A surprising discovery on a small island in the Baltic Sea is changing how scientists think about the relationship between ancient humans and wolves.
Researchers have identified wolf remains dating back roughly 3,000 to 5,000 years on the Swedish island of Stora Karlsö. The finding is remarkable because the island is isolated and has no native land mammals. The wolves could not have reached the island on their own, leading researchers to conclude that people must have transported them there.
Researchers have uncovered a hidden feature beneath the Pacific Ocean that helps explain why Japan's devastating 2011 earthquake and tsunami became so destructive. The discovery also offers new clues that could improve forecasts of future megaquakes and tsunamis.
Physicists have developed a new way to control the rotation of molecules inside tiny droplets of liquid helium, marking an important advance in the study of superfluids. By using a specially designed optical centrifuge, the team was able to precisely spin molecules suspended in liquid helium nano-droplets, giving scientists a powerful new tool for exploring these unusual frictionless materials.
Primordial black holes have remained one of astronomy's most intriguing ideas for decades. Now, researchers at the University of Miami believe a recent gravitational wave detection may bring scientists closer to confirming that these ancient objects are real, a breakthrough that could also help solve the enduring mystery of dark matter.
The June heatwave is estimated to have killed more than 5000 people in France
Laurent EMMANUEL / AFP via Getty Images
Europe’s most extreme heatwave so far may have killed between 17,000 and 25,000 people, according to an early estimate based on past deaths from heat in the region.
The most vexing question in physics right now is how general relativity – the laws that govern gravity and space-time on large scales – meshes with quantum mechanics, the laws that govern very small scales. There are many potential solutions, none proven, and so far very few of them have been conclusively ruled out either – or even rigorously investigated. Now, though, the day is approaching when one of those ideas could be put to the test. If it holds up, it could dramatically change our view of time.
What makes something alive? We simply don't know, but synthetic biologists are a step closer to providing an answer thanks to SpudCell, the most sophisticated attempt at creating an artificial life form yet
Australia’s tiger quoll – as featured in Dan Werb’s Our Wild Familiars, out this month
Shutterstock/Craig Dingle
It’s a hot month in London – in oh so many ways. Life, being alive and death are big themes in the new popular science books out in July, not to mention that small thing of being a human and all the messy feelings and sensory stuff that goes with it. Then there’s also AI filling the future – in ways that worry one of the world’s leading forensic scientists, as well as ethicists who are paid to think about this sort of thing. I’m looking forward to delving into the worlds of volcanoes and pharmacology, which look positively safe and stable in comparison…
Faced with observations of early black holes and galaxies that weren’t expected to exist, scientists have come up with a wealth of new theories to explain them. Now they just need to figure out which ones are true.
Researchers at McGill University have developed a new quantum device that generates tiny sound-like particles called phonons at temperatures just above absolute zero. The advance could help pave the way for phonon lasers, a technology with potential uses in communications, medical diagnostics, and advanced sensing.
