Starship’s ninth test flight took place on 27 May Joe Marino/UPI/Shutterstock Another launch, another failure? With the ninth flight of SpaceX’s massive Starship rocket ending in the vehicle’s loss, questions are being asked about whether Elon Musk’s company can ever deliver on its promises to return people to the moon, launch new space stations and…
The bioarchaeological investigation of the Bronze Age cemetery of Tiszafüred-Majoroshalom has shed new light on an important period in Central European history. An international research team – led by Tamás Hajdu, associate professor at the Department of Anthropology at ELTE and Claudio Cavazzuti, senior assistant professor at the University of Bologna, has shown that around…
Giant viruses play a role in the survival of single-celled marine organisms called protists. These include algae, amoeba, and flagellates, that form the base of ocean food webs. And since these protists form an important part of the food chain, these large DNA viruses are often responsible for various public health hazards, including harmful algal…
Everything in the forest is the forest Clare Hewitt An average mature oak tree grows hundreds of thousands of leaves each year. When those leaves fall, their nutrients return to the soil to nourish the tree that grew them, as well as other living things in the forest. “They essentially eat themselves every year,” says…
Within the animal kingdom, a naturally produced molecule known as itaconate serves a prominent role in the immune system as a defensive agent against viruses and inflammation. Itaconate is classified as a metabolite, a natural compound that arises when organisms convert food into energy. While itaconate is well known in animals, its presence and functions…
Lunar craters could be a rich source of platinum NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio Craters on the moon could hold over a trillion dollars’ worth of platinum and other precious metals deposited there by asteroids. That means lunar prospecting may be more economically viable than travelling to asteroids individually to mine them – but the legality…
With its cold climate, short growing season, and dense forests, Michigan’s Upper Peninsula is known as a challenging place for farming. But a new Dartmouth-led study provides evidence of intensive farming by ancestral Native Americans at the Sixty Islands archaeological site along the Menominee River, making it the most complete ancient agricultural site in the…
Artist’s impression of the Resilience lunar lander ispace A private spacecraft will attempt to land on the moon this week, in what would be the second successful private landing this year and only the third ever. If Japanese space company ispace pulls off the landing, it will also be the first non-US firm to touch…
Pallab Ghosh Science correspondent NASA/Johns Hopkins The heart-shape on Pluto was captured by a spacecraft that will be turned off mid-mission if Nasa cuts are approved The row between US President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk over a major spending bill has exacerbated uncertainty over the future of Nasa’s budget, which was already facing…
Daniela Relph Senior royal correspondent Watch: Prince William speaks French during address ahead of Oceans summit The Prince of Wales has described the challenge of protecting the world’s oceans as “like none that we have ever faced before.” In a speech delivered to the Blue Economy and Finance Forum in Monaco, Prince William said life…
