ScienceAlert

Sharing the most fascinating and inspiring science news. We analyse and fact check to bring you the best in genuine scientific research you can trust.

By ScienceAlert

Moon
These 9 'Moonshot' Innovations Will Remind You How Ingenious Humans Can Truly Be
ScienceAlert - ARIA BENDIX
When Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin stepped foot on the Moon in 1969, they helped to cement the idea of a "moonshot" – a goal or achievement that …
Nuclear Energy
Earth's Mysterious Inner Core Could Finally Be Explained by New Science
ScienceAlert - Peter Dockrill
It's one of the deepest unknowns in geophysics: the hidden movements of Earth's innermost core. While we think of the ground beneath our feet as terra …
Dark Energy
New Experiment Just Placed a Major Constraint on The Mysterious Force of Dark Energy
ScienceAlert - Michelle Starr
The Universe is expanding, and that expansion is speeding up over time. These two facts have been well established through observation, but we don't …
Spiders
The Effects of Climate Change Might Make Spiders Angry, According to New Study
ScienceAlert - Michelle Starr
A dramatically changing climate is going to have a lot of negative side effects we didn't predict, and scientists have just found a new one: really …
Environment
These Stunning Photos Reveal The Extremely Rare Phenomenon of a 'Fire Cloud'
ScienceAlert - Peter Dockrill
Scientists in the US have flown directly through an exceedingly rare atmospheric phenomenon known as a 'fire cloud' – and they captured the unique, …
Environment
Bees Are Dropping Dead Across Brazil, And The Reason Is Absolutely Devastating
ScienceAlert - BRUCE DOUGLAS & TATIANA FREITAS
Death came swiftly for Aldo Machado's honey bees. Less than 48 hours after the first Apis mellifera showed signs of sickness, tens of thousands lay …
Glaciers
Iceland Just Held a Funeral For The First Glacier Killed by Climate Change
ScienceAlert - Jacinta Bowler
In 1901, a geological map of Iceland's Central Highlands depicted the Okjökull glacier as a large swathe of ice spanning 38 square kilometres. By …
Exoplanets
Astronomers Just Narrowed Down Which Exoplanets Might Host Life
ScienceAlert - DAN ROBITZSKI
Scientists may have been looking for extraterrestrial life in all the wrong places. Astronomers may have just ruled out life on an entire class of …
Atoms
This Genius 'Heat Shield' For Electronics Is Just 10 Atoms Thick And Uses Graphene
ScienceAlert - David Nield
Researchers have developed an electronics heat shield just 10 atoms thick, a shield that has the potential to make our gadgets both safer to use and …
Health
New Evidence in Animals Shows Whole Body Vibration Actually Changes The Microbiome
ScienceAlert - Peter Dockrill
It's the star of a thousand late-night infomercials: vibration platforms that promise all the hard-won benefits of exercise while you simply stand …
Health
Worried You're Eating Too Much Salt? Here's The Science on 'Safe Levels'
ScienceAlert - FENG HE
The human body needs a tiny amount of sodium to function properly and this is typically found in salt (sodium chloride). But today most people …
Plastic
Oh Great, There's a New Form of Plastic Pollution That Looks Exactly Like Rocks
ScienceAlert - Michelle Starr
Plastic pollution has reached the Antarctic wilderness. It's at Earth's highest peak, and its deepest chasm. And yet, the extent of this insidious …
CRISPR
In a Dizzying New Upgrade, CRISPR Can Now Edit Several Genes at Once
ScienceAlert - David Nield
We've already seen many different uses for CRISPR gene editing – the precise cutting and pasting of particular genes in DNA. Now researchers have …
Comets
Brilliant Video Shows a Comet Get Utterly Vaporised by Our Sun
ScienceAlert - Michelle Starr
Between its raging heat and intense gravity, the region really close to the Sun is a pretty hazardous place. And that has been spectacularly …
Asteroids
Earth May Have Supported Life Much Earlier Than We Thought, Study Suggests
ScienceAlert - Carly Cassella
Early Earth grew up in a chaotic time. As our planet tried to find its place in a relatively young Solar System about 4.5 billion years ago, it was …
Planetary Habitability
There Could Be Up to 10 Billion Earth-Like Planets in Our Galaxy Alone
ScienceAlert - MORGAN MCFALL-JOHNSEN
Our galaxy could be littered with warm, watery planets like Earth. That's the conclusion of researchers at Penn State University, who used data from …
Vaping
Officials: Nearly 100 Cases of a Mysterious Lung Illness Could Be Linked to Vaping
ScienceAlert - LENA H. SUN & LINDSEY BEVER
State and federal health officials are investigating almost 100 cases of mysterious lung illnesses linked to vaping and e-cigarette use in 14 states, …
Space
Striking Gamma Ray Image Reveals How The Moon Is 'Brighter' Than Our Sun
ScienceAlert - EVAN GOUGH
The eerie, hellish glow coming from the Moon may seem unreal in this image, since it's invisible to our eyes. But instruments that detect gamma rays …
Health
Bogus Paper Claims HPV Vaccine Causes Infertility, Scientists Shred It to Pieces
ScienceAlert - Carly Cassella
The vaccine for human papilloma virus (HPV) is a feat of modern medicine that has proved to be both perfectly safe and highly effective. After more …
Ozone
You Could Be "Smoking" a Pack of Cigarettes a Day Just by Breathing in City Air
ScienceAlert - David Nield
Want to know just how badly polluted the air we're breathing is getting? It can be as harmful for your lungs as a pack of cigarettes a day, new …
Elon Musk
Elon Musk Wants to Drop Nuclear Bombs on Mars
ScienceAlert - DAVE SMITH
Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, still wants to drop nuclear bombs on Mars to transform it into a livable planet for humans — as evidenced by his …
Tech Trends
A Major Cyber Attack Could Be Just as Deadly as Nuclear Weapons, Says Scientist
ScienceAlert - JEREMY STRAUB
People around the world may be worried about nuclear tensions rising, but I think they're missing the fact that a major cyberattack could be just as …
Humanity
'Mad' Flat-Earther Is Preparing For Another Homemade Rocket Launch
ScienceAlert - IAN WHITTAKER
The self-declared daredevil and Flat Earther "Mad" Mike Hughes is preparing for another launch in his homemade, steam-powered rocket in the …
Qubits
This Superconductor Could Be Key to a Whole Different Type of Quantum Computer
ScienceAlert - David Nield
For quantum computing to become fully realised, we're going to have to make a few huge scientific leaps along the way – including finding a …
Health
Scientists Just Discovered a Previously Unknown Pain-Detecting Organ in Mammals
ScienceAlert - Tessa Koumoundouros
Until now, it was thought that the intense feeling we get from jabbing ourselves on something sharp was detected by exposed nerves in the skin. But …
Health
Here's What Happens to Your Body And Brain When You Pull an All Nighter
ScienceAlert - David Nield
There are times when it's unavoidable - a dissertation is due, a family member is in the emergency room, it's make-or-break for your company - but …
Neutron Stars
Early Reports Indicate We May Have Detected a Black Hole And Neutron Star Collision
ScienceAlert - Michelle Starr
It looks like we've bagged another win for gravitational wave astronomy. A new gravitational wave detection is the best candidate yet for a type of …
Comets
We've Just Discovered Comet 67P Has It's Own Little 'Churymoon', And It's So Cute
ScienceAlert - EVAN GOUGH
The European Space Agency's (ESA) Rosetta mission spent two years at the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. At the end of September 2016, its mission …
Environment
The IPCC Report Says We Need to Eat Better - But Does It Really Mean You?
ScienceAlert - MORTEN FIBIEGER BYSKOV
In its new special report on climate change and land, the IPCC calls for more effective and sustainable land management, and more sustainable food …