Long before Clyde Tombaugh was searching the skies from an observatory in Arizona, he was a farm boy trying to make sense of the night above his family’s home. The first telescope he owned was bought from Sears, but it soon failed to satisfy him. By 1925, he was building his own instruments, with help…
Representative Image of Chosha praecursor, an early insect with paddle-like abdominal appendages in a prehistoric landscape (AI-generated image) Today, insects occupy nearly every terrestrial environment on Earth and account for more described species than any other animal group, yet the earliest stages of their evolutionary history remain poorly documented. A newly described species from western…
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….
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…
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…
Quote of the day by Neil deGrasse Tyson (Image: Wikipedia) Neil deGrasse Tyson‘s words present education as something considerably bigger than simply memorising facts. “As an educator, it’s my duty to empower you to think,” he said. “So that you can go forth and think accurate thoughts about how the world is put together.” He…
Diamond has long been regarded as a nonpiezoelectric material. Now, researchers have identified a piezoelectric effect in ultrathin, ultraflexible polycrystalline diamond membranes. Piezoelectric materials produce an electrical response when they are mechanically pressed, bent, or stretched. In the study, the researchers found that the effect in diamond membranes varies with their thickness, with the strongest…
More than two kilometres beneath the surface of the Pacific, off the coast of Oregon, an active underwater volcano has been hiding one of the strangest landscapes ever mapped on the seafloor. Using robotic vehicles capable of withstanding crushing depths, scientists from the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute have spent more than two decades surveying…
The reintroduction and success of sea otters in British Columbia was a story that initially satisfied everyone including conservationists and the natives. The adorable creatures once occupied much of Canada’s Pacific coast, before the fur trade for their exceptionally dense coats turned into a mass death sentence. But now, their population is threatening the availability…
At a time when laundry was one more task competing with school, travel and family responsibilities, a Kerala schoolgirl began thinking about a surprisingly simple alternative to the washing machine she did not have. Remya, who was studying in the 10th standard, was already spending hours travelling to school each day and helping her twin…
