Science

A mysterious hole the size of Maine has opened up in Antarctica, stumping scientists who have no clue how it formed. “It looks like you just punched a hole in the ice,” explained University of Toronto Mississauga professor Kent Moore. The hole has an area of approximately 80,000 square kilometers (30,000 square miles), and is as large as Lake Superior, ... Read More »

In today’s world, coal is associated with Earth’s rapid warming – but, millions of years ago, its formation nearly turned our planet into a massive ‘snowball.’ Roughly 300 million years ago, much of the world was covered in the vast forests of the Carboniferous and Permian periods. When trees in vast forests died during a time called the Carboniferous and ... Read More »

SpaceX launched 10 communication satellites into Earth low orbit on Monday, then watched its spent Falcon 9 first-stage rocket booster stick a landing on a drone ship in the Pacific Ocean. The launch was the first of two planned this week by SpaceX. Today’s Falcon 9 lifted off from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California at 5:37 a.m. PT, loaded ... Read More »

Scientists identify the Lord Howe Island stick insect on the remains of a large volcano in the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand. In the 1960s, rock climbers on Ball’s Pyramid, a small, isolated volcanic stack located in the Tasman Sea, discovered a treasure that would mark the beginning of an incredible story of survival. The treasure was the ... Read More »

Scientists have foundtraces of neonicotinoid chemicals in honey samples taken from numerous bee populations across the world, according to a recent study in the journal Science. Researchers tested around 200 samples of honey gathered from all over the world, except Antarctica. The results were startling, as they discovered high pesticides levels. Leading the way in honey pesticide contamination is North ... Read More »

Christian numerologist David Meade, who has been talking about doomsday, said the seven-year Tribulation period will begin on October 15. He predicts seven years of earthquakes, hurricanes and tsunamis will devastate the planet. One again Meade believes this seven years of damnation will be triggered by the mysterious Planet X, or Nibiru – a hidden planet that will move past ... Read More »

Families will soon be able to send their loves ones into the great beyond for a final goodbye after a British company invented an orbital ash-scattering service. Ascension Flight will also film the ashes exploding against the curvature of the Earth for posterity. The new ritual, offered by Ascension Flights, costs families £795 for the flight, which is also available ... Read More »

A new analysis of Neanderthal DNA showed today’s humans have more of it than scientists previously thought. A research published Thursday in the American Journal of Human Genetics found today’s humans probably have between 1.5 and 2.1 percent Neanderthal DNA from interbreeding across Europe and Asia between 130,000 and about 50,000 years ago. A female Neanderthal bone estimated to be ... Read More »

A new study suggests higher temperatures could release more carbon than we thought, potentially creating a dangerous feedback loop that would cause the planet to get hotter and hotter. The research, led by Jerry Melillo, distinguished scientist at the Marine Biological Laboratory, appears in the Oct. 6 issue of Science. Melillo and colleagues began this pioneering experiment in 1991 in ... Read More »

Women can be just as risk-taking as men — or even more so — when the conventional macho measures of daring — such as betting vast sums on a football game — are replaced by less stereotypical criteria, according to new study led by the University of Exeter. Traditional barometers of high risk behaviour — such as betting a day’s ... Read More »

Attention sky watchers: Make sure to take a few moments to peer through your trusty telescopes on Wednesday, Oct. 11, as an enormous asteroid will zip by Earth at a breakneck speed. Astronomers around the world have been tracking the asteroid known as “2012 TC4” since July. Then, scientists believed the space rock, which is estimated to be somewhere between ... Read More »