New research finds 24 ‘super-habitable’ alien worlds
Rather than searching the night sky for Earth’s literal carbon copy, scientists have found a new criterion for habitability that’s thrown up some astonishing results. ‘A planet is the cradle of mind, but one cannot live in a cradle forever’. Tsiolkovsky’s famous antique quote about curing humanity’s ‘failure to...
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Venus may hold the key to discovering extra-terrestrial life
NASA is set to investigate a recent discovery showing possible signs of microbial life in the clouds of Venus. Researchers have discovered the presence of a rare and toxic gas called phosphine floating around the atmosphere of Venus. Known to biologists as one of the strongest indicators – or ‘biosignatures’...
Biotech start-up floods the black market with fake rhino horns
Biotech start-up Pembient is aiming to undercut illicit rhino poaching by flooding the black market with fake horns. Rhino horns are one of the most valuable commodities on the black market fetching in around $3,000 per pound, down from $60,000 just a few years ago. Believed to hold curative properties...
Cosmic signals from a black hole collision 7bn years old reach Earth
Seven billion years ago two massive black holes collided, and signs of the cataclysmic event have just reached Earth. Astronomers claim to have detected gravitational shockwaves emanating from chaotic merger of two black holes some seven billion years ago. The signal which provided ‘the biggest bang since the Big Bang’ rattled...
Is the quantum computing in ‘Devs’ really possible?
We take a peek at the physics behind Alex Garland’s new sci-fi offering Devs. Will quantum computers be able to tell us the future? Alex Garland’s newest foray into sci-fi, the Hulu show Devs, is one of the most innovate programs to be screened on prime-time Television for a...
China successfully launches first ever mission to Mars
The secretive space mission is called Tianwen-1 and is scheduled to land on Mars in seven months time. China has officially entered the Mars space race with the successful launch of Tianwen-1, an unmanned rover that will land sometime in February if all goes well. It would make China the...
The first human trial of potential coronavirus vaccine shows promise
Oxford University has partnered with pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca to produce a global coronavirus vaccine and hopefully begin delivering doses by the end of the year. After preliminary trial results revealed that Oxford University’s Covid-19 vaccine – called AZD1222 – appears to be safe, AstraZeneca has stated that it hopes to begin distributing it by the end of the year. Currently in the early stages of clinical human trials involving 1,000 healthy...
Russian hacking group attack vaccine researchers
According to British authorities, Russia is sponsoring hacking group APT29 who’re attacking British, US, and Canadian medical organisations. The UK’s National Cyber Security has publicly stated that drug companies and research groups focusing on a Covid-19 vaccine have been targeted by a hacker group called APT29. Known in hacking circles as the Duke or Cozy Bears, APT29 are sponsored by the Russian state and are considered a particularly troublesome collective...
NASA set to return to Mars with new rover ‘Perseverance’
Having bid farewell to the Mars rover in 2019, NASA is revisiting the Red Planet in 2021 with its most sophisticated vehicle to date, ‘Perseverance’. America’s chief space agency is set to embark on a new adventure to Mount Sharp, a huge summit on Mars, and the expedition will be carried out by a new and improved iteration of the 2019 rover called Perseverance. Dubbed the new rover’s ‘summer road trip’...
Could llamas hold the key to curing Covid-19?
If this works out, the llama may pip the unicorn to the title of Most Magical Animal. As you will have heard a thousand times before, mostly on morning news shows, Covid-19 has all of us navigating through ‘unprecedented times’. Social distancing regulations may be easing worldwide, but getting back to living the way we once were will depend heavily on finding a vaccine. To that end, we’ve invested millions...
