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NASA Announces Two Asteroids Will Pass Near Earth, One for Christmas and One the Day After
NASA announced that two asteroids will be passing by Earth for the holidays, one on Christmas day, and one the day after. Thankfully, the chances of either asteroid colliding with the planet are extremely low. The first asteroid, named 2019 YB1, will pass by earth on Christmas Day at around 11:41 GMT, Mirror reported. The space object is estimated to … Continue reading
Antibiotic-Resistant Strain of Deadly Shigella Bacteria Discovered
Australian researchers have recently found a drug-resistant strain of shigella, a bacterial infection spread through fecal matter that kills more than half a million people each year. In a study published by University of Melbourne researchers earlier this month, 184 samples of isolated drug-resistant bacteria were identified in 12 female and 172 male patients in the Australian state of Victoria. … Continue reading
“Potentially Hazardous” Asteroid To Zip Past Earth Just After Christmas
It’s a Christmas miracle – albeit potentially hazardous and slightly late. A huge asteroid is set to safely pass by Earth in the early hours of December 26, just as Santa starts clocking in for his holidays. The space rock – labeled 310442 (2000 CH59) – is expected to make its closest approach to Earth at around 07:54 UTC, according … Continue reading
Scientists Discover Prolonged Stay in Antarctic Has Chilling Effect on Brains
While the prospect of a polar research expedition in the Antarctic might seem like a dream come true for many, the reality of prolonged darkness in isolation is so severe that it actually shrinks parts of the human brain. Researchers from Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin and the Max Planck Institute for Human Development studied the effects of social isolation and … Continue reading
Comparison of Old and New Star Catalogs Shows 100 Stars Vanished!
Headline image caption: ‘Where’d it go? An image taken in the 1950s (left) shows a large object at center that doesn’t appear in an image of the same field taken more recently. (Villarroel et al.)’ Physics in Sweden and the Institute for Astrophysics on the Canary Islands reports something strange in the current issue of The Astronomical Journal. They compared … Continue reading
A Black Hole the Gargantuan Size of LB-1 ‘Should Not Exist’ in our Galaxy
Scientists have discovered a black hole in our own galaxy that could rewrite the book on stellar evolution. Few cosmic phenomena remain as frightening and mysterious as black holes – regions of space in which the gravitational pull is so great that nothing, not even light itself, can escape. Stellar black holes (not to be confused with the supermassive black … Continue reading
Beethoven’s Unfinished 10th Symphony to be Completed by Artificial Intelligence
A team of musicologists and programmers will use artificial intelligence to complete German composer Ludwig van Beethoven’s unfinished 10th Symphony by next year to mark the 250th anniversary of the famous musician’s birth. Starting from just a few notes that Beethoven had written in a notebook before his death in 1827, researchers plan to use computer software combined with artificial … Continue reading
Human ‘Natural’ Lifespan is Actually Only 38 Years, According to New Study
A perplexing figure for our ‘natural’ lifespan was determined using a new method for determining lifespans from DNA. Writing for The Conversation, CSIRO molecular biologist and bioinformatician Benjamin Mayne explains the research that he and his colleagues conducted as part of this fascinating new study. Humans have a “natural” lifespan of around 38 years, according to a new method we … Continue reading
Transhumanism May Hold Key to Eternal Life, but with Multiple Caveats & Ethical Dilemmas
Some people hope to cheat death by storing their consciousness digitally. Science isn’t quite there yet, but we’ve done enough brain and memory research to have immediate implications – and to start asking uncomfortable questions. The idea of attaining de facto immortality by translating your brain into code and storing your personality as a digital copy online has been captivating … Continue reading
Asteroid Will Make Close Fly by of Earth on Friday the 13th
NASA has been monitoring an asteroid which maintains an orbit around various bodies in the solar system and consistently passes through Earth’s orbit with the sun. 13 near-Earth objects in total are expected to fly past Earth in December of this year. Earth is set to have a close encounter with an enormous asteroid which is set to fly nearby … Continue reading
