Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence Last week, a team of researchers told the world that they had detected a molecule in the upper cloud layers of Venus typically only created by living creatures here on Earth. The blockbuster announcement of finding phosphine in the clouds of Venus made a majorContinue Reading
Humans spend about a third of our lives sleeping, and scientists have long debated why slumber takes up such a huge slice of our time. Now, a new study hints that our main reason for sleeping starts off as one thing, then changes at a surprisingly specific age. Two leadingContinue Reading
The coronavirus pandemic has reached another bleak milestone in the United States. The coronavirus pandemic has reached another bleak milestone in the United States: More than 200,000 people have died of COVID-19 in the country as of Tuesday (Sept. 22), according to Johns Hopkins University. After the virus first appearedContinue Reading
The Earth’s biosphere contains all the known ingredients necessary for life as we know it. Broadly speaking these are: liquid water, at least one source of energy, and an inventory of biologically useful elements and molecules. But the recent discovery of possibly biogenic phosphine in the clouds of Venus remindsContinue Reading
An international team of astronomers today announced the discovery of a rare molecule — phosphine — in the clouds of Venus. On Earth, this gas is only made industrially or by microbes that thrive in oxygen-free environments. Astronomers have speculated for decades that high clouds on Venus could offer aContinue Reading
It prevents galaxies from flying apart. Two experiments hunting for a whisper of a particle that prevents whole galaxies from flying apart recently published some contradictory results. One came up empty handed, while the other gives us every reason to keep on searching. Dark bosons are dark matter candidates basedContinue Reading
Bottoms up (and good luck keeping it down). Gin brewed with ants. Poop wine. Whale testicle beer flavored with the smoked dung of Icelandic sheep. This beverage collection sounds like a menu at the world’s worst Happy Hour, but it’s actually part of a new exhibit at the aptly namedContinue Reading
A new study combines evolutionary genomics from coronavirus samples with computer-simulated epidemics and detailed travel records to reconstruct the spread of coronavirus across the world in unprecedented detail. Published in the journal Science, the results suggest an extended period of missed opportunity when intensive testing and contact tracing might haveContinue Reading
The elephants were stressed after a death in the herd. A zoo in Poland plans to test cannabidiol — also known as CBD, a chemical found in cannabis — on its elephants, for stress relief. According to the BCC, the Warsaw Zoo’s decision follows the March death of Erna, theContinue Reading
The practicality of quantum computing hangs on the integrity of the quantum bit, or qubit. Qubits, the logic elements of quantum computers, are coherent two-level systems that represent quantum information. Each qubit has the strange ability to be in a quantum superposition, carrying aspects of both states simultaneously, enabling aContinue Reading
