Marine heat waves are lasting longer and hitting more often, research shows
HALIFAX—Heat waves in the world’s oceans are getting longer and more frequent, according to a new study that warns the phenomenon will likely continue to alter marine ecosystems, harm fisheries and kill various species. Eric Oliver of Dalhousie University in Halifax, who led a team of researchers from Australia, the United States and the United More...
$15m is available to solve a burning problem
THE XPRIZE foundation, based near Los Angeles, exists to encourage innovations that might be useful but from which conventional financial backers are likely to shy away. Previous XPRIZES have been awarded for feats More...
Homo sapiens spread to Asia earlier than once believed
This specimen (viewed in the picture from six angles) is the middle phalanx of a human middle finger. It was collected from the Nefud desert of Saudi Arabia by Huw Groucutt of Oxford University and his colleagues. More...
Is New Zealand the world’s best rocket-launching site?
THE Mahia peninsula, on the east coast of New Zealand’s North Island, has been a holidaymakers’ haven for decades. It offers sandy beaches, hot springs and scenic trails. And, for those of a technological mindset, More...
An ambitious African-science project is getting into its stride
AFRICA is home to what may be the world’s oldest counting tools. The Ishango bone from the Democratic Republic of Congo (both sides of which are pictured above) and the Lebombo bone from South Africa date from More...
Three-eyed lizards are not uncommon. Four-eyed ones are a novelty
UNLIKE invertebrates, most of which have at least four eyes, vertebrates usually have only two. Yet, there are exceptions. Some fish, amphibians and reptiles have a third, so-called parietal, eye. This organ, a More...
New ways to trade data
IN 2016, according to Cisco, an American technology group, the volume of data flowing through the internet each month passed a zettabyte, enough to fill some 16bn 64GB iPhones. By 2025 it will be many times greater. More...
A new app listens to the problems of bees
YOU might expect to hear an angry buzzing when honeybees have been disturbed. But some apiarists reckon they can also deduce the condition of their bees from the sounds they make. A steady hum could be the sign More...
A new way to repair damaged heart tissue
ALTHOUGH the possibility is several years away, people may one day be helped to recover from heart attacks by having specially engineered patches that have been seeded with cardiac cells placed over the damaged More...
Genes and backgrounds matter most to exam results
PARENTS in England are faced with a choice when their children are old enough to attend secondary school. They can pay to send their offspring to a private school, which usually involves sitting an entrance exam. More...
