Test pilot Chuck Yeager in the cockpit of the Bell X-1, in which he became the first recorded pilot to break the sound barrier – although others had likely died trying. Jack Ridley/USAF Charles “Chuck” Yeager, who has died aged 97, epitomised the movie test pilot of the 1940s andContinue Reading
The only six sites on the farside of the Moon suitable for telescope arrays of around 200km across. NASA When it comes to the Moon, everyone wants the same things. Not in the sense of having shared goals, but in the sense that all players target the same strategic sitesContinue Reading
Refugee holding a mobile phone at a refugee accommodation centre in in Berlin, Germany, 2016 EPA/Kay Nietfield New technologies deployed on borders for migration management and border security under the umbrella of smart border solutions are ignoring the fundamental human rights of migrants. Unmanned aerial vehicles (drones, for example) areContinue Reading
We could edit our genes to make us more resistance to viruses. Natali_ Mis/Shutterstock Hollywood blockbusters such as X-men, Gattaca and Jurassic World have explored the intriguing concept of “germline genome editing” – a biomolecular technique that can alter the DNA of sperm, eggs or embryos. If you remove aContinue Reading
Large radio telescope dish in Arecibo national observatory. Shutterstock/photospirit Astronomers are mourning the loss of the world’s second largest radio telescope in Puerto Rico. The US National Science Foundation said the Arecibo telescope’s 900-tonne instrument platform fell onto a reflector dish some 450ft (137 metres) below – just weeks afterContinue Reading
We could edit our genes to make us more resistance to viruses. Natali_ Mis/Shutterstock Hollywood blockbusters such as X-men, Gattaca and Jurassic World have explored the intriguing concept of “germline genome editing” – a biomolecular technique that can alter the DNA of sperm, eggs or embryos. If you remove aContinue Reading
Artist impression of Hayabusa 2 approaching asteroid Ryugu. Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR)/wikipedia, CC BY-SA What is your idea of an asteroid? Many people think of them as potato-shaped, inert and perhaps rather dull, pock-marked objects – far away in deep space. But over the last ten years,Continue Reading
Eat Just Cultured meat made from animal cells without animal slaughter has been approved for sale for the first time. The approval, granted by the Singapore Food Agency to US food company Eat Just for their cultured “chicken bites”, is a watershed moment for the future of meat. Unlike existingContinue Reading
Guilty? The length of your answer may give it away. Motortion Films/Shutterstock Most people lie occasionally. The lies are often trivial and essentially inconsequential – such as pretending to like a tasteless gift. But in other contexts, deception is more serious and can have harmful effects on criminal justice. FromContinue Reading
Secret units of saboteurs and assassins would have targeted German troops in the event of a Nazi invasion. Shutterstock Eighty years ago, as Nazi Germany’s military might amassed along the French coast, small groups of highly trained British killers bade farewell to their families and made their way underground forContinue Reading
