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Five of the Worst Computer Viruses Ever
[video at end of article] Occasionally, a computer virus goes way beyond a simple inconvenience and enters cyber-security history as one of the nastiest bugs of all time – and five of the worst are showcased in the video below from SciShow. You might not be surprised to learn that most of these viruses arrived as innocent-looking emails, and relied … Continue reading
How Uranus May Have Gotten Knocked On Its Side
Uranus is unique among all the planets of the solar system because it essentially orbits on its side, with its axis tilted nearly perpendicular to the Sun. Now astronomers can finally explain what makes Uranus looks so strange. Uranus’s spin axis lies 98 degrees off of its orbital plane with the Sun. No other planet is tilted more than 30 … Continue reading
Ebola Evolved Into Deadlier Enemy During the African Epidemic
The Ebola epidemic that tore through West Africa in 2014 claimed 11,310 lives, far more than any previous outbreak. A combination of factors contributed to its savagery, among them a mobile population, crumbling public health systems, official neglect and hazardous burial practices. But new research suggests another impetus: The virus may have evolved a new weapon against its human hosts. … Continue reading
A Deadly, Drug-Resistant Fungus has Arrived in the US for the First Time
It’s a kind of yeast that drifts through hospitals, taking root in open wounds, and blood, and the nooks and crannies of people’s ears. It can weather all three major drugs doctors use to kill fungus. It’s almost impossible to distinguish from its less deadly cousins. And now, according to a CDC report, it’s arrived in the United States. Doctors … Continue reading
The Last Thing Japan’s Lost Black Hole Satellite Saw Before It Died
This remarkable photo is the last thing Japan’s lost satellite, Hitomi, captured. Black holes with their ability to consume an entire galaxy, are perhaps the most feared object in the heavens due to the voracious appetite which they hold. It has now been discovered that black holes also have the ability to also feed the growth of galaxies. Black holes … Continue reading
Leaked NASA Paper Shows the ‘Impossible’ EM Drive Really Does Work
Did we just achieve fuel-less propulsion? The results of NASA’s tests on the ‘impossible’ EM Drive have been leaked, and they reveal that the controversial propulsion system really does work, and is capable of generating impressive thrust in a vacuum, even after error measurements have been accounted for. The EM Drive has made headlines over the past year, because it … Continue reading
The Tunguska Event Comet Will Light The Sky With Fireballs
If we could all take a moment to put down Pokémon GO and Tinder and take a look overhead, we’d probably find the skies are full of interesting phenomena. This Halloween season was a rare treat, with UFOs over Phoenix, Arizona, mysterious green fireballs lighting up the skies over Japan, and a near-miss by a massive asteroid. Now, things are … Continue reading
Incoming? NASA and FEMA Do Mock Response to a Hypothetical Asteroid Threat
It’s a scary scenario: an asteroid headed for Earth, just four years away from slamming into our home planet. It may be too short a span to plan an asteroid-deflection mission, but it’s long enough to present very different challenges from those of a more typical crisis, like a hurricane or earthquake. NASA and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) … Continue reading
Record-Breaking Supermoon To Be Witnessed – The Biggest in Nearly 70 Years
The closest full moon in the 21st century. If you only see one astronomical event this year, make it the November supermoon, when the Moon will be the closest to Earth it’s been since January 1948. During the event, which will happen on the eve of November 14, the Moon will appear up to 14 percent bigger and 30 percent … Continue reading
NASA’s New Asteroid Alert System Gives 5 Days of Warning
Everyone knows it was a large asteroid striking Earth that led to the demise of the dinosaurs. But how many near misses were there? Modern humans have been around for about 225,000 years, so we must have come close to death by asteroid more than once in our time. We would have had no clue. Of course, it’s the actual … Continue reading
