For decades, scientists have assumed that recursion, the capacity to nest meaningful structures in other structures, like a set of Russian dolls, was a characteristic specific to humans. This intellectual tool enables us to build infinitely complicated sentences from a finite number of rules, which is the core of human language. However, a new study ...
For centuries, humans have been trying to figure out the ultimate destiny of the universe, will it collapse, freeze, or disappear into nothingness? Today, a new study indicates the universe’s end date could come much sooner than anyone ever thought. Picking up on the groundbreaking ideas of Stephen Hawking, astrophysicists estimate that the final traces ...
Under our feet, a sea of untapped energy is potentially waiting for one that could fuel human civilization for 170,000 years without the carbon footprint of fossil fuels. Scientists now think that the Earth’s crust contains enormous reservoirs of natural hydrogen, a gas that burns clean and could change energy production. The catch? Locating where ...
The concept of a fungus transforming people into zombie mind slaves, as seen in The Last of Us, is currently firmly in the world of fantasy. But the premise of the show is not entirely unrealistic. In the real world, fungal infections are becoming increasingly dangerous, with climate change increasing their reach and drug-resistant strains ...
The Mediterranean, sea of legend and thousand-year-old maritime heritage, is also a war zone for survival. Behind its glistening facade, an unseen conflict runs one of energy, competition, and precarious cohabitation between marine megafauna and humanity. A landmark research project has now charted the “energyscapes” of the Mediterranean’s largest predators to show where whales, sharks, ...
Volcanic hazards aren’t just the dramatic eruptions we see at famous peaks—many of the world’s least-known volcanoes pose the greatest threat of all, scientists warn. Despite their lack of recent eruptions or historical records, these hidden volcanoes are capable of unleashing major explosive events with far-reaching consequences. Experts say relying on visibility and familiarity biases ...
In the split second after a spitting cobra flares its hood, a glittering cone of venom hangs in the air – then finds eyes with unnerving precision. For years, herpetologists and field medics have wondered how a snake barely the width of a wrist can launch a defensive strike that accurate from roughly two meters ...
A powerful winter storm system that intensified into a bomb cyclone has slammed across the Great Lakes and Northeast, bringing heavy snow, frigid temperatures, strong winds and widespread travel disruption just ahead of the New Year’s holiday. The storm—dubbed Winter Storm Ezra by meteorologists—rapidly deepened as atmospheric pressure plunged rapidly, meeting the criteria for bombogenesis ...
In a landmark move for reproductive biology, researchers have grown the most advanced artificial amniotic sacs yet developed in a lab raising basic questions regarding the future of pregnancy science and treatment for infertility. The sacs filled with liquid, grown from stem cells, mimic the natural protective shell that surrounds an embryo developing, providing scientists ...
Building on Decades of Robotic Legacy (Image Credits: Unsplash) NASA’s ongoing efforts to deploy advanced robotic systems on Mars signal a critical step toward enabling the first human missions to the Red Planet. Building on Decades of Robotic Legacy The journey to Mars has relied heavily on uncrewed probes since the dawn of space exploration. ...
Maria Faith Saligumba
Alana Theron, BSc in Biodiversity and Ecology
