Scientist warning to humanity

First, it's important to note that at time of writing, scientists know relatively little about the so-called "California coronavirus." There are fears that it may be spreading faster than other strains of coronavirus, that it may lead to more severe cases of infection, requiring more intensive care, and that it may even be more deadly. But all we have right now — as public information — is from a pre-print, published on an online platform called medRxiv . A pre-print is a report or study that, while usually scientific and professional, details only preliminary findings that have yet to be peer-reviewed. That is, the findings have yet to be checked and verified by other groups of scientists. As such, doctors, for instance, are advised not to use any of the data, as it stands, to make clinical decisions when treating patients. So, read this as an overview of to-be-confirmed information. What we know so far We know that the California coronavirus was first detected in … [Read more...] about What we know about the ‘California coronavirus’

IT'S A freezing, hellish landscape blanketed by deadly radiation and populated entirely by one-ton robots – and now you can send your name to the surface of Mars for free! Nasa has announced that it is accepting applications for wannabe space explorers who wish to fire their names to the Red Planet . Microchips engraved with millions of names will make the 34million mile journey aboard a mission planned for 2026. The US space agency ran a similar scheme for its Perseverance Mars rover , which landed on Earth's dusty neighbour on Thursday, February 18. It was carrying three fingernail-sized silicon chips stencilled with almost 11million names as it touched down inside the Jezero Crater. The $2.7billion robot is embarking on a two-year mission to hunt for signs of alien life. How to send your name to Mars on Nasa's next mission to the Red Planet Anyone wishing to sign up for Nasa's next interplanetary trip can do so by heading to the official Send Your … [Read more...] about How to send your name to Mars on Nasa’s next mission to Red Planet

NASA successfully landed its most complex Mars rover yet on Thursday, sparking cheers of joy at the space agency's HQ in California. The Perseverance robot will scan Martian rock for signs of alien life and carry out tests that are key to future manned missions to the Red Planet. In an interview ahead of the landing this week, Nasa Chief Scientist James Green laid out the primary goal of the interplanetary mission. "We want to search the past from the rock record to see if Mars could have supported life," he said on Neil DeGrasse Tyson's podcast, StarTalk. "My secret wish is that we find it. We don’t anticipate getting fossils, but there are potential cells or microbial indications that life could have survived on Mars in its early history." The nuclear battery-powered rover has landed at the edge of an ancient, long-vanished river delta and lake bed called the Jezero crater. It’s thought that the basin was once filled with water and may have been home to alien … [Read more...] about How will Nasa rover look for aliens on Mars? Cameras, helicopter and more revealed

A giant iceberg, larger than the size of most European cities, has broken away from Antarctica , near a British research station, the British Antarctic Survey said Friday. The iceberg measuring 1,270 square kilometers (490 square miles) came off the 150-meter-thick Brunt Ice Shelf in a process called "calving." Scientists had been expecting a huge chunk of ice to break away for almost a decade after the first "vast cracks" had formed on the shelf. "Our teams at BAS have been prepared for the calving of an iceberg from Brunt Ice Shelf for years," said the British Antarctic Survey director Professor Dame Jane Francis. The events leading up to the major split began accelerating in November last year, BAS said in a statement. Research base safe The research station was moved inland four years ago for safety reasons. "That was a wise decision," said Simon Garrod, BAS director of operations. Britain's Halley VI Research Station, which monitors the state of the vast … [Read more...] about Massive iceberg breaks off from Antarctica