27 articles from SATURDAY 25.9.2021

Could whistling shed light on the origins of speech?

Whistled languages exist on every inhabited continent – now some scientists think similar dialects could have preceded the spoken wordFor centuries, shepherds from the small village of Aas in the French Pyrenees led their sheep and cattle up to mountain pastures for the summer months. To ease the solitude, they would communicate with each other or with the village below in a whistled form of the...

William Shatner will boldly go into space with Bezos’s Blue Origin – report

Neither actor nor Blue Origin has commented on mission as some point out report appears same day as promotion for his new albumHe was once Starfleet’s youngest captain, a fearless explorer leading the USS Enterprise on an intergalactic odyssey. Now the actor who famously portrayed Captain James Tiberius Kirk on Star Trek for four decades is reportedly set to boldly go on a real-life space...

How standup comedy helped me conquer anxiety, depression – and fear of public speaking

Finding a humorous angle to some of my darkest episodes – and sharing them with strangers – was strangely cathartic“Have you gone mad?” asked one friend. “You’re so brave. I could never do that. Wouldn’t meditation be wiser?” said another. For someone with a long history of depression and anxiety, plus a morbid fear of public speaking, taking up standup comedy might seem like a...

Can we talk to aliens? And should we colonise space? We ask the expert

Astrophysicist Jacco van Loon on the hunt for alien life, why logic can solve the climate crisis and what happens when the sun becomes a red giantFor years, astrophysicists have been saying that alien life must exist, but finding out where and in what form has proved elusive. We may be edging closer: a team from the University of Cambridge has discovered a new class of habitable planets they claim...

Researchers develop new method for detecting superfluid motion

Researchers at Rochester Institute of Technology are part of a new study that could help unlock the potential of superfluids—essentially frictionless special substances capable of unstopped motion once initiated. A team of scientists led by Mishkat Bhattacharya, an associate professor at RIT's School of Physics and Astronomy and Future Photon Initiative, proposed a new method for detecting...

3D nano-inks push industry boundaries

A new, 3D-printable polymer nanocomposite ink developed by engineers has incredible properties like conducting electricity and high tensile strength -- and many applications in aerospace, medicine and electronics.

The origin and legacy of the Etruscans

Researchers present comprehensive ancient DNA data retrieved from peoples culturally affiliated with the iconic Etruscans, settling a long-lasting debate on the origins of this highly skilled and enigmatic culture.