Scientists at the University of Minnesota have announced a major step in synthetic biology: a laboratory-made system dubbed ‘SpudCell’ that mimics many behaviors of living cells. (AI-generated image) Scientists at the University of Minnesota have announced a major step in synthetic biology: a laboratory-made system dubbed ‘SpudCell’ that mimics many behaviors of living cells.Built from…
China is developing a ground-based boost system that would accelerate a rocket along a track, using electricity. China is pushing an unconventional launch idea that could change the economics of reaching orbit: instead of igniting rockets at ground level and spending huge amounts of chemical propellant just to claw through the thickest part of the…
Building bridges for bears, wolves and elk sounded like an expensive fantasy when Canadian officials first proposed the idea in the 1990s. Many critics questioned whether wild animals would ever use specially designed crossings over one of the busiest highways in the Canadian Rockies, while some even mocked the proposal as a waste of taxpayers’…
Carl Jung (Image: Wikipedia) Think of a person who changed you. Maybe a friend, a teacher, someone you loved, even someone you knew only briefly. Chances are you came away from them a little different than you were before. Carl Jung, one of the most influential figures in the history of psychology, captured this in…
Just days after powerful earthquakes devastated parts of Venezuela, residents of Caracas looked up to witness another extraordinary sight: a sky glowing an intense crimson red as the Sun dipped below the horizon. Videos of the spectacle quickly spread across social media, prompting speculation that the phenomenon was connected to the recent seismic disaster. While…
For much of the summer, planet watchers have had to contend with bright dawn skies and awkward viewing angles. Several planets are beginning to emerge from the Sun’s glare, yet many remain difficult to pick out before sunrise. Saturn, however, gradually becomes easier to find as July progresses. By the end of the month, the…
Extreme heatwave sets records across Europe: The continent continues to experience extreme summer heat as temperatures have surged well above normal seasonal levels across several countries. Thermometers in parts of France and Spain have climbed above 40°C, with prolonged heat and little relief even during the night. Authorities have reported heat-related deaths in France amid…
Dr Ajit Goenka led the Mayo Clinic team behind the AI that detects pancreatic cancer years before diagnosis. Researchers at Mayo Clinic have developed an artificial intelligence (AI) system that could transform how pancreatic cancer is detected by identifying subtle signs of the disease years before it is usually diagnosed. The technology, known as the…
By the 1980s, Costa Rica was facing an environmental crisis that few could have imagined just decades earlier. Once blanketed by lush tropical forests, the Central American nation had lost nearly half of its tree cover as logging, cattle ranching and agricultural expansion rapidly transformed the landscape. Wildlife habitats shrank, biodiversity declined, rivers became increasingly…
More than 150,000 people were forced to abandon their homes after the Fukushima nuclear disaster struck Japan in March 2011, transforming once-bustling towns into eerie ghost towns almost overnight. Families fled with only the essentials, believing they would soon return, but many never did. In the rush to escape the radiation, thousands of pets and…
