If you see the northern lights overhead, chances are you are in a chilly, polar climate. But the cold-weather delights – also known as aurora borealis – high above you are actually an important source of heat. A new NASA mission hopes to fly through an active aurora to study this energy exchange process up close, writes Miles Hatfield of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.
The launch window for Ion-Neutral Coupling during Active Aurora, or INCAA mission,...
Just 76% of heart attack patients with dyspnoea or fatigue as their main symptom are alive at one year, compared to 94% of those with chest pain as the predominant feature. That's the finding of research presented today at ESC Acute CardioVascular Care 2022, a scientific congress of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC).
"Dyspnoea and extreme tiredness were more common heart attack symptoms in women, older people, and patients with other conditions such as high blood...
Researchers may have solved professor Stephen Hawking's famous black hole paradox – a mystery that has puzzled scientists for almost half a century.
According to two new studies, something called "quantum hair" is the answer to the problem, Phys.org reports.
In the first paper, published in the journal Physical Review Letters, researchers demonstrated that black holes are more complex than originally thought and have gravitational fields that hold information about how they were formed.
The researchers showed that matter collapsing...
Women are less likely to receive lifesaving treatment for cardiogenic shock than men, according to research presented today at ESC Acute CardioVascular Care 2022, a scientific congress of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC).
"The women and men in our study had similar clinical characteristics when they developed cardiogenic shock after a heart attack," said study author Dr. Sarah Holle of Copenhagen University Hospital, Rigshospitalet, Denmark. "This was a retrospective study, so it is difficult to know why clinicians made...
Russia's military has fired a hypersonic ballistic missile and destroyed a big underground arms depot in western Ukraine, the defence ministry in Moscow has said.
If confirmed, it would be Russia's first use in this war of the Kinzhal, or Dagger, ballistic missile launched from the air, most likely by a MiG-31 warplane, the BBC reports.
President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly highlighted Russia's investment in hypersonic missiles, which can travel at more than five times the...
Russia has accused Canada of "kindergarten-level" diplomacy in a Twitter tiff over a social media post by Canada's United Nations mission.
The diplomatic spat is over a letter seeking support for a draft Russian resolution about aid in Ukraine, reports the BBC.
Canada posted the letter to Twitter with "suggested edits", which led to retweets from other UN missions.
A Russian diplomat has called it "Russophobic libel".
An image of the letter – annotated in red type –...
A brewer has created a virtual beer to highlight the extremes businesses will go to to grab a slice of the next big thing – the metaverse.
Heineken set up a virtual launch to promote the "product" – an experience described by one attendee as surreal, the BBC reports.
The metaverse does not yet exist but many believe people will one day spend their time in inter-connected virtual worlds, accessed via a virtual-reality headset.
The firm said it...
Many humans are good at recognizing when they get things wrong, but artificial intelligence systems are not. According to a new study, AI generally suffers from inherent limitations due to a century-old mathematical paradox.
Like some people, AI systems often have a degree of confidence that far exceeds their actual abilities. And like an overconfident person, many AI systems don't know when they are making mistakes. Sometimes it is even more difficult for an AI...
Unsealed files have revealed a plot by five people working on behalf of Chinese secret police to stalk and harass a U.S. military veteran running for Congress, and to spy on an artist, the BBC reports.
It is the first time, they say, a federal election campaign has been undermined in this way in America. The perpetrators went to "outrageous and dangerous" lengths to do so, the Department of Justice said.
Three of the accused have been...
The first global analysis of its kind estimates that if every country's cigarette taxes had met the World Health Organization's (WHO) recommendations, around 182,000 newborn deaths could have been averted in 2018.
Tobacco use can have direct and indirect effects on children's health. For example, smoking during pregnancy can cause premature birth, and exposure to second-hand smoke can cause lung conditions such as asthma.
In total, increased cigarette taxes could have averted around 231,000 deaths of children under one year...
