Nature’s weirdest creatures: Fried egg jellyfish
NATURE’S WEIRDEST CREATURES FRIED EGG JELLYFISH How do you like your eggs? If the answer is, ‘fried, salty, and weirdly pulsing with life’ then read on. With its yellow dome sitting on top of a smooth translucent bell, the fried egg jellyfish, Cotylorhiza tuberculata, bears an uncanny resemblance to the popular breakfast item. Beneath this […]
The best science images of 2022
THE BEST SCIENCE IMAGES OF 2022 WHEN IT COMES TO PHOTOGRAPHY, THE JAMES WEBB SPACE TELESCOPE STOLE THE SHOW, WITH VISUALS THAT REMINDED US WHAT AN OUTRAGEOUSLY BEAUTIFUL PLACE THE UNIVERSE CAN BE. BUT TO TELL THE TRUTH, OVER THE LAST 12 MONTHS THERE WAS NO SHORTAGE OF MIND-BLOWING IMAGES THAT CHANGED OUR PERSPECTIVES. HERE’S […]
How do parrots say human words without lips?
How do parrots say human words without lips? SARAH PHELPS, VIA EMAIL My friend’s African Grey parrot speaks so convincingly, she can order herself treats via the family’s smart assistant. No lips, no vocal cords, just sheer opportunism. She does this by using her syrinx, a hollow, Y-shaped structure unique to birds, that sits between […]
James Webb’s first year in space
In just a few short months, the James Webb Space Telescope has imaged the universe as never before…
How do we know how dinosaurs moved?
GARY, VIA EMAIL Tyrannosaurus rex lived 66 million years ago and no human has ever seen one alive. How do we know how it – or any other long-extinct dinosaur – moved? This is part of a larger question in palaeontology: how do we understand the behaviours of extinct species? In general, we rely on […]
Next stop the Moon
If we want to explore the Solar System even further, we’ll need autonomous robots to help us do it. And that’s why scientists are putting futuristic bots through their paces on the lunar-like landscape of Mount Etna
NASA deflects asteroid by smashing spaceship into it
The mission is a major step forward in protecting the Earth from potentially devastating asteroid impacts
Nature’s weirdest creatures
Hallucigenia
First contact
What happens if we ever detect a signal from extraterrestrial intelligence?
Nature’s real-life vampires
Count Dracula… Lestat de Lioncourt… Laszlo… all these vampires have got oodles of charisma, natty dress sense and an intriguing backstory. But the problem is, they’re fictional. We reckon the animal kingdom can do a lot better. Suck on this…