Nasa spacecraft makes final preparations to gather material from Bennu’s surface in October Nasa’s Osiris-Rex (origins, spectral interpretation, resource identification, security, regolith explorer) asteroid mission has performed its final practice run for its forthcoming sample collection manoeuvre.The spacecraft is 288m km from Earth, in orbit around the asteroid Bennu. On 20 October it is...
Climate-driven loss is likely to be the worst for centuries, and is pushing up sea levels The Greenland ice sheet lost a record amount of ice in 2019, equivalent to a million tonnes per minute across the year, satellite data shows.The climate crisis is heating the Arctic at double the rate in lower latitudes, and the ice cap is the biggest single contributor to sea level rise, which already...
Fossils from Middle Triassic shed new light on dolphin-like creature’s eating habitsFresh evidence of the dog-eat-dog world of prehistoric oceans has been revealed by fossil hunters who have unearthed the remains of a giant marine reptile with another huge beast in its stomach.Dug up in southwestern China in 2010, the animals are thought to have lived in the Middle Triassic. Continue...
Researchers say imaging of cat, cobra and kestrel sheds light on their lives and deathsAn ancient Egyptian “how-dunnit” has been solved, according to researchers who have used imaging techniques to peek beneath the wrappings of mummified animals.From birds to crocodiles, lions and beetles, the ancient Egyptians had a penchant for mummifying animals. While some were pets buried with their...
Travel the World at Kew series will showcases plants from 10 countries across six continentsThose unable to satisfy their wanderlust in these uncertain days of lockdown and travel quarantine are invited to immerse themselves in the sights, smells and spirit of faraway places – in a botanical sense at least – here in the UK.From colossal Californian redwoods, those imposing ancient giants of...
Nearly 550,000 pupils in England will receive GCSE results awarded entirely by assessment for first time, but BTec students face further disruptionOfqual ignored exams warning a month ago amid ministers’ pressureDisadvantaged pupils will be biggest winners from GCSE resultsFollow global coronavirus developments See all our coronavirus coverage 7.43am BST Disadvantaged pupils will be the biggest...
The coronavirus pandemic has highlighted many of the economic, health, and social disparities faced by minorities and those living in more deprived areas. Although track-and-trace apps have the potential to reduce the spread of Covid-19, there remain questions about what role digital contact-tracing systems might have in reducing – or increasing – inequality, and who an app will really work...