These two new spacesuits will help the space agency put astronauts back on the surface of the Moon, enhance their mobility, and keep them safe along the way. (Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)
NASA revealed two new spacesuits this week that may be worn
by astronauts on future missions to the Moon. The suits feature a number of
improvements from the Apollo era spacesuits used on the last Moon missions 50
years ago.
The two new suits were shown off by NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine during a ...read more
Humpback whale populations have recovered since whaling was banned, some from near extinction. (Credit: Tomas Kotouc/Shutterstock)
In the late 1950s, only 440 humpback whales — or 1.6 percent of their onetime numbers — were swimming around the western South Atlantic Ocean. Thanks to whaling restrictions, these school bus-sized aquatic mammals have started to come back.
Now, a new paper estimates that the Western South Atlantic whales have recovered even better than scientists ...read more
Gas "waterfalls" down onto a forming planet in this artist's illustration. (Credit: NRAO/AUI/NSF, S. Dagnello)
Stars and their planetary systems are born from clouds of gas and dust that collapse into swirling disks. Astronomers can’t directly see planets forming in these disks because they're hidden in all the debris. But in the past few years, new kinds of telescopes have started to reveal gaps in disks around young stars where planets might be forming.
Now, astronomers have ...read more
Two common proteins begin to spread through the brains of those with Alzheimer's. Despite decades of study, scientists still don't understand why they become so dangerous. (Credit: SpeedKingz/Shutterstock)
If you look at the brain of an Alzheimer's patient, you’ll
see clear and undeniable damage.
Clusters of dead nerve cells. Hard plaques cemented between
cells and thick tangles of proteins twisted up inside the cells themselves.
These are the hallmarks of Alzheimer's, and they ...read more
Nearly half a billion years ago, trilobites may have been capable of some kinds of collective behavior associated with modern animals. (Credit: Vannier et al 2019, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-51012-3)
Chains of trilobite fossils unearthed in Morocco suggest that these early arthropods were capable of a collective behavior seen in many of today's species — only these trilobites had the conga line down about 480 million years ago.
Modern vertebrates and invertebrates alike ...read more