Europeans make diplomatic push amid deteriorating relations with Iran
Relations between the EU and Iran are at their lowest point ever according to an EU official. Outgoing European Council President Charles Michel met with Iran’s new President Masoud Pezeshkian to discuss the strained relations. Michel reiterated EU concerns about Iran delivering weapons to Russia, destabilizing actions through proxies, detained EU citizens, its nuclear program, […]
Glowing Frog on a Glowing Mushroom Wins Science Photo Competition
A photo titled “Glowing Frog on a Glowing Mushroom” won the People’s Choice Award at the Beaker Street Science Photography Prize 2024 in Tasmania. The photo shows a blue-glowing tree frog sitting on a bioluminescent funnel-shaped mushroom known as a ghost fungus. The frog’s blue glow is caused by biofluorescence – its chemical skin absorbs […]
American held for 8 years in notorious Iranian prison tells of ordeal
Siamak Namazi, an Iranian-American citizen, was detained in Iran in 2015 and imprisoned for 8 years until his release in 2023 in a prisoner exchange deal between the US and Iran. He speaks to CNN’s Christiane Amanpour in his first interview since being released. He describes the brutal conditions he endured in Iran’s Evin prison, […]
Iran’s IRGC says it arrested 12 people for collaborating with Israel
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said it has arrested 12 people suspected of collaborating with Israeli intelligence services. The IRGC said in a statement those arrested were “linked with the Zionist regime’s intelligence services and hired by them.” Israel and Iran are arch-enemies. It said some of those arrested had received training from Israeli intelligence on specialized […]
‘Worst nightmare’: Elon Musk’s Starlink satellites could blind radio telescopes
– Elon Musk’s SpaceX is launching thousands of satellites to create its Starlink broadband internet constellation in low-Earth orbit. – Scientists are concerned this could negatively impact radio astronomy observations from both ground-based and space-based radio telescopes. – The satellites are very bright as they need to be visible to users on Earth. Their reflective […]
ESA’s Euclid celebrates first science with sparkling cosmic views
– ESA’s Euclid space telescope has released its first science data and images, less than a year after launch. – The early observations included 5 new images showing galaxy clusters, star-forming regions, spiral galaxies, and groups of galaxies. These demonstrate Euclid’s ability to study different astronomical objects. – The data accompanies 10 forthcoming scientific papers. […]
Reuters: Iran delivers crucial missiles to Russia without launchers, sources say
Reuters reports that Iran has delivered a shipment of short-range Fath-360 ballistic missiles to Russia to support its war efforts in Ukraine. However, Iran did not provide the mobile launchers needed to fire the missiles. The Fath-360 missiles have a range of up to 120km and would bolster Russia’s ability to target Ukrainian infrastructure. But […]
Dead man’s fingers is the creepiest fungi in the forest
– Dead man’s fingers (Xylaria polymorpha) is a type of fungus that appears like decaying zombie fingers emerging from rotten logs and tree trunks. – It gets its name from its black, finger-like fruiting bodies that produce spores. These structures can last for months, releasing spores to reproduce. – The fungus feeds on decaying wood […]
Men have a daily hormone cycle — and it’s synced to their brains shrinking from morning to night
– A new study found that men have a daily cycle of hormone levels that is linked to changes in brain volume over the course of a day. – The study involved 40 brain scans over 30 days of one 26-year-old man, with scans done in the morning and evening to coincide with peaks and […]
Scientists store entire human genome on ‘memory crystal’ that could survive billions of years
Scientists in the UK have stored the entire human genome on a “5D memory crystal” that could potentially survive for billions of years. The crystal was developed by the University of Southampton and can store up to 360 terabytes of information while withstanding extreme conditions like heat, cold, impact, and radiation. The human genome data […]