Category: Science
Elon Musk hopes to put brain-reading implant in human by 2020
Elon Musk is hoping patients with severe neurological conditions will be able to test wireless technology connecting the human brain to computers as soon as 2020. The SpaceX founder’s startup Neuralink has sought approval from the US Food and Drug Administration and has already tested its technology on a monkey, which was able to control…
Could silica aerogel make Mars habitable?
Mars could be made habitable by the creation of small islands that mimic the Earth’s greenhouse effect, according to new research. A two-centimetre thick shield of silica aerogel – an ultralight material derived from a gel – would be effective in insulating the planet and melting ice beneath the surface for permanent water, scientists say.…
Mathematician Alan Turing to feature on new £50 note
Second World War code-breaker Alan Turing will be the next person to feature on the £50 note, the Bank of England has confirmed. The selection of the mathematician, who is often credited as being the father of computer science, was announced at the Science and Industry Museum in Manchester. Bank of England Governor Mark Carney, who…
Phenomenon which baffled Einstein captured in photo for first time
Scientists have captured a photograph for the first time of a phenomenon which Albert Einstein once described as “spooky action at a distance”. The image is of a strong form of quantum entanglement, where two particles interact with each other and share their physical states for an instant – no matter how great the distance which…
G20 summit: Theresa May pushes for climate change action
World leaders are at odds over climate change and trade, with the process of agreeing a joint statement at the G20 summit running into difficulties. US president Donald Trump has reportedly been pushing to water down the summit communique’s language on climate change – but Theresa May wants “the strongest wording we can deliver”. …
Boaty McBoatface makes significant discovery on debut research mission
The yellow submarine dubbed Boaty McBoatface has returned from its first expedition with data which links increasing Antarctic winds to rising sea temperatures. The mission was undertaken in April 2017 and saw the autonomous vessel explore 110 miles at depths of up to 4,000 metres in the Orkney Passage, a region of the Southern Ocean some 500…
Professor Brian Cox breaks own world record for show ticket sales
Professor Brian Cox has broken his own Guinness world record for the most tickets sold for a science show. The physicist saw a total of 11,433 tickets sold for his Universal: Adventures In Space And Time show at Arena Birmingham on February 23 2019, breaking his previous record of 8,787 tickets sold. The current show,…
Black Hole ‘Event Horizon’ image captured for first time
The glowing doughnut lost in the vastness of space looks harmless enough – but it is just as well the object is 55 million light years away. This is the first image astronomers have captured of a supermassive black hole big enough to swallow stars at the centre of a distant galaxy. Nothing that gets too…
NASA moves a step closer to flying a helicopter on Mars in 2021
A helicopter that is set to fly on Mars in 2021 has completed its first test flight, American space agency NASA has revealed. Exploration on other planets has long been restricted to rovers on the ground, but engineers are making progress in their ambitious plans to launch a drone-like device into the skies above the…
Scientists put smartphone in blender to analyse contents -as you do
Scientists have blended a mobile phone to dust to conduct a chemical analysis of what it contains. A team at the University of Plymouth carried out the research to show the quantities of rare or so-called ‘conflict’ elements in each phone and to encourage greater recycling rates. Every year, 1.4 billion mobile phones are produced…