Palaeontologists are finding more dinosaur remains than ever before, and with new technology they can now peer inside these creatures’ brains, understand their sensory anatomy and reconstruct whole skeletons from fragmentary remains. Applying novel techniques to a single Spinosaurus skeleton discovered in Morocco, researchers have revealed that this dinosaur was perfectly adapted to an aquatic…
Cockatoos in Sydney, Australia, have learned to use public water fountains by twisting a handle, despite how difficult they are for birds to operate. It seems to be a behaviour they copy from each other. Sulphur-crested cockatoos (Cacatua galerita) have already learned how to open waste bins in eastern Sydney, leading to a battle of wits…
Esme Stallard Climate and science correspondent Justin Rowlatt Climate editor The Prince of Wales interviewed TV naturalist Sir David Attenborough ahead of the UN oceans summit Sir David Attenborough has told Prince William he is “appalled” by the damage certain fishing methods are wreaking on the world’s oceans. The Prince of Wales interviewed the TV…
The Kitt Peak National Observatory, near Tucson, Arizona, is home to DESI KPNO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/P. Marenfeld Is dark energy changing, or is it just more of the same? Last month, astronomers announced the startling finding that dark energy – which is thought to cause the accelerating expansion of the universe – might weaken over time. This has…
An artist’s impression of a Starlink satellite in orbit La Nacion/ZUMA Press/Alamy Eruptions from the sun are shortening the lives of satellites in Earth orbit, particularly large constellations like SpaceX’s Starlink – which could be both beneficial and a cause for concern. The sun goes through an 11-year cycle of activity, peaking with a period…
An artist’s illustration of a potential Planet Nine Mark Garlick/Science Photo Library/Alamy If the solar system does have a Planet Nine, it is a world that was bullied by its larger siblings, exiled to the far reaches of space and only rescued from oblivion thanks to the intervention of passing stars. Planet Nine is a…
Astronomers have revealed new processes taking place in our sun’s atmosphere, thanks to exquisite new images of the star. Dirk Schmidt at the US National Solar Observatory and his colleagues used the Goode Solar Telescope in California to produce the images. They used a technique known as adaptive optics to remove the blur of Earth’s atmosphere…
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…
