The latest update from the US Drought Monitor in December 2020, showed that much of the country’s western states were gripped by extreme or exceptional drought, with Nevada, Utah, Arizona and New Mexico, Colorado and western Texas being the worst affected. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-56225862
“The main hypothesis is that in modern humans, these vessels are involved in thermoregulation – preventing our brain from becoming too hot. With Little Foot, the brain was the same size as a chimpanzee’s. It was only later in evolution that the brain grew dramatically. But at some point, something had to change in the […]
Estimates put it at around 1,270 sq km. Greater London is about 1,500 sq km; the Welsh county of Monmouthshire is roughly 1,300 sq km. That’s big by any measure, although not as large as the monster A68 berg which calved in July 2017 from the Larsen C Ice Shelf on the western side of […]
There is a difference, though, between what governments say and what they do. And many nations have tensions between contradictory priorities. Germany, for instance, is a member of the Powering Past Coal international alliance. Yet last year it opened a new coal-fired plant. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-56208651
Barbara Hooper, UGN’s director for parks and allotments, said: “The events of the past year have highlighted more than ever how important it is for us all to have access to green space. Somewhere for us to breathe fresh air, connect with nature, and find solace during difficult times.” https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-56196275
“Over time, it has been banned from a progressively lengthening list of products, including plumbing, paints on things like children’s toys and as an additive to petrol. And the maximum allowable concentration of lead in many foods has also been limited by an EU directive, which still applies in the UK,” he said. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-56158777
But first Perseverance needs to find the right place to put this aircraft down to conduct its experiments. Mission planners said on Friday it would be a few weeks yet before the robot reached this chosen location, meaning it’s probably going to be April before Ingenuity, as the little chopper is known, takes to the […]
“Once the mast is successfully deployed, which will be on Saturday, we will proceed by taking lots of images. We’ll do a deck panorama of the rover. And we’re also going to do a full panorama of our landscape around us,” said Pauline Hwang, Perseverance’s surface strategic mission manager. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-56133281
A koala – nicknamed Triumph – was born without a foot, meaning he had difficulty walking and climbing freely. His vet nurse in Australia thought she had tried everything to help – until she mentioned Triumph to her local dentist. Video by Isabelle Rodd https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-australia-56107871
“This is a really important century for us. We are going from an inanimate view of materials, where we make them, they are sophisticated but they fall apart and then we replace them, to a more biological view of the stuff we are going to make,” said Prof Mark Miodownik, one of the report’s co-chairs. […]
Nasa’s Perseverance rover is attempting to land on Mars on 18 February 2021. Katie Stack Morgan, the mission’s deputy project scientist, explains how the spacecraft will navigate hazards in Jezero Crater, an area considered “too dangerous” for previous rovers. Video by Jennifer Green, interview by Roland Pease and Deborah Cohen. For more on the Mars […]
It was difficult enough getting the Perseverance rover ready to leave Earth last year in the face of a global pandemic. Now the vehicle is about to confront perhaps its greatest challenge – that of landing on Mars. But “Perseverance” is more than just a name; it’s a battle cry, says Nasa’s head of science […]