Solar storms could solve longstanding paradox of how life on Earth arose
May 23, 2016 16:27 pm UTC| Insights & Views Science
It was only a matter of 700m years or so after Earth formed and its surface cooled and solidified that life began to flourish on Earth. All studies suggest that life requires water and we know from rocks on Earth that the...
SkyWatch: Mars, Saturn, the full moon and Scorpius
May 20, 2016 00:12 am UTC| Science
This weekend Mars appears at its best and brightest. It reaches opposition on Sunday, May 22, which means the planet will appear opposite the sun as viewed from Earth and it brings Mars closest to Earth for the next few...
Could the mystery of the meow actually be solved by a new talking cat collar?
May 18, 2016 08:30 am UTC| Science
Imagine youre a cat, and, every time you meowed, the loud voice of a snooty-sounding British gentleman kindly informed your human guardian of your every thought and feeling (well, the thoughts and feelings you had before...
European data suggests the gig economy helped create Trump, Sanders
May 18, 2016 08:11 am UTC| Science Politics
Jonathan J.B. Mijs, Doctoral Candidate in Sociology, Harvard University Politicians and pundits in America wonder where the rip-roaring popularity of protest candidates Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders originated. The...
The International Space Station: 100,000 laps and counting
May 18, 2016 07:58 am UTC| Science
The International Space Station (ISS) has completed more than 100,000 orbits of Earth. It reached this impressive milestone on Monday afternoon (AEST), May 16. The stations odometer has clocked more than 4 billion...
Nanoparticles in baby formula: should parents be worried?
May 17, 2016 16:34 pm UTC| Health Science
Theres a lot of stuff youd expect to find in baby formula: proteins, carbs, vitamins, essential minerals. But parents probably wouldnt anticipate finding extremely small, needle-like particles. Yet this is exactly what a...
What stressed humans can tell us about keeping animals happy
May 17, 2016 16:05 pm UTC| Health Science
Its hard to avoid stress, and the expectation that we are camels with unbreakable backs. I know this from personal experience as part of the squeezed generation with young children, an old parent and a demanding job. Often...
Gabon: post-coup dialogue has mapped out path to democracy – now military leaders must act
IceCube researchers detect a rare type of energetic neutrino sent from powerful astronomical objects