It is easy to imagine the moon as an atmosphere-less hunk of rock orbiting Earth. However, while lacking breathable air, our planet’s loyal natural satellite companion does have a thin and wispy atmosphere. Scientists have long puzzled over the existence of this tenuous atmosphere or “exosphere” and have searched for the main process that sustains … Read more
The Milky Way is just a speck in a universe filled with an untold number of galaxies. But if we had to take an educated guess, how many galaxies are in the universe? That sounds like a simple question, but it’s anything but. The first problem is that even with our most powerful telescopes, we … Read more
Vivid clouds swirl across Jupiter’s skies like colorful brushstrokes across a painting in a new photo from NASA’s Juno spacecraft. The image, taken during the spacecraft’s 61st close flyby of Jupiter on May 12, 2024, hones in on activity in the planet’s northern hemisphere. Juno was approximately 18,000 miles (29,000 kilometers) above Jupiter’s cloud tops … Read more
Scientists in China have discovered water molecules trapped in lunar rocks, upending past assumptions that the moon’s surface is dry. The rock samples, collected from the moon’s surface and brought back to Earth by China’s Chang’e 5 mission in 2020, contain crystals filled with “hydrated molecules,” according to the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Samples brought … Read more
Wild strawberries are deliciously sweet snacks, as long as you don’t mind their gritty little seeds. But why are these “seeds” on the outside, given that the seeds of many fruits — like apples, oranges, kiwis and mangos — are on the inside? It’s actually a trick question, said Aaron Liston, professor and herbarium director … Read more
The next evolution of the internet could involve digitally transmitting the sense of touch, which may transform remote surgery and usher in a whole new era of online gaming. Researchers have developed a “Haptic Codecs for the Tactile Internet” (HCTI) standard that allows haptic information to be sent both ways across a network via data … Read more
Brain organoids are 3D, lab-grown models designed to mimic the human brain. Scientists normally grow them from stem cells, coaxing them into forming a brain-like structure. In the past decade, they have become increasingly sophisticated and can now replicate multiple types of brain cells, which can communicate with one another. This has led some scientists … Read more
By blocking the action of a single protein, scientists have extended the average life span of the mice in their experiment by around 25%. This recent finding has raised the question of whether such a treatment could ever work for people, and so far, there are some promising early hints that it might. In the … Read more
Astronomers are proposing a new definition of a planet, nearly two decades after a previous such change led to Pluto’s demotion. The new definition would add measurable criteria, including considerations of the planet’s mass — and it would still leave Pluto with its dwarf planet status. Currently, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) defines a planet … Read more
Psilocybin, the compound that makes magic mushrooms trippy, works its magic by desynchronizing the brain network responsible for a person’s sense of self, new research finds. Psilocybin warps people’s sense of time and space, as well as shifts their feelings of connection to the world around them. While most of these subjective effects wane pretty … Read more
