Disease historians have a problem. While examining samples of ancient human DNA, geneticists have come across genes belonging to the plague bacterium, Yersinia pestis, revealing that it ravaged Eurasia 5000 years ago. That’s nearly 3500 years before the “first plague”, also known as the Justinian plague, after the Roman emperor of the day. What to…
For generations, UFO enthusiasts have longed for claims of aliens visiting Earth to be seriously investigated by scientists. Now they are getting their wish. This month prominent peer-reviewed journals have published two papers that link apparent flashes of light seen by a telescope 70 years ago to potential artificial objects in space. But there are…
A galaxy cluster produces gravitational lensing, bending light around it NASA, ESA, Michael Gladders (University of Chicago); Acknowledgement: Judy Schmidt Quantum physics may be the secret ingredient for understanding cosmic objects that our telescopes cannot show us in detail, or at all. To understand space, we collect and analyse light that travels from objects like…
With winds whirling at about 290 kilometers per hour, Hurricane Melissa is one of the strongest ever recorded in the Atlantic Ocean — and is poised to become the strongest storm ever to make landfall in Jamaica. It’s also a huge storm, with hurricane-force winds extending over 70 kilometers from its core. Hours before official…
October 28, 2025 3 min read How Hurricane Melissa Became One of the Most Intense Atlantic Storms on Record A nearly perfect alignment of factors has enabled Hurricane Melissa to become one of the most intense Atlantic storms ever recorded By Andrea Thompson edited by Clara Moskowitz On October 28 Hurricane Melissa became one of…
The Trump administration has cut crucial US health surveys Ken Cedeno/UPI/Bloomberg via Getty Images Critical public health surveys in the US are facing deep cuts after a series of layoffs hit government employees working on key nationwide data systems. These datasets, which measure everything from births and deaths to nutrition and substance use, have guided…
A new AI model is opening the black box of the leading artificial intelligence tool for predicting how proteins will interact with small molecules, such as drugs. The model, OpenFold3, which launched October 28, is a reconstruction of Google DeepMind’s AlphaFold3. A large consortium of researchers led by Mohammed AlQuraishi at Columbia University painstakingly dissected…
October 28, 2025 3 min read Surprise Meteorite Debris Uncovered on Moon’s Far Side These rare samples, uncovered on the moon by China’s Chang’e 6 mission, might help to reveal secrets of how the solar system evolved By Jenna Ahart & Nature magazine Sifting through the first-ever rock samples collected from the far side of…
A satellite image of Hurricane Melissa taken on 28 October Associated Press / Alamy Stock Photo Jamaica is being directly hit by what may be the strongest hurricane on record to make landfall in the Atlantic Ocean, forecast to produce up to a metre (40 inches) of rain over its mountains – and there is…
Two small genetic changes reshaped the human pelvis, setting our early ancestors on the path to upright walking, scientists say. One genetic change flipped the ilium — the bone your hands rest on when you put them on your hips — 90 degrees. The rotation reoriented the muscles that attach to the pelvis, turning a…
