Newsdesk Archive

Thanks in part to the installation of a new offshore wind turbine installation, Denmark was recently able to power the entire country for a day with wind energy alone. As many countries continue to incorporate renewable energy, successes like this show just how much is possible.

Controlled nuclear fusion has been a holy grail for physicists who seek an endless supply of clean energy. Scientists at Rice University, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the University of Chile offered a glimpse into a possible new path toward that goal.

Oil and natural gas drilling is still shaking things up The United States Geological Survey (USGS) announced a new earthquake forecast on Wednesday, highlighting areas in the country that can expect to shake in the next year. Related: Controversial gas from Peruvian Amazon arrives in UK

The Amazon has long been held up as an example of untamed wilderness. But people have lived in the world’s largest rainforest for thousands of years, hunting, gathering and farming. For years, researchers have debated how much of an influence human activities have had on the Amazon. And now, a study describes the extent to which ancient peoples changed the distribution of trees in the forest around them.

Until the modern era, the human mark on the northernmost forests of North America, Europe, and Asia was light. Human populations in these challenging environments were too small to make a big impact through agriculture or timber harvests. But increasing evidence indicates people influenced the northern forests indirectly, by igniting or suppressing fires.

The hamburger chain Burger King has been buying animal feed produced in soy plantations carved out by the burning of tropical forests in Brazil and Bolivia, according to a new report. Related: To Save The Planet, Give Cows Better Pasture

Humans emit more than 250 billion tonnes of chemical substances a year, in a toxic avalanche that is harming people and life everywhere on the planet. "Earth, and all life on it, are being saturated with man-made chemicals in an event unlike anything in the planet's entire history," says Julian Cribb, author of 'Surviving the 21st Century' "First, we need a new Human Right – a right not to be poisoned. Without such a right, there will never again be a day in history when humans are free from man-made poisons.

Humans are leaving an indelible mark on the planet in a vast array of manmade crystals, researchers have revealed, adding weight to idea that we are living in a new geological epoch – the Anthropocene. Researchers say that 208 of more than 5,200 officially recognised minerals are exclusively, or largely, linked to human activity, with crystals forming in locations as diverse as shipwrecks, mines and even museum drawers.

If you're reading this from Antarctica, you're going to want to take off your coat. You'll probably want to change into a T-shirt and shorts, too. Related: For the first time, the Gulf of Mexico didn’t fall below 73° this winter

New research findings show that as the world warmed millions of years ago, conditions in the tropics may have made it so hot some organisms couldn't survive. Related: Drastic cooling in North Atlantic beyond worst fears, scientists warn

New research has explored the impact of black carbon on bacteria in the respiratory tract. The study specifically looked into how air pollution affects the bacteria living in our bodies, specifically the respiratory tract -- the nose, throat and lungs. Related: Turning the water on in a sink can launch pipe-climbing superbugs

A new probiotic combination taken during allergy season may help reduce hay fever symptoms. Many published studies have shown a probiotic’s ability to regulate the body’s immune response to allergies, but not all of the probiotics show a benefit.

The goal of a new study was to explore whether fecal microbiota from human IBS patients with diarrhea has the ability to influence gut and brain function in recipient mice. Using fecal transplants, researchers transferred microbiota from IBS patients with or without anxiety into germ-free mice.

Research conducted at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) has determined that psychological momentum significantly affects performance among men but not among women, which may account for exaggerated risk-taking in financial and business endeavors among males.

A couple of weeks ago I listened to an excellent podcast series on poverty in America. One message that stuck with me is just how many factors the poor have working against them—factors that, if you’re not poor, are all too easy to deny, disregard, or simply fail to notice.

Recent research shows that the effects of vibrations produced by horses during horse-riding lead to the activation of the sympathetic nervous system, which improves learning in children.

People living in neighbourhoods with more birds, shrubs and trees are less likely to suffer from depression, anxiety and stress, according to research by academics at the University of Exeter, the British Trust for Ornithology and the University of Queensland.

Bumblebees can learn how to manoeuvre a ball just by watching others carry out the task, researchers have discovered in the latest study to shed light on the insects’ surprising talents. While bees have already been shown to be able to learn how to pull on strings, push caps and even rotate a lever to access food, researchers say the new study shows that bees are better at problem solving than we thought.

Although stingless bees do not have a sting to fend off enemies, they are nonetheless able to defend their hives against attacks. Only four years ago it was discovered that a Brazilian bee species, the Jatai bee, has a soldier caste. The slightly larger fighters guard the entrance to the nest and grip intruders with their powerful mandibles in the event of an attack.

Like ivy plants that send runners out searching for something to cling to, the brain’s neurons send out shoots that connect with other neurons throughout the organ. A new digital reconstruction method shows three neurons that branch extensively throughout the brain, including one that wraps around its entire outer layer. The finding may help to explain how the brain creates consciousness.

Human intelligence, even in its most basic forms, is expressed in our language, and is also partly dependent on our linguistic capacity. Homer, Darwin and Einstein could obviously not have achieved what they did without language—but neither could a child in kindergarten.

Dogs and two-year-olds share similar patterns in social intelligence—much more so than children and their close relatives, chimpanzees. These findings, published in the journal Animal Behavior, could help scientists better understand how humans evolved socially.

These monkeys do whatever it takes to pass on their genes, including killing others’ offspring The study, which appears to be the first to systematically document feticide in baboons, finds that feticide can be a sound evolutionary strategy.

From 2007 to 2015, the number of kids treated in hospitals for certain types of multidrug-resistant infections rose 750 percent, researchers found. Though overall incidence is still low, researchers say the study’s findings are pointing to worrying trends Related: Vitamin D 'proved to cut risk of colds and flu' Related: B vitamins reduce schizophrenia symptoms, study finds

A new vaccine-based treatment for HIV has succeeded in suppressing the virus in five patients, raising hopes further research could help prevent Aids without the need for daily drugs. Related: Placing terminal cancer patients into hibernation could mitigate effects of radiotherapy, study claims

Google-owned robotics firm and “nightmare” factory Boston Dynamics has released video of its latest creation: a two-wheeled, four-legged hybrid robot named Handle. Alt: Boston Dynamics’ newest robot is six feet tall, lifts 100 pounds, and jumps up to four feet

Today, those looking for a non-traditional education have limited access to online classrooms, especially ones that are for-credit and affordable. But Thomas Frey predicts that, within 14 years, learning from robots will be entirely commonplace — even for children.

A brain-to-computer hookup recently allowed people with severe limb weakness to type via direct brain control at the highest speeds and accuracy levels reported to date. Two of the participants have amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also called Lou Gehrig’s disease, and one has a spinal cord injury.

A 'silver bullet' pill powered by your own stomach acid will send health data from inside your body to your phone. It is believed the tiny pill could revolutionise medicine by constantly monitoring your health and administering medicine.

The theoretical properties of such a computing machine, including its exponential boost in speed over electronic and quantum computers, have been well understood for many years – but the Manchester breakthrough demonstrates that it is actually possible to physically create a NUTM using DNA molecules.

How do molecules rotate in a solvent? Answering this question is complicated, since molecular rotation is perturbed by a very large number of surrounding atoms. For a long time, large-scale computer simulations have been the main approach to model molecule-solvent interactions.

At the heart of our galaxy, a vast black hole is devouring matter from the dust clouds that surround it. Little by little, expanses of interstellar material are being swallowed up by this voracious galactic carnivore that, in the process, has reached a mass that is 4m times that of our sun.

US private rocket company SpaceX has announced that two private citizens have paid to be sent around the Moon. Alt: SpaceX to send two people around the moon who paid for a 2018 private mission

Most galaxies in the universe have at least one thing in common: supermassive black holes tend to sit in their centers, silently gorging on interstellar gas and dust and obliterating anything that comes within range of their event horizon. But scientists know very little about the origin of these behemoths or how they got to be so supermassive.

One of the biggest mysteries in physics is why there's matter in the universe at all. This week, a group of physicists at the world's largest atom smasher, the Large Hadron Collider, might be closer to an answer: They found that particles in the same family as the protons and neutrons that make up familiar objects behave in a slightly different way from their antimatter counterparts.

Psychedelic substances like LSD and psilocybin - the active ingredient in magic mushrooms - are powerful, able to transform the way that people who use them perceive the world. Because of that, after years of prohibition, psychiatric researchers in the US are hoping to take advantage of that power to transform mental health treatment.

It throws you body into a state where it can do little else other than vomit and crap and while your brain vividly hallucinates. But it’s that level of potency that makes the ayahuasca drug so important in South American spiritual medicine.

If you drink more alcohol than you want to or should, you're not alone. A nationwide survey by the National Institutes of Health found that 28 percent of adults in the U.S. are heavy drinkers or drink more than is recommended. Yet, most heavy drinkers don't get the help they need.

Chronic pain sufferers and those taking mental health meds would rather turn to cannabis instead of their prescribed opioid medication, according to a new study. Related: U.S. marijuana jobs set to outpace manufacturing

The proof is in the packaging. Making all cigarette packets look the same reduces the positive feelings smokers associate with specific brands and encourages quitting, Australian research shows. The findings come ahead of the UK and Ireland introducing plain tobacco packaging in May.

Deep in the Amazon rainforests of Bolivia live the Tsimane’, a tribe that has remained relatively untouched by Western civilization. Tsimane’ people possess a unique characteristic: they do not cringe at musical tones that sound discordant to Western ears. The vast majority of Westerners prefer consonant chords to dissonant ones, based on the intervals between the musical notes that compose the chords. Related: What Makes a Woman a Good Dancer? Watch the Hips, a Study Says

Scientists have successfully taught a small group of blind and sighted people how to navigate their surroundings using echolocation - the sonar-based language of dolphins and bats.

Bees buzz, cicadas sing, but caterpillars are the real musical maestros of the insect world. It turns out they use different parts of their body to get the attention of other caterpillars. The tiny birch caterpillar makes special vibrations, inaudible to human ears, using their mouths, body and anal parts. These appear to send out information about food and shelter to other caterpillars nearby.

It pays to tread lightly. Termites have evolved super-soft footsteps and sharp hearing to evade their noisy enemies. Ants are major predators of termites, but they often fail to notice that hungry termites are foraging for food just millimetres away.

A newly discovered species of gecko has tearaway skin that leaves predators with nothing but a mouthful of scales when attacked. Many lizards can detach their tails when attacked, but fish-scale geckos have large scales that tear away with ease.

The night vision of frogs and toads appears to be superior to that of all other animals. They have the ability to see colour even when it is so dark that humans are not able to see anything at all. This has been shown in a new study by researchers from Lund University in Sweden. Related: Seven New Frogs Found, Including Four That Could Fit on Your Fingernail

A team of researchers from the University of Bristol studying the 'living fossil' Sphenodon - or tuatara - have identified a new way to measure the evolutionary rate of these enigmatic creatures, giving credence to Darwin's theory of 'living fossils'. Related: Extinct tortoise yields oldest tropical DNA

One in five species on Earth now faces extinction, and that will rise to 50% by the end of the century unless urgent action is taken. That is the stark view of the world’s leading biologists, ecologists and economists who will gather on Monday to determine the social and economic changes needed to save the planet’s biosphere.

A dinosaur that lived 160 million years ago had drumstick-shaped legs much like living birds, according to palaeontologists. The feathered dinosaur also had bird-like arms similar to wings. Scientists used high-powered lasers to reveal invisible details of what the creature looked like. Related: Fossil Pigments Reveal the True Colors of Dinosaurs (paywall)

Stephen Brusatte, a fellow in Vertebrate Paleontology at the University of Edinburgh in the U.K. has published a Perspective piece in the journal Science outlining the state of current research into the development of flight in dinosaurs. In it, he suggests that contrary to common assumptions, it appears that the path to flight for dinosaurs was anything but a straight line.

Scientists have found a near-complete skull and a jaw from a pair of giant rodents belonging to a group that lived millions of years ago in South America, and they say the fossils show that the extinct creatures weighed as much as 1 ton when fully grown.

An evolutionary war that raged beneath the sea more than 100 million years ago created the octopus and squid, new research has shown. Cephalopods – the tentacled creatures that include octopuses, squid and cuttlefish – possess some extraordinary traits such as instantaneous colour changing, ink squirting, jet propulsion and polarised vision.

Penguins that walked the Earth 61 million years ago might have been giants, growing to nearly 5 feet tall, according to the oldest penguin fossils unearthed to date. Perhaps even more impressive, these oversize waddlers might have evolved alongside dinosaurs, the researchers report in a new study.

Fossil hunters have found part of an ancient primate jawbone related to lemurs—the primitive primate group distantly connected to monkeys, apes and humans, a USC researcher said.

Millions of years ago something happened, allowing early Homo sapiens to branch out from the primitive hominoid family tree. Was this crucial turn in human evolution partly driven by seaweed and its particular content of essential nutrients?

Scientists have figured out an Ice Age paradox and their findings add to mounting evidence that climate change could bring higher seas than most models predict. Small spikes in the temperature of the ocean, rather than the air, likely drove the rapid disintegration cycles of the expansive ice sheet that once covered much of North America.

Climate models show the absence of a global atmospheric circulation pattern which bolsters high ocean temperatures key to coral bleaching Related: An Aquatic Paradise in Mexico, Pushed to the Edge of Extinction

The simple up-and-down motion of hand pumps could help scientists secure a key water source for 200 million people in Africa. Related: Do cells have exotic vibrational properties?

There are few things more central to life on earth than water. It dominates the physical landscape, covering much of the planet as oceans. It's also a major component of the human body, comprising, for example, more than 70% of the mass of a newborn baby. Yet despite its omnipresence, water has many physical properties that are still not completely understood by the scientific community. One of the most puzzling relates to the activity of water molecules after they undergo a process called "supercooling."

One of the most fundamental tenets of modern physics is that in a perfect vacuum - a place entirely devoid of matter - no friction can possibly exist, because empty space cannot exert a force on objects travelling through it.

Last year, the U.S. Energy Information Administration projected that world energy consumption will grow by almost 50 percent between 2012 and 2040. For over half a decade, researchers from NASA and the Pentagon have dreamed of ways for solar panels to combat this, and have come up with some plausible solutions.

Plumbing a 90 million-year-old layer cake of sedimentary rock in Colorado, a team of scientists from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and Northwestern University has found evidence confirming a critical theory of how the planets in our solar system behave in their orbits around the sun.

When the universe was young, a supermassive black hole—bloated to the bursting point with stupendous power—heaved out a jet of particle-infused energy that raced through the vastness of space at nearly the speed of light.

Planets are thought to form in the disks of dust and gas found around young stars. But astronomers have struggled to assemble a complete theory of their origin that explains how the initial dust develops into planetary systems. A French-UK-Australian team now think they have the answer, with their simulations showing the formation of 'dust traps' where pebble-sized fragments collect and stick together, to grow into the building blocks of planets.

A rare opportunity to study a comet using radar technology has yielded new measurements of this traveling space rock's size, shape, geology and rotation rate.

Wind kills. The most casualties from an asteroid impact won’t come from the impact itself. The wind, pressure and heat caused by the crash are far more dangerous, no matter where the asteroid hits.

A frozen tundra is perhaps the worst place in the world to grow crops. But that didn't stop people from bringing nearly 50,000 seeds of potatoes, lentils, wheat, barley and other food staples to the Arctic Circle this week. The seeds won't be sprinkled across frozen farmlands. Instead, they'll be stored indefinitely at a global seed vault on Norway's Svalbard archipelago.

Giving you your daily bread is costly for the climate. The equivalent of half a kilogram of carbon dioxide goes into the atmosphere for every loaf of bread produced in the UK, according to the best study on the subject yet.

You’re driving along and someone cuts you up. You go to honk your horn or make an aggressive hand gesture, when a virtual note flashes up on your windscreen: “Rushing to the hospital”. Your anger dissipates and you feel empathy instead.

Bots appear to behave differently in culturally distinct online environments. A new paper says the findings are a warning to those using artificial intelligence for building autonomous vehicles, cyber security systems or for managing social media.

Google’s Jigsaw unit, as part of a larger effort to battle online trolling, said earlier today that it was releasing a new tool called Perspective, based on software that uses machine learning to detect harassment and abuse online.

If your name is Fred, do you look like a Fred? You might — and others might think so, too. New research published by the American Psychological Association has found that people appear to be better than chance at correctly matching people’s names to their faces, and it may have something to do with cultural stereotypes we attach to names. Alt: Can YOU match the correct names to these faces? People identify strangers with amazing accuracy

Chased fanatically but realized rarely, a truly viral story seems to happen purely by chance — a fortuitous alignment of trending topic, clever headline, compelling copy and maybe a witty GIF. Now, a team of researchers from the University of Pennsylvania has built a model for “virality” by identifying neural mechanisms at work when people decide to share an article or not.

New work focusing on the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge reveals very brief shelf life of such viral campaigns, and suggests the nature of ‘virality’ and social tipping points themselves may be a stumbling block to deeper engagement with social issues that campaigns aim to promote.

Human activity, whether commercial or social, contains patterns and moments of synchronicity. In recent years, social media like Twitter has provided an unprecedented volume of data on the daily activities of humans all over the world. Researchers have observed a new pattern of synchronized activity: a simultaneous peak of Twitter activity stretching across half the planet, from Europe and Africa to Asia and Oceania.

Great ideas so often get lost in translation -- from the math teacher who can't get through to his students, to a stand-up comedian who bombs during an open mic night.

Most kids say they love their mom and dad equally, but there are times when even the best prefers one parent over the other. The same can be said for how the body’s cells treat our DNA instructions. It has long been thought that each copy - one inherited from mom and one from dad - is treated the same. A new study from scientists at the University of Utah School of Medicine shows that it is not uncommon for cells in the brain to preferentially activate one copy over the other. The finding breaks basic tenants of classic genetics

Neanderthals are still affecting what illnesses some people develop, how tall they are and how their immune systems work, despite being extinct for 40,000 years. Alt: Neanderthal DNA Determines Our Health and Appearance Today Way More Than We Thought

In The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams noted that “on the planet Earth, man had always assumed that he was more intelligent than dolphins because he had achieved so much—the wheel, New York, wars, and so on—whilst all the dolphins had ever done was muck about in the water having a good time. But conversely, the dolphins had always believed that they were far more intelligent than man—for precisely the same reasons.” This is an interesting point, and one that’s tackled in great detail in Kevin Laland’s new book, Darwin’s Unfinished Symphony. Other species are indisputably smart; they can learn by example, they can communicate, they can innovate to solve problems, they can use tools, they may even have distinct cultures. But humans are clearly different.

Were there any women around in the Palaeolithic Era? If popular culture is any guide you'd think not. And even archaeology itself has a long way to go to address a deeply ingrained bias towards men.

In the gorgeously rustic country hills of Northern Ireland, about an hour north of Derry, is the tiny hamlet of Laraghirril. In the distant southwestern fields of this town sits an ancient cairn with beautifully placed megalithic stones. The cairn is perhaps 4000 to 6000 years old, with crafted slabs protruding in dramatic symmetry out of the ground.

A newly discovered trove of 16 engraved and otherwise modified limestone blocks, created 38,000 years ago, confirms the ancient origins of the pointillist techniques later adopted by 19th and 20th century artists such as Georges Seurat, Vincent Van Gogh, Camille Pissarro, and Roy Lichtenstein. Alt: 'World's oldest images made from pixels' discovered in prehistoric French camp

To say that UC San Diego archaeologist Geoffrey Braswell was surprised to discover a precious jewel in Nim Li Punit in southern Belize is something of an understatement. “It was like finding the Hope Diamond in Peoria instead of New York" Alt: Mysterious jade 'megajewel' worn on the chest of a Mayan king to appease the god of wind is found in Belize

Cypress wood might have been used in ancient palaces in Persia partly because of its sacred value in a religion known for its "fire temples," a new study finds.

A sanctuary dedicated to the god of an ancient and mysterious religion known as Mithraism has been discovered on the French island of Corsica for the first time. The structure was erected in the Roman city of Mariana, created around 100 BCE.

For the roomful of archaeologists, scholars and Iraqi cultural officials on Friday, each neighborhood conquered in Mosul brought them one step closer to learning the fate of the ancient sites and artifacts seized by the Islamic State group.

The leader of the Taliban in Afghanistan, Hibatullah Akhundzada, has urged Afghans to plant more trees. In a statement, he called on civilians and fighters to "plant one or several fruit or non-fruit trees for the beautification of Earth and the benefit of almighty Allah's creations". Related: Amazon Deforestation, Once Tamed, Comes Roaring Back

It's no secret that Siberia's permafrost has been on thin ice lately. Conditions are varying so much that huge holes are appearing out of nowhere, and, in some places, tundra is quite literally bubbling underneath people's feet. Alt: In Siberia there is a huge crater and it is getting bigger

Most studies on hydraulic fracture, or fracking, focus on underground leaks. This study focused exclusively on leaks at the surface, which can harm wildlife—most notably birds and marine creatures—as well as impact drinking water sources.

In November, Ta'u saw the completion of a new solar-powered microgrid, which shifted the entire island’s energy generation from 100 percent diesel fuel to 100 percent solar. Related: The Price of Solar Has Dropped 58% in the Last 5 Years Related: Wind turbines with flexible blades found to be 35% more efficient. They also work over a wider range of wind conditions than standard turbines new study finds

Whether or not a planet has a magnetic field goes a long way towards determining whether or not it is habitable. Whereas Earth has a strong magnetosphere that protects life from harmful radiation and keeps solar wind from stripping away its atmosphere, planet’s like Mars no longer do.

Lurking beneath New Zealand is a long-hidden continent called Zealandia, geologists say. But since nobody is in charge of officially designating a new continent, individual scientists will ultimately have to judge for themselves.

Mars' mantle may be more complicated than previously thought, report researchers. Their report documents geochemical changes over time in the lava flows of Elysium, a major martian volcanic province.

Today's Earth is a dynamic planet with an outer layer composed of giant plates that grind together, sliding past or dipping beneath one another, giving rise to earthquakes and volcanoes. Others separate at undersea mountain ridges, where molten rock spreads out from the centers of major ocean basins.

Evidence of planetary debris surrounding a double sun, 'Tatooine-like' system has been found for the first time by a UCL-led team of researchers.

The moon is older than previously thought, pushing back the clock for when conditions on Earth were suitable for life, research published on Wednesday shows. A new analysis of zircon fragments trapped in rock samples retrieved by the Apollo 14 astronauts shows that the moon is 4.51 billion years old, meaning it formed within 60 million years of the birth of the solar system.

Every now and then a scientific paper makes a real splash. We had one recently, to judge from recent headlines. "Moon rises to claim its place as a planet" said The Sunday Times on February 19, while the Mail Online asked "Is this lunarcy?".

Pluto has long been viewed as a distant, cold and mostly dead world, but the first spacecraft to pass by it last year revealed many surprises about this distant dwarf planet. Data from the New Horizons flyby finished downloading to Earth in October, and while it will take many years for scientists to complete their inventory and model the results, early studies offer intriguing hints of its complex chemistry, perhaps even some form of pre-biological processes below Pluto’s surface.

In 2006, during their 26th General Assembly, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) adopted a formal definition of the term “planet”. This was done in the hopes of dispelling ambiguity over which bodies should be designated as “planets”, an issue that had plagued astronomers ever since they discovered objects beyond the orbit of Neptune that were comparable in size to Pluto.

Sound travels more slowly than light. Then why do sounds of meteors entering Earth's atmosphere precede or accompany the sight of them? Researchers believe they have an answer. Related: Huge Trove of Meteorites Found in Iranian Desert Related: Astronomers spot asteroid bigger than the Empire State Building that they say could crash into the Earth