Astronomers have directly detected four previously hidden white dwarfs orbiting nearby red dwarf stars, solving a long-standing observational challenge and improving our understanding of how close binary star systems evolve. The newly confirmed stellar remnants lie within 20 parsecs (around 65 light-years) of the Sun and had remained concealed because their faint light was overwhelmed…
Nasa astronaut Chris Williams, left, Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Kud-Sverchkov, center, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergei Mikaev are seen inside the Soyuz MS-28 spacecraft after they landed in Kazakhstan (AP) A joint US-Russian crew safely returned to Earth on Sunday after spending more than eight months aboard the International Space Station (ISS), marking another milestone in continued…
Maya Biosphere Reserve covers about 2.1 million hectares in Guatemala’s northern PetEn province Logging is one of the biggest reasons forests are disappearing. When trees are cut faster than they can grow back, wildlife loses its habitat, and local communities are impacted. But in northern Guatemala, one protected forest is showing that logging does not…
Mangroves-A forest that would not vanish across the globe Mangroves have long been considered one of the planet’s most threatened ecosystems. These dense forests along tropical and subtropical coastlines were steadily being lost to urban expansion, shrimp farming, agriculture, pollution and climate change. Each year thousands of hectares were lost, threatening wildlife, fisheries and coastal…
A new waterscape has been created on the Holnicote Estate in Somerset (National Trust photos) Just one year after work completing a river restoration project in south-west England, researchers say the restored landscape has reduced flood peaks downstream, improved water quality and created new habitats for many species.The project took place on the National Trust’s…
A tiny freshwater fish found only in Oregon quietly made conservation history after decades of being pushed to the brink of extinction. The Oregon chub, a species once reduced to fewer than 1,000 individuals across just eight known populations, was threatened by wetland destruction, river engineering and invasive fish. Many believed its future was bleak….
Alexander Fleming (Image: Wikipedia) Some of the world’s most important discoveries were never part of the original plan. History shows that breakthroughs often happen when curious minds remain open to the unexpected instead of focusing only on what they hoped to find. Alexander Fleming’s insightful observation, “You do not know what you will find, you…
For centuries, humans have searched for ways to extend life, first through medicine that prevented early deaths and later through research aimed at slowing the biological processes associated with aging. But even if scientists eventually found a way to stop many age-related problems, the body might still face limits built into its own cells. A…
Across the globe, there are approximately 200,000 to 275,000 glaciers that hold 69% of the world’s fresh water. They are found in every continent except Australia and are in heavy concentrations in the Arctic, Alaska, and Antarctica along with high mountain ranges like the Himalayas and Andes. But what happens when climate change causes all…
At first glance, Neptune seems like the last place where violent weather should thrive. The ice giant circles the Sun at an average distance of about 4.5 billion kilometres, leaving it in a region where daylight is remarkably faint. Even at midday, the sunlight reaching Neptune would resemble a dim twilight compared with conditions on…
Long before Earth existed, before the Sun had fully formed, clouds of gas and microscopic dust drifted through interstellar space. Within those tiny grains, astronomers believe, some of the chemistry that eventually gave rise to planets, and perhaps even life, first began. Yet studying this process has always been difficult because the dust forms in…
On an infrared camera, a warm object normally stands out clearly against its cooler surroundings. Researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign have now built a three-dimensional cloak that bends heat around an object entirely, erasing its thermal outline while keeping the space inside protected from extreme temperatures. Rather than blocking heat at a barrier,…
