Science
NASA searches Uranus for gas and finds 10 more Earth-like planets
Exciting times at NASA where plans to send a probe to Uranus or Neptune to study the gases that surround these neighbouring planets in our solar system have been announced. NASA wants to learn about the constituency of these icy giants somewhat neglected by science, so far from our sun, that solar power for any probe would be useless. The Uranus or Neptune probe would need a nuclear battery - in short supply due to treaties about plutonium enrichment. NASA hope...
Groundwater was present on Mars for “much longer than we previously thought”
Mars was covered in water far longer than previously thought, meaning life could have been there more recently, according to scientists. Lighter-toned bedrock that surrounds cracks and fissures in the surface suggests the red planet had liquid longer much longer than previously thought - because it left behind halo-like rings of silica. The new finding is reported in a paper published today in Geophysical Research Letters, a journal of the American Geophysical Union. Jens Frydenvang, a scientist at Los Alamos...
Woolly mammoths were wiped out by a comet – just like the dinosaurs
Woolly mammoths were wiped out by a giant space rock... just like the dinosaurs, according to new research. Earth was hit by a comet less than 13,000 years ago... wiping out thousands of people and many large animals including the iconic Ice Age beast, say scientists. A fresh analysis of ancient animal carvings of birds, scorpions and snakes has confirmed the devastating strike that was so bad it triggered a mini ice age that lasted a millennium. The symbols were...
Scotland is first UK country to offer drug which helps prevent HIV
Scotland has become the first of the home nations to offer a drug which drastically cuts the chances of being infected with HIV. It will be offered by NHS Scotland. The drug, Prep, has just been approved by the Scottish Medicines Consortium, which will roundly offer the drug to patients who are eligible. At present time the drug is given to those who have HIV in Scotland, but after today's decision it will be used to prevent infection. It is...
Watch – Quadriplegic now able to move his arm using power of thought
A world first medical breakthrough has seen a quadriplegic able to move his arm for the first time in eight years - simply using the power of thought. Bill Kochevar - the first recipient of implanted brain-recording and muscle-stimulating systems - grabbed a mug of water, drew it to his lips and drank through the straw. The 56-year-old's motions were slow and deliberate, but he hadn't been able to move his right arm or hand for eight years. And his...
Star-damn! There are 2 trillion galaxies in Universe – ten times more than thought
There has been some unbelievable news from a group of scientists from the University of Nottingham, who has said there are ten times more galaxies than humans previously thought. The project has been dubbed an "intergalactic archaeological dig." Back in the 90s, using the Hubble images, scientists believed there were 100-200 billion galaxies, a huge number, but way off the mark. The Nottingham team, overseen by Christopher Conselice, concedes this was a huge underestimation and used 3-D modelling of the...
Watch – Professor Brian Cox schools climate change sceptic
Almost all scientists agree that climate change is a fact and a huge issue that could wipe humans from the planet, but sadly quite a lot of people don't think it is real. Well step forward a newly elected Australian politician who thinks climate change is in fact a climate change, manipulated by NASA of all people. Don't worry though Professor Brian Cox was on hand to sort him out with, cold hard facts, something that seem to be increasingly...
NASA warns asteroid could hit planet Earth
Usually we take these types of theories with a huge pinch of slat, but on this occasions NASA itself has aired concerns about the possibility a massive asteroid could lunge into our planet and cause catastrophic damage. The space agency is going to send a probe to take samples from the asteroid who passes past Earth every six years and gets closer each time. Scientists thinks that the asteroid, named Bennu, will even pass between the moon and our planet...
The Ice Bucket Challenge actually achieved something
Many were dubious by the Ice Bucket Challenge that swept the digital universe in 2014, indeed we at the London Economic initially were not too impressed. We whole-heartedly apologise now, as it has actually achieved something. Millions of people, including high profile celebrities, filmed themselves having a bucket of ice cold water poured over them, to raise money for and awareness of ALS – a progressive neurodegenerative disease. It is also known as motor neurone disease (MND). Overall around 17...