sciencetech

Treasure trove of ancient air dating back to the 1870s is discovered in Antarctica that could reveal how the atmosphere has changed over the last 150 years Scientists in Antarctica found more than 194 cubic feet of preserve air samples The air samples came from ice samples drilled out of the surface over a half-mile … Read more

With iOS 13, you’ll be able to unlock your phone 30 percent faster using Face ID. App launch speeds will also be twice as fast, thanks to downloads shrinking by 50 percent and updates by 60 percent. iOS 13 will also get ‘Dark Mode’, which has long been available among its many competitors. It boasts … Read more

Scientists have made a disturbing discovery in our oceans – there are a million times more microplastics floating around than previously estimated. The new data reveals that smaller particles have been under-sampled as they were found in the stomachs of gelatinous plankton. Following this study, experts have now determined there are 8.3 million pieces per … Read more

Meteoroid that skimmed Earth’s atmosphere at 35,000 miles per hour and flew back into space is a rare example of a ‘grazing fireball’, scientists claim The meteoroid was spotting passing through the atmosphere above Australia As it burnt across the sky leaving an 808 mile-long trail a fragment broke off After leaving the Earth’s atmosphere it … Read more

The sun has been eerily quiet for 264 days in a row – just 96 hours short of setting a new record with no surface activity since March 24 March 24 was the last time a sunspot was seen on the surface of the moon   The modern record is from 2008 when a blemish was … Read more

The asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs dealt the killer blow to an already stressed and unstable planet teetering on the brink of catastrophe, according to a new report.  Carbon dioxide produced by volcanoes in modern-day India created acidic oceans which partly dissolved the shells of clams and snails. Tracking how these creatures changed over time … Read more

Apple acquires AI startup that uses machine learning to make pictures crisper so you can snap the perfect selfie every time Bloomberg received documents that Apple recently acquired an AI startup   Spectral Edge uses machine learning to make smartphone pictures crisper These findings suggest Apple will use the technology in its next iPhone camera  By Stacy Liberatore For … Read more

The starry night harlequin toad — so-called for its white-spotted black colouration — has been photographed by scientists for the first time since 1991. The toad, whose proper name is ‘Atelopus arsyecue’, has not been comprehensively studied in 30 years, because biologists have not been able to access its small habitat on Colombia’s Sierra Nevada … Read more

Discovery of 2,000-year-old miniature dart-throwing weapons in Oregon shows how ancient Native American children learnt survival skills Long spear-throwers called atlatls came in mini versions for training children  The weapons were made from whale bone and crucial to learning how to hunt The small Atlatl fragments were recovered from the Par-Tee site in Oregon, US … Read more

The Earth’s magnetic North Pole is travelling at an unprecedented rate and is picking up speed as it moves towards Siberia, according to new satellite data. The magnetic North Pole is the wandering point on the surface of Earth’s Northern Hemisphere at which the planet’s magnetic field – created by molten iron within the planet’s core – … Read more

A village in Ethiopia has been discovered which belonged to the little-known Empire of Aksum – a bustling, sprawling metropolis to rival Rome that survived for centuries.  The Empire dominated much of Eastern Africa from the first century BC through to 825AD and rivalled its Roman contemporary in size and power.  The town predates the … Read more