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An image of the ALICE detector, which researchers used to track near-miss collisions between lead nuclei in the LHC. | Photo Credit: CERN In India and other parts of the world, some ancient natural philosophers practised an enterprise called alchemy. It was in some ways an early form of chemistry, but guided by less-than-scientific ideas … Read more

This Bedmap3 grid of Antarctica’s bed topography shows the Gamburtsev Mountains slightly to the right of the image’s centre. | Photo Credit: Pritchard et al., Scientific Data (2025), CC BY Have you ever imagined what Antarctica looks like beneath its thick blanket of ice? Hidden below are rugged mountains, valleys, hills and plains. Some peaks, … Read more

With the most powerful radio telescope in the southern hemisphere, we have observed a twinkling star and discovered an abundance of mysterious plasma structures in our cosmic neighbourhood. The plasma structures we see are variations in density or turbulence, akin to interstellar cyclones stirred up by energetic events in the galaxy. The study, published in … Read more

Female mammals produce milk to nourish their young. Much of the nourishment comes from lactose, the major sugar in milk. The lactose is broken down in the infant’s small intestine into the more simpler sugars, glucose, and galactose, which are readily absorbed by the small intestine. The break-down, or digestion, of lactose is mediated by … Read more

The primitive man in the cave.; 3d render For Snapshot – picture from istock/getty images | Photo Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto A set of ancient wooden spears may be younger than scientists thought and wielded by Neanderthals instead of their ancestors. The complete spears made of spruce and pine are among the oldest known hunting weapons. … Read more

A Mount Augustus snail laying an egg through its neck in Hokitika, New Zealand. | Photo Credit: AFP The strange reproductive habits of a large, carnivorous New Zealand snail were once shrouded in mystery. Now footage of the snail laying an egg from its neck has been captured for the first time, the country’s conservation … Read more

Eggs are less likely to crack when they fall on their side, according to experiments with over 200 eggs. What does this mean for the best way to crack an egg for breakfast? Not much, since a break around the middle is the best way to get the golden yolk and runny whites to ooze … Read more

An Earth Observation Satellite (EOS) lifts off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andra Pradesh. File | Photo Credit: PTI India will launch an earth observation satellite on Sunday (May 18, 2025) from the spaceport at Sriharikota, boosting its surveillance capabilities from space in all weather conditions. A delegation of lawmakers, who are … Read more

Picture a space rock smashing into the moon. It sends splinters of moon rock flying into the dark void of space. What would that spectacle look like? Scientists used the ATLAS telescope in Rio Hurtado, Chile, to discover asteroid 2024 YR4 in December 2024 as a new entrant in the asteroid databases — and it … Read more

Yeast colonies being grown on an agar plate. | Photo Credit: Rainis Venta (CC BY-SA) Researchers at Emory University and the University of Texas Health Science Centre, both in the US, have found that a class of mutations that leads to serious developmental disabilities in human babies has similar effects in budding yeast, a simpler … Read more