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Quote of the day by Stephen Hawking: “I believe the simplest explanation is, there is no God. No one created the universe and…” – a profound reflection on life, death and the universe |

Quote of the day by Stephen Hawking Few questions have occupied the human mind for quite as long as why the universe exists, and whether human life actually has any real purpose. For centuries, people have approached these questions through religion, philosophy and science, often arriving at genuinely very different conclusions. Stephen Hawking, one of…

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New England has battled invasive green crabs for more than 200 years; now people are eating the destructive species in a bid to protect shellfish, wetlands and coastal ecosystems

Since time immemorial, humans have been consuming food derived from the land, air and water. From vegetables and birds to even crabs, there is not much we have not used to survive on. But currently, people in New England are feasting on green crabs not to survive themselves but to help the native species subsist….

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Scientists found a fungus that turns female flies into zombies, then uses their dead bodies to spread spores to healthy flies |

A fungus that infects house flies has evolved a remarkable way to send spores towards new hosts. Entomophthora muscae grows inside an infected fly and, after the insect dies, it produces microscopic stalks that emerge from its body. Each stalk forms a single spore at its tip. Instead of simply dropping away, the spore is…

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In 2011, up to 30,000 rats were eradicated from Palmyra Atoll; five years later native tree seedlings jumped from fewer than 150 to more than 7,700

In 2011, conservation teams set out on one of the biggest rat eradications ever on a tropical atoll, targeting an estimated 30,000 invasive rodents on Palmyra Atoll in the central Pacific. The goal was not just to remove a pest, but to restore an entire ecosystem that had been suppressed for more than a century….

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In 2003, Nasa researchers found freshwater snails mated and reproduced in space, with gravity-sensing statoconia 50% larger by volume than ground controls |

In 2003, Nasa researchers reported that freshwater snails carried into orbit aboard the Space Shuttle had mated and reproduced during their mission, allowing their gravity-sensing organs to develop entirely under microgravity. According to the study published in PubMed, tittled ‘Otoliths developed in microgravity‘ formed part of the results of the STS-90 Neurolab Spacelab mission, a…

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In 2005, NASA sent five geckos into space for 16 days without food or water, with later tests revealing changes in their bones and liver cells |

In 2005, five thick-toed geckos left Earth aboard the unmanned Russian spacecraft Foton-M2, embarking on a 16-day orbital flight with no access to food or water. The mission, a joint undertaking between Nasa and the Russian Academy of Sciences, was designed to test whether a reptile species could serve as a viable model for studying…

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In 1960, Nasa launched rhesus monkey Miss Sam on a Mercury escape test, reaching 1,800 mph before she landed safely in the Atlantic |

In January 1960, Nasa launched the rhesus monkey Miss Sam aboard a Little Joe rocket from Wallops Island, Virginia, to test the launch escape system built for Project Mercury. The flight was designed to confirm that the escape tower could pull the capsule clear of its booster during an abort, a safeguard critical to any…

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Quote of the day by Galileo Galilei: “The book of the universe cannot be understood unless one first learns to…” |

The universe has fascinated humanity for centuries, but understanding it requires more than simply looking at the stars and planets. Galileo Galilei, one of history’s most influential astronomers and scientists, offered a powerful way of thinking about nature, arguing that the universe could be understood only by learning the language in which it was written….

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In 1989, UK researchers turned 50 tonnes of coal-fired power station waste into an underwater reef; lobsters and crabs arrived within 3 weeks

Representative Image (AI-generated) What happens when waste from a coal-fired power station is placed beneath the sea? In 1989, researchers in the UK built an experimental artificial reef from 50 tons of stabilised coal-fired power station waste, and marine life began moving in almost immediately. The unusual experiment took place in Poole Bay, off the…

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Swiss scientists built tiny flying robots without motors or batteries, using sound waves to generate thrust and steer them through the air |

Engineers in Switzerland have worked out how to make miniature robots fly and steer without a single motor, magnet or battery on board. Researchers at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne have built hollow structures that turn sound waves directly into thrust, drawing on Helmholtz resonance, the same physics behind the low hum produced by…

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