NASA’s astronaut, Nichole “Vapor” Ayers, has photographed a spectacular atmospheric event – a large red ‘jellyfish’ sprite soaring above a thunderstorm in North America. The striking image, taken from the International Space Station (ISS) on July 3, 2025, gives scientists a rare view of sprites from the top which is a form of lightning and ...
Researchers have found a way to turn an unlikely waste product, human urine, into a high-value material for medical implants, construction, and even archaeology. This sounds like something out of science fiction. A team at the University of California, Irvine, is in charge of this new idea, which is funded by the U.S. military’s Defense ...
Tragic and bestowed with a sense of ambition, a German aerospace startup’s endeavor to deliver heavenly memorials and perform unique agricultural experiments in space ended in the Pacific Ocean. Aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, the Exploration Company launched a Nyx capsule containing human remains and cannabis seeds. The female capsule’s operational orbit was reached ...
The Japanese quail has a résumé that is very strange for a bird. What started out as a songbird in 11th-century Japan has become a scientific wonder that produces foamy semen, struts around after mating, and even hatches in space. These small birds, no bigger than a human hand, have strange evolutionary traits that have ...
A strange ceramic vessel shaped like a penguin stands out in the dry deserts of southern Peru, where the Nazca culture thrived between 100 BCE and 800 CE. It shows how curious and aware they were of their surroundings. This 1,600-year-old “Penguin Vessel,” which is now in the Art Institute of Chicago, makes us wonder: ...
Picture a robot that not only sees the world, but also feels it. A soft pat, a searing burn, or even the sharp cut of a scalpel. Scientists have created a new type of “electronic skin” made of gelatin that could make machines feel almost like humans do. This new material passed a lot of ...
The postcard-perfect sandy beaches and nostalgic piers of England’s beautiful coastal towns hide a darker truth. Young people in these areas are having a mental health crisis at rates much higher than their peers in the inland areas, even though they look like they are having a great time on vacation. New research shows that ...
Holloman Lake used to be an unlikely oasis in the dry Chihuahuan Desert of New Mexico. It was a shimmering mirage for migratory birds, campers, and wildlife. But underneath its calm surface is a nightmare that can’t be seen: the highest levels of “forever chemicals” ever found in a natural ecosystem. What started out as ...
Pretty much every politician seems to be avoiding taking real action on climate change, because they think no one cares about net zero anymore. That’s not what the numbers tell us, though. While political figures are growing more skeptical of these policies, the British public is still largely supportive of climate action policies, even when ...
A deadly mix of weather systems caused chaos in Texas over the Fourth of July weekend. Heavy rains of more than 300 mm (12 inches) in just a few hours turned the state’s Hill Country into a deadly waterway. The floods, which were made worse by leftover effects of Tropical Storm Barry and unstable weather, ...
