A small drone powered by soft muscle-like actuators Kevin Chen An insect-inspired robot that weighs only as much as a grape can perform acrobatics and fly much further than any previous insect-sized drone without falling apart. In order for small flying robots to make agile maneuvers, they must be light and agile, but also able … Read more
Smoke rises from a fire at Vistra Energy’s Moss Landing battery warehouse in California on January 17 Bloomberg/Getty Images A fire at the world’s largest battery storage facility in California destroyed 300 megawatts of energy storage, forced 1,200 area residents to evacuate and released plumes of smoke that could pose a health threat to humans … Read more
The Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii has been recording atmospheric carbon dioxide levels since 1958 FRED ESPENAK/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY Levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere measured by a weather station at the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii rose by 3.58 ppm in 2024 — the biggest jump since records began there in 1958. “We’re … Read more
Stone slabs with sun motifs found on Bornholm island, Denmark Antiquity Publications/John Lee, The National Museum Hundreds of mysterious engraved “sunstones” unearthed in Denmark may have been ceremonially buried because a volcanic eruption around 2900 BC. made the sun disappear. A total of 614 stone slabs and fragments of tablets engraved with decorative motifs of … Read more
An artist’s impression of the Blue Ghost landing on the moon Firefly Aerospace Two private spacecraft aiming to land on the moon are set to blast off aboard a SpaceX rocket, in a sign of increasing commercial activity on the lunar surface. Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost lander and ispace’s Resilience lander have both been given … Read more
Meta owns social media platforms including Facebook and Instagram JRdes/Shutterstock By 2024, Meta allowed more than 3,300 pornographic ads – many with AI-generated content – ​​on its social media platforms, including Facebook and Instagram. The findings come from a report by AI Forensics, a European non-profit organization focused on investigating technology platform algorithms. The researchers … Read more
Italian ryegrass is a common weed in field crops John Cussans Weeds resistant to the herbicide glyphosate have been found in the UK for the first time. The species in question, called Italian ryegrass, is widespread in the UK, but samples impervious to the chemical have only been found on one farm in Kent. Glyphosate … Read more