2024 has been a great year for sci-fi, from time travel stories to those set in spaceMatt Mawson/Millennium Images, UK It has been a good year for science fiction, with a novel set on the International Space Station winning the 2024...
Date palmsMatilde Gattoni The world’s oases are at the forefront of an existential battle against climate change: limited rainfall and rising heat have dramatically affected these unique ecosystems and the culture they sustain. Morocco has lost two-thirds of its oases...
Haunted house attractions could provide an unexpected health benefitRobert Stainforth/Alamy They say laughter is the best medicine, but a bit of fear might be a strong contender. This is according to researchers who found that getting spooked in a haunted house...
The Acidalia Planitia, the darker region towards the top right of this image of Mars, may host bacteria deep beneath its rocky surfaceNASA/JPL/USGS A specific area on Mars has been identified as a potential location for current life – with...
It is difficult to gauge when a person died from their decomposing bodySouth_agency/Getty Images Establishing when a person died based on their decomposing body is a subjective problem with dozens of variables, so any two pathologists can arrive at different...
Platforms like X can shape political viewsAlgi Febri Sugita/ZUMA Press/Alamy The algorithms behind social media platforms can change your attitude towards people with different political views in just one day, suggesting that tech companies really can have a strong influence...
A trackway of footprints thought to have been left by a Paranthropus boisei individualNeil T. Roach Preserved footprints in Kenya appear to record two different species of ancient humans walking over the same muddy lakeshore, probably within days of each...
A robot inspired by Cheerios releasing alcohol fuel with a fluorescent dyeJackson K. Wilt et al. 2024 The same phenomena that let beetles float across ponds and cause Cheerios to cluster together in your cereal bowl can be harnessed to make...
November 28, 20243 min readFossil Footprints Suggest Two Early Human Species Crossed Paths within HoursTwo sets of fossilized footprints from early human species were made within a few hours of each other about 1.5 million years ago, researchers suggestBy Tom...
John “Bud” Benson WilburMIT You have probably never heard of John “Bud” Benson Wilbur, but he is a low-key civil engineering legend. In the mid-20th century, he was chair of the civil and sanitary engineering department at the Massachusetts Institute...
