Category archives: Weekly Selection

Could Earth be constantly crashing through dark matter? Scientists are looking to new techniques to search for evidence that the Earth is constantly breaking through walls of dark matter. Researchers are acting on a theory that dark matter, made up of weakly interacting massive particles, are tied up in domain walls, which they liken to […]

Anyone can find an exoplanet A team of volunteer amateur astronomers has discovered evidence of 42 alien planets. The volunteers were sorting through NASA data as part of the Planet Hunters crowdsourcing program. Professional astronomers have yet to confirm the proposed planets. Space.com Planethunters.org Drought predictions in East Africa Variations in sea-surface temperatures of the […]

When a standard kilogram is not a kilogram Tens of micrograms worth of surface contamination have caused the international standard kilogram to gain weight, according to new research, causing concern that each country’s standard weight for a kilogram is now slightly different. The cylinder-shaped piece of metal is key for scientific experiments that require exact […]

First brain cells found devoted to selective attention in an invertebrate animal. Dragonflies lack humans’ big brains, but they still get the job done, according to new research that suggests that these insects have brain cells capable of feats previously seen only in primates. Specifically, the dragonflies can screen out useless visual information to focus […]

The lifespan of words A recent analysis has found that as a language grows over time, it becomes more set in its ways. New words are always being added, according to this study, but few become widely used and part of the standard vocabulary. The scientists found that as the vocabulary of a language grew […]

Five hundred phases Condensed matter physics – the branch of physics responsible for discovering and describing most of these phases – has traditionally classified phases by the way their fundamental building blocks – usually atoms – are arranged. The key is something called symmetry. Classifying the phases of matter by describing their symmetries and where […]

Three new primate species verified in Borneo A new small primate with a toxic bite and distinctive facial fur markings has been discovered in the jungles of Borneo. Two previously known subspecies of slow loris have also been accorded full species status. The slow loris (Nycticebus) is a primate genus closely related to the lemur […]