Science

How do you fry potatoes in space? Very carefully

It may seem dangerous, but just in case future astronauts might have a yen for fries on a sojourn into space, ESA and the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki are investigating whether potatoes will fry ok in zero gravity or end up an undercooked mess.

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Liver-targeted non-viral gene therapy gives hope to hemophiliacs

As a way of treating hemophilia, researchers have, for the first time, delivered gene therapy directly into the livers of baboons without using a viral carrier. The study shows it is safe and effective and may lead to a new treatment for the disease.

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Doomsday Glacier map to shed light on future sea levels

A team from the British Antarctic Survey has completed the first map of the ground beneath West Antarctica's Doomsday Glacier, which is the size of Great Britain and could raise global sea levels by 65 cm (25 in) in the coming centuries as it melts.

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Ring-busting tinnitus treatment combines sound and touch stimulation

A "bi-sensory" treatment combining precisely timed sound and touch has shown impressive results in reducing people's experience of tinnitus, a common and debilitating form of hearing damage that presents as an incessant ringing sound in the ears.

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Insects pollinated the first flower 140M years ago, and it wasn’t a bee

If evolutionary biologists are the detectives of the natural world’s past mysteries, then the phylogenic tree is their cork board of linked crime-scene suspects. With this, they offer some big news about the origins of flowering plant life on Earth.

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Light-activated concrete scrubs air pollution out of traffic tunnels

Traffic is among the biggest sources of air pollution, but what if the very roads they drive on could help clear the air? Engineers in Korea have now demonstrated that photocatalytic concrete can help reduce pollution in tunnels.

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Dying star’s ‘cocoon’ a potential new source of gravitational waves

Until now, our only source of gravitational waves has been binary star systems. Researchers from Northwestern University have potentially discovered a new non-binary source of gravitational waves: the debris ‘cocoon’ that forms around a dying massive star.

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Mysterious hominin made world’s oldest burial site, study claims

Scientists have discovered evidence of what may be the world’s oldest known human burial. The 300,000 year-old Homo naledi remains show signs of having been intentionally buried in a chamber marked with symbols. But other scientists aren’t so sure.

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