Tag Archives: ScienceAlert

Well, the verdict is in. The Moon is not made of green cheese after all. A thorough investigation published back in May has found that the inner core of the Moon is, in fact, a solid ball with a density similar to that of iron. This, researchers hope, will help …

Today, Jordan Rift Valley east of the Mediterranean is challengingly parched, bare and uneven in its terrain. Not the easiest place to take a hike, let alone traverse with your entire family on foot. But research suggests back when humans first migrated out of Africa this was likely the route …

A recent study reports something strange: When mice with Alzheimer’s disease inhale menthol, their cognitive abilities improve. It seems the chemical compound can stop some of the damage done to the brain that’s usually associated with the disease. In particular, researchers noticed a reduction in the

A drug that stimulates muscles to burn fuel as if they’re exercising has been found to reduce fat mass in obese mice. Developed by researchers in the US, the compound belongs to a proposed class of therapeutics known as exercise mimetics, that has been mostly tested in animals and is …

There’s something strange about the beginning of the Universe. Correction: there are a lot of ‘somethings strange’ about the beginning of the Universe. But for one particular strange something, scientists may have found a solution. There is way more UV light blazing from galaxies at the dawn of time than …

With crushing atmospheric pressures and runaway temperatures, surviving on the surface of Venus is impossible. But if you could stand on the planet for a few minutes, would you see any lightning? A new study concludes: probably not. The research, carried out by a team from the University of Colorado …

US authorities said they have issued a “breakthrough” first-ever fine over space debris, slapping a $150,000 penalty on a TV company that failed to properly dispose of a satellite. On Monday the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) came down on Dish for “failure to properly deorbit” a satellite called

It turns out your cat’s purr is set on autopilot. Researchers have finally discovered the key to these fluff-ball’s signature sound, which involves squishy pads in a cat’s vocal cords. Scientists have puzzled over how cats manage to make their distinctive low-pitched purr, as low frequency sounds are usually made…

JWST observations of the star-forming heart of the Orion nebula have given us something we’ve never seen before. There, in the Trapezium cluster, scientists have found dozens of planet-like objects roughly the mass of Jupiter untethered to any star, drifting through the galaxy in gravitationally-bound pairs like…

On August 30th, 2023, on the 899th Martian day (sol 899) of its mission, NASA’s Perseverance rover spotted a dust devil while exploring the Jezero Crater. The images taken by one of the rover’s Navigation Cameras (NavCams) were used to make a video (shown below), which is composed of 21 …

If you’ve ever had the eerie sensation there’s a presence in the room when you were sure you were alone, you may be reluctant to admit it. Perhaps it was a profound experience that you are happy to share with others. Or – more likely – it was something in …

The Nobel Physics Prize was awarded on Tuesday to three scientists for their work on attoseconds, which are almost unimaginably short periods of time. Their work using lasers gives scientists a tool to observe and possibly even manipulate electrons, which could spur breakthroughs in fields such as electronics and…

Among the many megaliths of Stonehenge, one large slab stands out… or, more accurately, it lies down. The Altar Stone, also known as stone number 80, is a ‘recumbent’ slab of stone in the inner circle of the famous Neolithic monument that would have once stood 4.9 meters (just over …

Sexual behavior between members of the same sex might have evolved multiple times in mammals, according to a new study, adding to numerous examples found across the tree of life. More than 1,500 species have been known to engage in same-sex sexual behaviors, including bats, beetles, sea stars, snakes, penguins,

Making up less than 1 percent of all lightning strikes, superbolts are as rare as they are powerful. Now a new study has revealed more about why these awesome jolts of voltage can pack as much as a thousand times more energy than regular strikes. Researchers from the Hebrew University …

Planetary scientists have long known that Mercury has been shrinking for billions of years. Despite being the closest planet to the Sun, its interior has been cooling down as internal heat leaks away. This means that the rock (and, within that, the metal) of which it is composed must have …