This week, a Chinese radar observed plasma bubbles over the pyramids of Giza from 8,000 kilometers (4,970 miles) away, a man spotted an unusual spherical structure while browsing Google Maps, and the world’s first eye and face transplant patient is making incredible developments one year on from surgery. Finally, we investigate if orcas really deserve the title of “killer” whale.
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Did Everybody Just Watch A Live Stream Of Billionaires Breaking Space Law?
This week, Polaris Dawn Mission Commander Jared Isaacman and Mission Specialist Sarah Gillis made history, becoming the first people to conduct a spacewalk on a private mission. But they may have made history with another first: the first-ever livestream of a space crime. Read the full story here
Chinese Radar Spots Plasma Bubbles Over The Pyramids Of Giza
The higher atmosphere is full of peculiar phenomena and an important one for communication and navigation is equatorial plasma bubbles (EPBs). These are hot pockets of superheated gas that form at low latitudes, usually after sunset. They remain poorly understood, and given that they impact Earth’s connection to space, it is important to know what is going on. Read the full story here
Meet Thorin: A Cave-Dwelling Population Of Neanderthals Were Isolated For 50,000 Years
A fossilized Neanderthal skeleton unearthed in France may have belonged to a previously undescribed lineage that split from other Neanderthals around 100,000 years ago. Just like modern humans, it looks like Neanderthals were a diverse and varied bunch. Read the full story here
Man Finds Unusual Spherical Structure While Browsing Google Maps. It Could Be A Huge Discovery
People have discovered all sorts of oddities while browsing through Google Maps, from “aliens” and camera-hogging cats to the answer to decades-old cold cases. In the latest find, Joël Lapointe stumbled across an unusual, roughly spherical structure about 15 kilometers (9.3 miles) across surrounding Marsal Lake in Quebec. Read the full story here
World’s First Eye And Face Transplant: One Year Later, Eye Now Responds To Light
The doctors who performed the world’s first total eye and partial face transplant have reported on their patient’s progress one year on, and the results are promising. The patient, 46-year-old military veteran Aaron James from Arkansas, has recovered well without immune rejection – and though he is still unable to see through the transplanted eye, the retina is responding to light, a huge step forward. Read the full story here
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Feature of the week:
Do Orcas Attack Humans? Reports From The Wild Are Very Rare
Orcas, or killer whales, are known to some as the Velociraptors of the sea for the incredibly orchestrated attacks they carry out in the wild. From spy hopping to wave washing, a simple seal faces a hell of a fight in getting out alive, and as a human, I don’t much fancy my chances, either. Despite their upper hand in the predator-prey game, there are very few reported cases of orcas attacking humans in the wild, but given some conservation organizations strictly advise against it, is it wise to swim with them? Read the full story here
More content:
Have you seen our e-magazine, CURIOUS? Issue 26 September 2024 is available now. This month we asked, “Should We All Be Journaling?” – check it out for exclusive interviews, book excerpts, long reads, and more.
PLUS, season 4 of IFLScience’s The Big Questions Podcast has begun. So far we’ve asked:
