Science word of the day: Autotroph

Scientific research, peer review, and forensic chemical analysis of this depth typically take one to two years to complete (Image: SNWS) A meteorite that crashed into a residence in the United States two years ago contains “salty” fluids that scientists believe may represent building blocks of life. Researchers suggest the “alien world” chemistry discovered within…

When SpaceX’s Starship lifted off from the Texas coast in the summer of 2023, it marked a milestone that aerospace engineers had discussed for decades but few expected to witness so soon. The towering stainless steel rocket, standing taller than a 30 story building, ignited all 33 of its engines and climbed into the sky….

Praying mantises have fascinated people for centuries. Across different cultures, they have been viewed as everything from mystical guides that help lost travelers find their way home to ominous creatures associated with bad luck. Beyond the legends, native mantises also play an important ecological role by serving as indicators of healthy, biodiverse ecosystems. Now, however,…

Every summer, lawns fill with colorful “silly sprinklers,” whose looping and twisting tubes send water spraying in unusual patterns. Their designs may look playful, but researchers have now used these backyard devices to investigate a serious and decades-old question in physics. The mystery is known as Feynman’s Sprinkler Problem. It asks what happens when a…

It’s indisputable that H.P. Lovecraft is one of the crucial architects of modern-day horror, inspiring fiction across multiple mediums such as H.R. Giger’s work on Alien and the endlessly acclaimed video game Bloodborne. One of the things that makes his writing stand out from other classical horror authors is the terrifyingly thin relationship his characters…

The China National Space Administration’s asteroid probe Tianwen-2 successfully reached the asteroid Kamo’oalewa, which orbits the Sun in a path nearly identical to Earth’s. After undergoing multiple orbital adjustments in deep space, it first detected Kamo’oalewa on June 6, 2026. On July 2, it successfully captured the first-ever images of Kamo’oalewa from a distance of…