The strongest solar flare in half a decade just launched off the sun from the same sunspot group that triggered dazzling auroras last weekend. But don't expect northern lights this time around. ... Read full Story
The same massive sunspot that gave Earth multiple nights of stunning aurora displays has now produced the largest flare of the current solar cycle ... Read full Story
Robots revolutionized the manufacturing industry by automating assembly lines. Now, more and more, they are being used to expedite the pace of scientific discovery. ... Read full Story
ChatGPT's latest upgrade means the voice assistant can now respond to audio, text and visual inputs in real time. The new chatbot, named ChatGPT-4o, will be rolled out to alpha testers in the coming weeks. ... Read full Story
Using a clever laser technique, scientists have squished pairs of atoms closer together than ever before, revealing some truly mind-boggling quantum effects. ... Read full Story
Japan has announced plans to add fin whales — the second-largest animal on Earth — to its list of commercial whaling species, which currently includes Bryde's, sei and minke whales. ... Read full Story
Tree rings suggest the Northern Hemisphere summer of 2023 was the hottest in 2,000 years, with temperatures exceeding those of the coldest summer in the same period by 7 degrees Fahrenheit (3.9 Celsius). ... Read full Story
Scientific discovery doesn't always require a high-tech laboratory or a hefty budget. Many people have a first-rate lab right in their own homes—their kitchen. ... Read full Story
A team of physicists from the University of Alabama in Huntsville and the Advanced Propulsion Laboratory at Applied Physics, in New York, has developed a model that shows it might be possible to create a subluminal warp drive. ... Read full Story
“In 2023, Royal Caribbean's bookings hit an all-time high ahead of the launch of its newest ship, the Icon of the Seas. Interest has yet to wane: The three strongest booking weeks in the company’s history were at the start of 2024 and ‘wave season,’ when cruise lines typically roll out flashy discounts to incentivize reservations.” — Brittany Chang, Business Insider, 20 Mar. 2024
Did you know?
In her book Braiding Sweetgrass, scientist Robin Wall Kimmerer, an enrolled member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, recounts some of the stories of her people surrounding Windigos, fearsome, shrieking monsters that prey on human flesh: “The Windigo is most powerful in the Hungry Times. With the warm breezes his power wanes.” Wane is a verb used when something—such as strength, power, or influence—decreases or diminishes, usually with the implication that the lessening is gradual, natural, or—as in the case of the Windigo—seasonal. Daylight wanes, as does summer. In a classroom, one’s attention may be said to wane if, minute by minute, one becomes more interested in watching birds through the window than following the points of the professor’s lecture. For centuries, wane has also been called upon to describe the seeming decrease in the size of the moon in the later phases of the lunar cycle. The traditional opposite of wane is wax, a once common but now rare synonym of grow. Wane and wax have been partnered in references to the moon since the Middle Ages.