List of All Articles with Tag 'science'

Five school pupils have reached the finals of an internationally renowned Formula 1 competition.

A Japanese rocket bound for the moon took off early Thursday, offering relief to a battered national space

It feels like every time black holes are discussed and studied by the scientific community, there are new findings that blow our tiny minds. It’s been revealed that black holes actually regurgitate or “burp up” the stars that they eat years after the event. Experts made the discovery by studying tidal disruption events (TDEs). These events take place when stars are close enough to supermassive black holes, to be destroyed by the process of spaghettification. Studying these moments over a number of years after the black holes seemingly swallowing stars with no trace, the experts found that up to 50 per cent of them "burp up" the remains. Yvette Cendes is a research associate at the Havard and Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and head author on the study. Speaking to Live Science, she said: "If you look years later, a very, very large fraction of these black holes that don’t have radio emission at these early times will actually suddenly 'turn on' in radio waves. "I call it a 'burp' because we’re having some sort of delay where this material is not coming out of the accretion disk until much later than people were anticipating." The material was re-emitted between two and six years from 10 out of 24 black holes which were studied by Cendes and the team. It has the potential to change the way the scientific community thinks about black holes. "There was a second peak, the two black holes re-brightened, and that's completely new and unexpected," Cendes said. "People were thinking that you'd have one outflow, and then it's kind of done. So this observation means these black holes can 'turn on' and then 'turn on' again." Meanwhile, a low intergalactic grumbling is emanating from deep space, according to scientists – and again, it’s black holes that are providing us with new discoveries. Astronomers say they detected the first-of-their-kind low frequency ripples, described as a “cosmic bass note” of gravitational waves, which is thought to be caused by supermassive black holes merging across the universe. Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings

An announcement is likely soon on the UK becoming a fully-fledged member of the multi-billion euro programme.

Footage has claimed to show an odd figure knocking about on the surface of the Moon. In a video first shared in 2014, which has now accrued almost 7 million views, one YouTube user claimed there was a shadow caused by an "odd figure" on the surface, The video was made using Google Moon, a collection of millions of NASA images made public. Odd figure on the Moon? www.youtube.com The "figure" looks like a shadow created by any number of geological formations on the moon's surface. It certainly looks like a person, but the reason why people are seeing a figure is because of pareidolia, our tendency to see faces or other recognisable shapes in random formations. We have this trait as evolution has made us conscious of potential threats from dangerous animals. Either this, or the power of suggestion really is that powerful. So it probably isn't an alien, or some space tourist that has got up there without us knowing. But still, it is pretty freaky. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Experts may have found a way to resurrect frozen humans in 50 to 70 years. It comes after a cryonics company was able to revive an extinct worm from 46,000 years ago, leading them to believe the method could be applied to humans. "Cryonics is a scientifically based, legal technology for preserving humans and animals in a state of deep cooling in the hope that in the future they will be resuscitated and, if necessary, cured and rejuvenated," Russian cryogenics company KrioRus explained. "For legal reasons, human cryopreservation can be carried out only after legal death." KrioRus shared how the dead patient is "immersed into a low-temperature medium where almost all chemical reactions are stopped." The first ever cryopatient, American professor James Bedford, has been preserved for almost 50 years "with no sign of change or deterioration." "In the prognosis of modern science, a cryopatient can indeed be someday revived and return to life," they said. Many more people have opted to freeze their deceased pets, with costs dependent on pet size, species and distance to the facility among other factors. A dog is said to cost around $25,000. The company claims to have cryopreserved 92 people but disclaimed that for humans to be resurrected, there must be significant progress in the medical field. "Cryobiological laboratories are few, there are no large ones at all," CEO Valeriya Udalova told MailOnline. "Even the famous laboratory 'XXI Century Medicine' is a small organization." She continued: "But even in such a deplorable situation, remarkable experiments have already been made, for example, on reversible cryopreservation of a rat kidney using gas persufflation with nanoparticles and induction heating." Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Scientists who were attempting to map an abandoned ant hill didn't expect to find a mega-city when they shot the hill full of cement, but that's exactly what they discovered. Over three days, scientists pumped 10 tons of cement into the empty ant hill to map its networks. After the cement dried, they dug for weeks around it. The excavation revealed an incredibly impressive, intricate, and bizarre ant mega-city. The mega-city was a truly colossal undertaking. A video revealed that the ants created the structure by displacing 40 tons of dirt. And it really is a mega-city. The ants networked to disposal pits and fungus gardens. Each tunnel was designed to ensure thorough ventilation and reduce transport time. The narrator disclosed the truth. That despite the complex nature of the mega-city, there was no single architect of any - but it was down to the collective will of the colony. "Everything looks like it has been designed by an architect a single mind but of course, that isn’t true," they said. "This colossal and complex city was created by the collective will of the ant colony, the super organism." The short resurfaced clip is from a much longer piece called Ants! Nature’s Secret Power. You can watch the full documentary here. Our city designers should take a few notes. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Curly hair may have been absolutely critical to humans evolving millions of years ago, scientists have discovered. In fact, having curly hair could have been the key reason as to why humans developed, grew taller and came to have larger brains. It’s all to do with regulating body temperature, according to a new study by researchers at Penn State University. Given that hair can help to protect the head from the sun’s rays, it’s thought that thicker, curlier hair types could have been key to human life progressing in Equatorial Africa. Scientists recreated the kinds of conditions that early humans would have experienced, using wigs featuring different hair types on models. They found that curls were most effective in keeping the models cool in an environment measuring 86 degrees Fahrenheit (30 degrees Celsius) and 60 per cent humidity. Tina Lasisi is the study's lead author. She spoke to Newsweek about the findings and said: "We hypothesized that tightly curled scalp hair would provide some benefits, but the extent of these benefits was uncertain. "Previous studies on mammalian coats have shown that hair can limit the amount of sunlight reaching the skin, but we were particularly surprised by the significant reduction in solar heat radiation impact provided by tightly coiled hair.” The reduction in heat caused by tight curls could have led to the development of larger brains. "Once humans developed large brains, they could employ other behavioral and social strategies to cope with heat, potentially diminishing the relative advantage of curly hair," she said. "This could have led to a diverse distribution of hair textures worldwide. Furthermore, since straight hair better retains heat, populations in colder environments may have experienced selective pressure for straight hair." She added: "Future research should aim to answer these questions by incorporating our data into mathematical models of human physiology or conducting experiments with human subjects who have different hair textures to examine the impact on their thermal regulation.” Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings

A mysterious golden object has been found at the bottom of the ocean by scientists exploring the Pacific Ocean and it has left them baffled. The discovery was made on 30 August when a team of experts from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) were taking a closer look at an underwater volcano 250 miles off the coast of Alaska. Experts, and members of the public viewing the live stream, caught a glimpse of the unusual gold orb two miles beneath the surface lodged into the side of the volcano and were left puzzled over what it could be. It was found thanks to the NOAA’s Seascape Alaska 5 expedition that is currently mapping the seafloor of the Gulf of Alaska. Those who made the discovery at the foot of the volcano also noted there was a mysterious hole in the side of the orb, with one researcher suggesting on the live stream that “Something tried to get in...or to get out”. Scientists bantered back and forth about what the egg-like object could be and ultimately decided to take a sample that could be analysed. The texture of the orb was not as they had expected and was more of a silky, delicate consistency. An arm from the robotic vehicle was used to suction the orb in order for scientists to determine its origins with laboratory testing. The NOAA Seascape Alaska 5 expedition is due to end in mid-September and aims to fill the gaps that experts have about the sea beds off the USA’s west coast. It began on 24 August in Kodiak, Alaska and will come to an end in Seward, Alaska on 16 September. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Growing up, people are generally taught that taking vitamins is good for you, with many people taking supplements to boost their intake. However, results of a new study suggest that taking vitamins could actually have a negative impact on health as they may help tumours to grow. New research suggests that taking additional vitamins and minerals, including common antioxidants such as vitamins A and C, and selenium and zinc, could help the blood vessels in tumours to grow. The study was conducted by scientists at the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden who published their findings in the Journal of Clinical Investigation. The results were somewhat of a surprise to experts, who believed anti-oxidants to be protective of the body. In their research, they found that vitamin C and other antioxidants actually stimulated the formation of new blood vessels in lung cancer tumours. Martin Bergö, who is a professor at the Department of Biosciences and Nutrition, said: “We’ve found that antioxidants activate a mechanism that causes cancer tumours to form new blood vessels, which is surprising since it was previously thought that antioxidants have a protective effect. “The new blood vessels nourish the tumours and can help them grow and spread.” Antioxidants, in normal amounts, neutralise free oxygen radicals that damage the body, so are beneficial. But, scientists found that high doses of antioxidants can activate a protein called BACH1 which begins the formation of new blood vessels, allowing harmful tumours to grow. Bergö explained: “There’s no need to fear antioxidants in normal food but most people don’t need additional amounts of them. “In fact, it can be harmful for cancer patients and people with an elevated cancer risk.” Ting Wang, the study’s lead author, said: “Many clinical trials have evaluated the efficacy of angiogenesis inhibitors, but the results have not been as successful as anticipated. “Our study opens the door to more effective ways of preventing angiogenesis in tumours; for example, patients whose tumours exhibit high levels of BACH1 might benefit more from anti-angiogenesis therapy than patients with low BACH1 levels.” Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

A podcast host is going viral after revealing a little-known iPhone hack that could potentially save your life. Morgan Absher, from Two Hot Takes, demonstrated by how heading into your settings and altering the 'Emergency SOS' buttons, you can easily dial 999 should you need to. "I’m constantly scared about getting kidnapped. Getting kidnapped is my biggest fear", she explains of how she learnt the hack. By turning it on, users can choose to either press and hold their volume and power buttons simultaneously to call the emergency services, or press the power button five times for the same result. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter

If you've ever wondered how long it takes a whole watermelon to decay, this timelapse video has the answer.