Fox bones at ancient burial site suggest animal may have been kept as pet
Clues at Argentina site raise possibility mammal was buried with human owners about 1,500 years agoThe remains of a fox unearthed at a human burial site in Argentina dating back 1,500 years has raised the possibility the animal may have been kept as a pet, research suggests.Experts say the remains predate the arrival of domestic dogs in Patagonia, which occurred about 700 –900 years ago, with a number of clues suggesting the fox was seen as valuable, and may even have been a companion to the hunter-gatherers it lived with.Continue reading... (Source: Guardian Unlimited Science)
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - April 9, 2024 Category: Science Authors: Nicola Davis Science correspondent Tags: Animal behaviour Animals World news Science Biology Argentina Americas Pets Life and style Heritage Culture Source Type: news
Peter Higgs, physicist who proposed Higgs boson, dies aged 94
Nobel-prize winning physicist who showed how particle helped bind universe together died at home in EdinburghPeter Higgs, the Nobel prize-winning physicist who proposed a new particle known as the Higgs boson, has died.Higgs, 94, who was awarded the Nobel prize for physics in 2013 for his work in 1964 showing how the boson helped bind the universe together by giving particles their mass, died at home in Edinburgh on Monday.Continue reading... (Source: Guardian Unlimited Science)
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - April 9, 2024 Category: Science Authors: Severin Carrell and Ian Sample Tags: Peter Higgs Higgs boson Particle physics UK news Scotland Nobel prizes Science People in science Science prizes Edinburgh University of Edinburgh Source Type: news
Peter Higgs obituary
Theoretical physicist whose name was attached to the Higgs boson, a sign of the mechanism underlying the structure of atomsIn 1964 the theoretical physicist Peter Higgs, who has died aged 94, suggested that the universe contains an all-pervading essence that can be manifested in the form of particles. This idea inspired governments to spend billions to find what became known as Higgs bosons.The so-called “Higgs mechanism” controls the rate of thermonuclear fusion that powers the sun, but for which this engine of the solar system would have expired long before evolution had time to work its miracles on earth. The struct...
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - April 9, 2024 Category: Science Authors: Frank Close Tags: Peter Higgs Higgs boson People in science Physics University of Edinburgh Mathematics Scotland Newcastle Bristol Source Type: news
The mysteries of near-death experiences | Letters
Readers respond to Alex Blasdel ’s long read on the studies of brain activity immediately after deathAlex Blasdel ’s long read contains some fascinating facts and speculations (The new science of death: ‘There’s something happening in the brain that makes no sense, 2 April). However, it is odd to suggest that there are only three approaches to understanding so-called near-death experiences – physicalist, parapsychological and spiritualist.While the field of near-death studies is indeed full of “kooks and grifters”, many serious scientists and rational thinkers in this and other fields, who are neither parapsy...
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - April 9, 2024 Category: Science Authors: Guardian Staff Tags: Death and dying Health Society Philosophy Psychology Source Type: news
Write down your thoughts and shred them to relieve anger, researchers say
Writing negative reactions on paper and shredding it or scrunching and throwing in the bin eliminates angry feelings, study findsSince time immemorial humans have tried to devise anger management techniques.In ancient Rome, the Stoic philosopher Seneca believed “my anger is likely to do me more harm than your wrong” and offered avoidance tips in his AD45 work De Ira (On Anger).Continue reading... (Source: Guardian Unlimited Science)
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - April 9, 2024 Category: Science Authors: Caroline Davies Tags: Psychology Society Science Japan Source Type: news
Study sheds light on the white dwarf star, likely destroyer of our solar system
Huge gravity of these dense stars, which have burned all their own fuel, rips apart smaller planetary bodiesIt ’s the end of the world, not quite as we know it.Scientists from the University of Warwick and other universities have studied the impact white dwarfs – end-of-state stars that have burned all their fuel – have on planetary systems such as our own solar system.Continue reading... (Source: Guardian Unlimited Science)
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - April 9, 2024 Category: Science Authors: Jamie Grierson Tags: Space Physics Science University of Warwick Source Type: news
Yes, total eclipses are very nice. But have you ever smelled bacon? | Zoe Williams
I ’d love to feel the beautiful mysteries of the universe. But I have other interestsThe total solar eclipse, visible in parts of Mexico, the US and Canada yesterday,was experienced in the UK only as a “small grazing” (that’s what the astronomers call it), and then only in the north and west of the country. Happily, I went to Lewis in the Outer Hebrides for the eclipse of 2015, where coverage was 98% andpeople (not just me) had travelled for it from all over the country.It was news to me that people even existed who were that into eclipses. In further news: it doesn ’t even have to get that dark to fill “eclips...
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - April 9, 2024 Category: Science Authors: Zoe Williams Tags: Solar eclipses Astronomy Science Scotland World news UK news Mexico Canada US news Source Type: news
‘A mystical experience’: millions watch total solar eclipse sweep across North America
Almost 32 million people in the path of totality as moon ’s shadow crossed the Mexico-Texas border and then traversed 15 statesIf you missed the total solar eclipse just wait … until 2044Total solar eclipse over Mexico, US and Canada – in picturesThe ethereal spectacle of a total solar eclipse swept across North America on Monday afternoon, giving tens millions of people in Mexico, the US and Canada the chance to witness arare and dazzling celestial show.Almost 32 million people were in the path of totality as the moon ’s shadow crossed the Mexico-Texas border at lunchtime and traversed 15 states over the next hour...
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - April 9, 2024 Category: Science Authors: Richard Luscombe Tags: Solar eclipses US news Mexico Canada Science Americas World news Space Source Type: news
The vorfreude secret: 30 zero-effort ways to fill your life with joy
How can you change your life for the better today? Learn not just to appreciate happiness – but to anticipate itBe honest: there are times when you have felt schadenfreude, or “delight in another’s misfortunes”. But what about vorfreude?I recently came across this lovely word, which my German-speaking friend translated as “the anticipation of joy”. It struck me as such a hopeful concept – surely we could all do with less schadenfreude and morevorfreude. So what exactly is anticipatory joy, how do we cultivate it and will it make us happier?“The idea is to find joy in the lead-up to an event,” saysSophie M...
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - April 9, 2024 Category: Science Authors: Rachel Dixon Tags: Health & wellbeing Life and style Mindfulness Psychology Science Source Type: news
Horny tortoises and solar mysteries: what scientists can learn from a total eclipse – podcast
For most people seeing a total solar eclipse is a once in a lifetime experience. But for scientists it can be a fleeting chance to understand something deeper about their field of research. Madeleine Finlay meets solar scientist prof Huw Morgan, of Aberystwyth University, and Adam Hartstone-Rose, professor of biological sciences at NC State University, to find out what they hoped to learn from 8 April ’s four minutes of darkness.Find out more about how animals behave during a solar eclipseContinue reading... (Source: Guardian Unlimited Science)
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - April 9, 2024 Category: Science Authors: Presented by Madeleine Finlay, produced by Madeleine Finlay and Joshan Chana, sound design by Tony Onuchukwu, the executive producer is Ellie Bury Tags: Science The sun Biology Physics Solar eclipses Animals World news Space Source Type: news
Silver coin boom in medieval England due to melted down Byzantine treasures, study reveals
Chemical analysis reveals origin of coinage that stimulated trade and helped fuel development of new towns from seventh centurySeveral decades after theSutton Hoo burial, starting in about AD660, there was a sudden rise in the number of silver coins in circulation in England, for reasons that have long puzzled archaeologists and historians.The new rush of silver coinage stimulated trade and helped fuel the development of the new towns springing up at the time – but where did it come from? Were the Anglo-Saxon kings recycling old Roman scrap metal? Or had they found lucrative sources from mines in Europe?Continue reading....
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - April 8, 2024 Category: Science Authors: Esther Addley Tags: Archaeology Science England UK news Source Type: news
Millions watch as total solar eclipse sweeps across Mexico, US and Canada – video
People in 15 US states, Mexico andCanada witnessed the awe-inspiring spectacle of a a total solar eclipse on Monday. Cities were plunged into sudden darkness and their inhabitants experienced a sharp drop in temperatures. The first such eclipse to cross the US in seven years swept ashore at the Mexican beach resort Mazatl án before crossing the Texas border at Eagle Pass and heading north-east towards CanadaMillions across US, Mexico and Canada witness rare total solar eclipseTotal solar eclipse over Mexico, US and Canada – in picturesContinue reading... (Source: Guardian Unlimited Science)
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - April 8, 2024 Category: Science Tags: Solar eclipses Mexico Canada Americas World news Source Type: news
Millions across US, Mexico and Canada witness rare total solar eclipse
Travelers, undeterred by gloomy forecasts potentially spoiling celestial show, assembled from Texas to Maine for spectacleTotal solar eclipse to sweep across Mexico, US and Canada – live updatesTotal solar eclipse over Mexico, US and Canada – in picturesMillions of people across 15 states, and in Mexico and Canada, were witnessing the rare and ethereal spectacle of a total solar eclipse on Monday, with cities plunged into sudden darkness and experiencing a precipitous drop in temperatures.At lunchtime, the first such eclipse to cross the US in seven years swept ashore in the Mexican beach resort Mazatl án before cross...
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - April 8, 2024 Category: Science Authors: Richard Luscombe and agency Tags: Solar eclipses US news Mexico Canada Science Americas World news Source Type: news
Total solar eclipse live updates: millions in ‘path of totality’ watch sweep across Mexico, US and Canada
Total solar eclipse hits Canada after crowds gathered in parts of Mexico and across the US to view moon blocking out the sunFirst contact is when the moon ’s outer edge first appears to touch the sun, creating the beginnings of a partial eclipse and a crescent sun reducing in size until totality (second contact).In the moments before totality, look for (in order) shadow bands, Baily ’s Beads and a diamond ring, three of the most memorable stages of a total eclipse.It gives us the opportunity not just to leverage all the great scientific capabilities that we have in the US, using all kinds of equipment, aircraft, kites,...
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - April 8, 2024 Category: Science Authors: L éonie Chao-Fong (now) and Richard Luscombe (earlier) Tags: Solar eclipses US news Mexico Canada Space Source Type: news
‘Extraordinary’: total solar eclipse wows watchers in north Texas
The weather largely cooperated as eclipse watchers were awarded with a heavenly event as clouds parted and sun and moon mergedIgnas Barauskas almost missed it.He bought plane tickets from his home in Lithuania to the United States about a month ago. After a series of flight delays, he landed in Dallas around midnight, ready for a once-in-a-lifetime total eclipse of the sun.Continue reading... (Source: Guardian Unlimited Science)
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - April 8, 2024 Category: Science Authors: Charlie Scudder in Arlington, Texas Tags: Solar eclipses Texas US news Space Science Source Type: news
