As of Friday, December 8, we can finally say with absolute certainty that Halley’s Comet is coming. This most famous of all comets travels in a flattened elliptical orbit around the Sun, bringing it close to the Sun and then taking it far beyond the boundaries of the Solar System. Since reaching perihelion – the … Read more
Regulators on Friday approved two gene therapies for sickle cell disease that doctors hope can cure the painful, inherited blood disorder that mainly affects black people in the US. The Food and Drug Administration said the one-time treatments can be used for patients 12 years and older with severe forms of the disease. One, made … Read more
Sign up for CNN’s Wonder Theory science newsletter. Explore the universe with news about fascinating discoveries, scientific developments and more. Researchers have discovered that a tyrannosaurus’ last meal is perfectly preserved in its stomach cavity. What was on the menu 75 million years ago? The hind legs of two baby dinosaurs, according to new research … Read more
So far, tens of millions of animal mummies have been excavated in Egypt. But while there are millions of mummified cats, dogs, ibises and birds of prey, primate mummies are rare – and little understood. Now, a new analysis of mummified baboons sheds light on the animals’ place in ancient Egypt, showing that although they … Read more
Sign up for CNN’s Wonder Theory science newsletter. Explore the universe with news about fascinating discoveries, scientific developments and more. A box-shaped cloud of opaque dust located at the center of our Milky Way has long baffled scientists, and observations that reveal a new detail about its composition deepen the mystery and potentially upend knowledge … Read more
As the Great Salt Lake shrinks and scientists worry about toxic dust storms and its potential ecological collapse, Utah state leaders say all options for rescue are on the table. Rob Sowby, an assistant professor of civil and structural engineering at Brigham Young University, hopes to dismantle one: a pipeline that would pump seawater from … Read more
A new theory suggests that the unification between quantum physics and general relativity has eluded scientists for a hundred years because huge ‘fluctuations’ in space and time mean gravity doesn’t follow quantum rules. Since the early 20th century, two revolutionary theories have defined our fundamental understanding of the physics that governs the universe. Quantum physics … Read more
By Loucoumane Coulibaly and Alessandra Prentice KORHOGO, Ivory Coast (Reuters) – Without pausing to wipe the sweat from their brows, workers in northern Ivory Coast picked cotton by the handful – a crop saved by the use of extra insecticides after a new plague caused record damage in western and Central Africa final season. The … Read more
Take the example of one of the greatest scientists of the 19th century, Lord Kelvin, who was not immune to overconfidence. In a 1902 interview ‘on scientific matters now prominent in public opinion’, he was asked about the future of air travel: ‘Have we no hope of solving the problem of air navigation in any … Read more
When most people hear about electroconvulsive therapy, or ECT, it usually conjures up terrifying images of cruel, outdated, and pseudo-medical procedures. This perception of ECT, formerly known as electroshock therapy, as dangerous and ineffective has been reinforced in pop culture for decades — consider the 1962 novel turned Oscar-winning film, “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s … Read more