include replacing animal testing for some major safety tests by the end of…
Researchers at Osaka Metropolitan University in Japan, led by graduate student Tatsushi Oura and Dr. Hiroyuki Tatekawa, discovered that the Alzheimer’s treatment lecanemab, which removes amyloid plaques from the brain, does not improve the brain’s waste clearance system in the short term. The results indicate that even after treatment, the nerves of Alzheimer’s disease (AD)…
An extensive review of existing studies, published in The BMJ on November 10, finds no clear evidence that using acetaminophen (Tylenol) during pregnancy increases the risk of autism or ADHD in children. The new analysis was conducted in response to growing public debate about the safety of acetaminophen use while pregnant. Researchers reported that the…
In southern Peru’s Pisco Valley, Monte Sierpe — also known as the “Band of Holes” — features thousands of perfectly aligned circular pits whose true purpose has long puzzled scientists. New research combining microbotanical analysis and high-resolution drone imagery offers fresh insight into how and why this mysterious site was built. Evidence suggests Monte Sierpe…
Neuroscientists from Columbia University and McGill University have identified a brain chemical that appears to drive depression and suicidal thinking in individuals who faced trauma or hardship during childhood. The researchers found that high levels of a stress-related protein called SGK1 are closely associated with depression among people who endured early-life adversity. This discovery opens…
An international team of researchers has identified a new weakness in prostate cancer cells that could lead to more effective treatments for one of the most common cancers among men. The study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), was led by scientists from Flinders University in Australia and South China…
