Porknite. Anders Moden Pigs might not be able to fly, but they can play video games. In a new study, researchers from Purdue University in Indiana, US have shown that pigs can use a digital screen and joystick, operated by their snout, to move a cursor around for rewards. ThisContinue Reading
Erik Karits/Shutterstock Arachnophobes often cite spiders’ unpredictable movement as the basis of their fear, pointing out how each spindly leg seems to lift, flex and probe with a menacing degree of autonomy. Perhaps unsettlingly, research conducted by my colleagues and I has revealed that each one of a spider’s legsContinue Reading
Glass windows like these could be replaced with wood. Shutterstock/Visions-AD Wood is an ancient material humans have been using for millions of years, for the construction of housing, ships and as a source of fuel for burning. It’s also a renewable source, and one way to capture excess carbon dioxideContinue Reading
Fossilised melanin has revealed some dinosaur colours. shutterstock/AmeliAU One of the goals of palaeontology is to bring the past to life. In recent years, some spectacular discoveries have revealed unprecedented glimpses into fossilised animals and their lives. We know some dinosaurs cared for their young, that the earliest bees wereContinue Reading
gpointstudio/Shutterstock Established the same year Facebook was founded (2004), Safer Internet Day has become a fixture in schools, teaching children how to safely navigate an increasingly complex online world. With much of the world in some form of lockdown, this year’s Safer Internet Day will be different. Parents must takeContinue Reading
G-Stock Studio/Shutterstock With gyms closed and millions cooped up and restless at home, it’s little wonder that “healthtech” is now being billed as the next big battleground over which the likes of Microsoft, Apple and Google will fight. Chief among their products are wearable devices that measure your heart rate,Continue Reading
Satellites affect your life every day. Shutterstock Almost 3,000 operational spacecraft orbit our Earth. This number is growing constantly, thanks to cheaper materials and smaller satellites. Having this many satellites in orbit can create problems, including space junk and the way they change our view of the night sky. ButContinue Reading
There are over 100 words for the noise a dog makes, in more than 60 languages, according to the work of psychologist Stanley Coren. These range from “ouah-ouah” in France to others less recognisable to English speakers, such as “hong-hong”, apparently, in Thailand. Of course, these differences only reflect theContinue Reading
Zenza Flarini/Shutterstock From Washington DC to Wall Street, 2021 has already seen online groups causing major organised offline disruption. Some of it has been in violation of national laws, some in violation of internet platforms’ terms of service. When these groups are seen to cause societal harm, the solution fromContinue Reading
How times have changed since the Apollo era. Within the space of a few days, two space missions from China and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), respectively, are set to reach Mars. The UAE’s Hope mission will go into orbit around Mars on February 9. The next day, the ChineseContinue Reading
