Seaweed film could be the future of single use plastic packaging
London-based company Notpla was granted $13 million to boost sustainable packaging using seaweed. It hopes to replace hard-to-recycle plastic films used for food and clothing wrapping. The magical plant that holds together sushi rolls, adds flavour to our ramen bowls, and grows abundantly in the ocean has become an unlikely,...
Current in Science
NASA hires theologians to prepare humanity for extra-terrestrial life
A priest and other religious experts have been called on to determine how different religions around the world would react to contact with aliens. As favourable as it is to live in blissful ignorance and choose to disregard the fact that we’re tiny creatures on a rock floating through...
Scientists discover perfectly preserved dinosaur embryo
Believed to be between 66 and 72 million years old, the fossil was found in southern China and offers new insight into the very first stages of animal life on Earth. On Tuesday, scientists announced the discovery of the most complete dinosaur embryo ever found, tucked into a position that's...
NASA launches its first asteroid-deflecting spaceship
Named DART, the spacecraft has no other purpose but to slam into and redirect an asteroid 6.8 million miles out in space. It’s the first planetary defence mission of its kind. Considering that we exist on a floating rock in the endless, chaotic abyss of the universe, NASA’s plan to...
Jeff Bezos unveils ‘space business park’ Orbital Reef
The International Space Station may soon have commercial competition, as Jeff Bezos announces plans for a ‘space business park’ launched by his company Blue Origin. Following his successful rocket launch earlier this year, Jeff Bezos’ space tourism company Blue Origin has announced plans to create and launch a space station. This...
AstroAccess to advance disability inclusion in space travel
In efforts to expand space travel beyond billionaire tech tycoons and hyper trained astronauts, AstroAccess is advancing Zero-G experiences to include the disabled. As industries go, space travel is arguably one of the very least accessible out there. However, efforts are underway to change that. Leading an inclusive space charge, a...
Is climate change dimming the Earth’s shine over time?
The planet has dimmed by 0.5 percent in 20 years. Researchers believe climate change could be responsible. Half a percent of dimming in 20 years may not sound like a huge deal, but considering the Earth is 4.5 billion years old it isn’t exactly great. When talking about the Earth losing its shine, we aren’t referring to Mars exploration being the hot new topic in planetology, or making a bleak metaphorical...
How Twitter is helping to monitor and save forests
To monitor how trees are being affected by changes in their immediate environment, researchers are hooking them up to Twitter using a suite of sensors on and around their trunks. If you’d told me a few years ago that, in 2021, trees would be tweeting, I’d have likely laughed in your face. Alas, given how significantly technology has infiltrated its way into our lives during the last two decades, it’s...
Colorado scientists grow first plants from Martian soil
In what’s being described as an extraordinary breakthrough in the aim of eventually colonising Mars, Colorado scientists have grown the first ever plants in Martian soil. We have definitive proof that the clover really is a lucky plant. Inside a research greenhouse at Colorado State University, agricultural biology student Franklin Harris and his colleagues have just grown the first ever plant from Martian soil – or ‘regolith’. In the aim of establishing...
Can fungi become a pillar for toxic waste clean ups?
In the last 20 years, mushrooms have proved a natural and cost-effective way of cleaning oil spills, contaminated soil, and toxic metals from lakes. Given our current climate crisis, should we be utilising fungi more? If you’re of the opinion that mushrooms are only good for a tasty risotto or brief invincibility in Super Mario, this deep dive into the environmental application of fungi will blow your mind more than...
