What is catfishing and what can you do if you are catfished?
Editor’s Note: This story is part of ‘Systems Error’, a series by CNN As Equals,…
Armoured dinosaur’s ‘crazy’ spikes weren’t just for defence
A life reconstruction of Spicomellus afer, an ankylosaur fossil discovered in Morocco Matthew Dempsey A dinosaur fossil found in Morocco may be the most bizarrely and elaborately armoured vertebrate that has ever walked the planet. The first fossil of Spicomellus afer was discovered in Morocco and reported in 2021. It was only a rib fragment…
Glow-in-the-dark plants to replace streetlights? Forget it
These succulent plants glow after being infused with phosphor particles that absorb and slowly release light Liu et al., Matter There are the bad product ideas that just make you sigh, and then there are the ones you absolutely loathe. For me, glowing plants created by pumping leaves full of phosphorescent chemicals fall firmly in…
Space weather expert Tamitha Skov explains why auroras have been so unusual this solar cycle
Unexpectedly bright northern lights illuminated UK skies in 2024 John Hayward/SWNS If you’re a fan of the aurora borealis, or northern lights, then you’re in luck. Last year was a bonanza, with auroras visible from all over the world – and twice they showed up brighter and farther south than in recent living memory. With…
The AI Hype Index: AI-designed antibiotics show promise
Separating AI reality from hyped-up fiction isn’t always easy. That’s why we’ve created the AI Hype Index—a simple, at-a-glance summary of everything you need to know about the state of the industry. Using AI to improve our health and well-being is one of the areas scientists and researchers are most excited about. The last month…
The Era of AI-Generated Ransomware Has Arrived
While such activity so far does not appear to be the norm across the ransomware ecosystem, the findings represent a stark warning. “There are definitely some groups that are using AI to aid with the development of ransomware and malware modules, but as far as Recorded Future can tell, most aren’t,” says Allan Liska, an…
Astronomers capture breathtaking first look at a planet being born
An international team of astronomers, co-led by researchers at University of Galway, has made the unexpected discovery of a new planet. Detected at an early stage of formation around a young analog of our own Sun, the planet is estimated to be about 5 million years-old and most likely a gas giant of similar size…
SpaceX’s Starship rocket finally completes successful test flight
A SpaceX Starship rocket launches in its tenth flight test from Launch Complex 1 at Starbase, Texas UPI/Alamy The world’s most powerful rocket, SpaceX’s Starship, has completed a successful suborbital test flight following a run of three disappointing launches that ended in fiery explosions. SpaceX is several years into its development programme for Starship, intended…
Corruption and Control: How Turkmenistan turned internet censorship into a business
In July 2021, a sudden drop in Tor usage in Turkmenistan called our attention. Tor would come to understand that this marked the beginning of a new era of censorship and restriction in this post-Soviet country. But let’s rewind… The Tor Community has long been defending internet freedom, running relays and providing bridges to combat…
The ancient oxygen flood that forever changed life in the oceans
Some 390 million years ago in the ancient ocean, marine animals began colonizing depths previously uninhabited. New research indicates this underwater migration occurred in response to a permanent increase in deep-ocean oxygen, driven by the aboveground spread of woody plants — precursors to Earth’s first forests. That rise in oxygen coincided with a period of…
The bright yellow worm that turns ocean poison into golden survival crystals
A deep sea worm that inhabits hydrothermal vents survives the high levels of toxic arsenic and sulfide in its environment by combining them in its cells to form a less hazardous mineral. Chaolun Li of the Institute of Oceanology, CAS, China, and colleagues report these findings in a new study published August 26th in the…
