By: Alfredo Carpineti/IFLScience New preliminary results from NASA’s Twin Study suggest that going to space increases DNA methylation, a process responsible for turning on and off genes. These findings not only provide a glimpse into this cellular process but also tells scientists how the human body might change once it gets into space. “Some of the most…
NASA Breaks Record With Ion Thruster That Could Take Humans To Mars
By: Jonathan O’Callaghan/IFLScience Scientists have announced a breakthrough with an ion thruster that could one day take humans to Mars. It’s called the X3 thruster, a type of ion propulsion known as a Hall thruster. This technology is alluring because it can theoretically achieve higher speeds than conventional chemical propulsion. In a series of tests at NASA’s Glenn…
ESO Scientists Unveil An “Unprecedented Discovery” About Gravitational Waves
By: Brad Jones/Futurism New Wave Last week, the European Southern Observatory (ESO) teased news of an “unprecedented discovery.” Now, the organization has revealed that, for the first time ever, astronomers have observed both gravitational waves and light produced by the same event. “This discovery is significant because it gives us two completely different ways to view the same…
A Huge Hole Has Opened In Antarctica But No One Is Quite Sure Why
By: Jonathan O’Callaghan/IFLScience A huge hole has opened up in Antarctica and, well, scientists aren’t really sure what it’s doing there. The discovery is said to be as large as the state of Maine, notes Motherboard, and bigger than the Netherlands. In September it was 60,000 square kilometers (23,000 square miles) in size, but at its biggest,…
Professor Brian Cox Believes Humanity Will Soon Achieve Immortality. Here’s How We’ll Do It
By: Rosie McCall/IFL Science Humanity has been looking for a way to “fix” our own mortality since, well, forever. In medieval times, there were the alchemists who searched for a universal elixir or philosopher’s stone. In the 20th century, people paid to be cryogenically frozen and now we have companies, like Humaii and Carboncopies, using artificial intelligence (AI) and nanotechnology to enable…
The Break-Up Of A Colossal Ice Shelf Exposed An Ancient And Mysterious Ecosystem
By: Robin Andrews/IFLScience After months and months of almost but not quite breaking away from Antarctica, a trillion-tonne chunk of the Larsen C Ice Shelf finally detached itself and drifted off into the Southern Ocean. As it so happens, this chilly divorce may have been a good thing, as it’s exposed a brand-new, never before seen ecosystem hiding just beneath…
Gravitational Wave Researchers Just Won The Nobel Prize For Physics
By: Alfredo Carpineti/IFLScience The Royal Swedish Academy of Science has given the 2017 Nobel Prize in Physics to Rainer Weiss, Barry Barish, and Kip Thorne for their work with the LIGO/VIRGO collaboration and the 2015 discovery of gravitational waves. This announcement sparked little surprise as gravitational waves were tipped to be the likely winning subject of this year’s physics…
What Happens When Two Hurricanes Collide?
By: Robin Andrews/IFL Science Eager to get in on all the hurricane action, the British tabloid press screamed of “DOUBLE HURRICANE HELL” as weather models showed the remnants of Hurricanes Maria and Lee merging to form a “Giant Atlantic SUPERSTORM.” Apart from the fact that, as you may suspect, this apocalyptic vision is somewhat oversold – it’ll just be a tad windy…
Satellite Images Of Puerto Rico Before And After Hurricane Maria Reveal Extent Of Blackout
By: Josh Davis/IFL Science Hurricane Maria swept the Caribbean island last week, leaving in its wake a trail of utter devastation and ruin. Houses were blasted away, roads washed out to sea, and the electricity grid trashed. Five days later and little has changed as the US territory is at risk of descending into a very…