Science

A groundbreaking project by Harvard University and Google has produced the most detailed map of human brain connections to date. This achievement focuses on a cubic millimetre of the cerebral cortex, extracted from a patient during epilepsy surgery in 2014. Over a decade, a team of biologists and machine-learning experts meticulously analysed this small tissue

Archaeologists have made a significant discovery in Lake Bolsena, central Italy — a 3,000-year-old clay figurine — believed to represent an ancient goddess. This artifact was found submerged in the volcanic lake, which holds the remains of an early Iron Age village from around the 10th or 9th century B.C. The figurine, measuring approximately 6 inches

Sweden has reported its first case of clade 1 mpox (previously known as monkeypox), a more severe variant of the virus, previously confined to Africa. This announcement follows the World Health Organization’s (WHO) declaration of the mpox outbreak in Africa as a global health emergency. Clade 1, in contrast to clade 2, which caused the

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) achieved another milestone with the successful launch of the EOS-08 Earth-observing satellite on Friday. The satellite was launched aboard the Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at 9:17am IST on August 16. This launch marks the third mission for the SSLV, a relatively new addition

A recent study has found that forests destroyed by wildfires continue to emit carbon dioxide (CO₂) for years after the flames have been extinguished. The boreal forest, a critical CO₂ sink stretching across Earth’s northern latitudes, plays a crucial role in removing carbon from the atmosphere. However, when these forests burn, they release large amounts

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has issued a warning about a severe geomagnetic storm, classified as level G4. This storm is anticipated to affect power grids, GPS systems, and radio communications. Despite these potential disruptions, it provides an extraordinary opportunity to witness vibrant auroras in high-latitude regions, especially across parts of Canada and

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has made a groundbreaking observation with its recent image of the Serpens Nebula. Captured on June 20, 2024, this image reveals a fascinating phenomenon: aligned protostellar outflows. These outflows, represented by bright red streaks in the upper left corner of the image, are jets of gas ejected by newborn stars,

A recent study reveals that a 3,500-year-old mummy, known as the “Screaming Woman,” experienced a death filled with agony. Virtual autopsies conducted on the mummy, discovered in an Egyptian tomb in 1935, show that her final moments were marked by a painful spasm, which left her face in a scream-like expression. The “Screaming Woman” was

New research based on data from NASA’s InSight mission has uncovered a vast underground reservoir on Mars, capable of filling oceans on the planet’s surface. The study, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, reveals that water, trapped in small cracks and pores within Mars’ crust, could cover the planet to a depth

NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore are facing an extended stay aboard the International Space Station (ISS) due to unresolved issues with Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft. Initially, their mission was set for eight days, but problems with the spacecraft’s thrusters have delayed their return indefinitely. The Starliner, which experienced leaks and malfunctioning thrusters, may not

NASA astronaut Matthew Dominick captured a striking image of a Russian Soyuz spacecraft against the backdrop of a green aurora from the International Space Station (ISS). This remarkable photograph was taken during Expedition 71 in 2024, as the ISS orbited the Earth. Dominick shared the image on X, noting the aurora’s proximity due to recent

A team of international scientists led by Newcastle University has used the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to uncover an unexpected structure of dust surrounding a supermassive black hole in the galaxy ESO 428-G14, located 70 million light-years away. Contrary to previous assumptions, the study reveals that the dust is heated not by radiation from

New research suggests that enormous waves within Earth’s mantle, triggered by the breakup of continents, could be responsible for the formation of dramatic landforms such as high plateaus and steep cliffs. As continents split apart, massive cliff walls often rise near the boundaries where the crust is separating. This rifting generates waves in the mantle

A new study has revealed that the Milky Way’s thin disk may be much older than previously believed, thanks to the discovery of ancient stars located surprisingly close to our Sun. Researchers using data from the European Space Agency’s Gaia space telescope have found that some of these stars formed less than a billion years

SpaceX’s highly anticipated Crew-9 astronaut mission has been delayed to September 24, 2024, due to ongoing technical issues with Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft. Originally scheduled to lift off on August 18, the Crew-9 launch has been pushed back to allow NASA more time to resolve challenges related to the Boeing Crew Flight Test (CFT) currently docked

NASA officials said on Wednesday the two astronauts delivered to the International Space Station in June by Boeing’s Starliner could return on SpaceX’s Crew Dragon in February 2025 if Starliner is still deemed unsafe to return to Earth. The US space agency has been discussing potential plans with SpaceX to leave two seats empty on

NASA said on Tuesday it pushed a routine SpaceX launch of astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) back a month to spend more time analysing issues with Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft, which remains docked at the station. SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft was initially scheduled to launch four astronauts to the ISS on August 18, but

The tiny wires of Neuralink’s brain chip implant used in the first participant in a trial run by Elon Musk’s company have become “more or less very stable”, a company executive said on Wednesday. The company had in May said that a number of tiny wires inside the brain of Noland Arbaugh, who is paralysed

NASA is preparing for a new mission, dubbed Landolt Space Mission, by the end of the decade, that will place a satellite which will function just like an artificial star. The main objective of the mission is to improve the precision of ground-based telescopes, increasing our knowledge of the Universe. The satellite will launch in

NASA will soon provide advanced training to Indian astronauts to send a joint mission to the International Space Station this year or shortly thereafter, US envoy to India Eric Garcetti has said. Garcetti made these remarks while speaking at the “US-India Commercial Space Conference: Unlocking Opportunities for US & Indian Space Startups,” hosted by the