Enlarge / A Strongyloides filariform larva. (credit: Getty | BSIP) Doctors in Spain diagnosed a man with an unusual roundworm infection after watching an army of larvae writhe and slither under his skin, blanketing his whole body in an ever-shifting rash. Doctors reported the man’s rare hyperinfection this week in the New England Journal of […]
Enlarge / Liver lesions in patient with chronic active hepatitis C. (credit: Getty | BSIP) The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a health alert Thursday notifying clinicians of a US-based cluster of unexplained cases of liver inflammation in young children, which appear to be part of a puzzling international outbreak that now spans […]
Enlarge / A Falcon 9 rocket launched the NROL-85 mission on April 17. (credit: SpaceX) Welcome to Edition 4.40 of the Rocket Report! There is a lot happening in spaceflight this week, but I’m probably most excited about Rocket Lab’s attempt to capture the first stage of its Electron rocket in mid-air. This launch (and […]
Enlarge (credit: Getty Images | Aurich Lawson) Electronic signs are a common sight on US highways. These dot-matrix displays date back to at least the 1950s and were first used to alert drivers to changing speed limits or hazards ahead, but now you’ll often see messages exhorting us to drive safely. But targeting drivers with […]
A VR simulation showing what a Palaeolithic plaquette looks like under the flickering light of a fire. Several horses are engraved on this plaquette. As the firelight moves different horses are illuminated, giving a sense of dynamism to the art. (Izzy Wisher, CC-BY 4.0) A VR simulation showing what a Palaeolithic plaquette looks like under […]
Enlarge / An aerial view of the Prairie Island Nuclear Power Plant, near Red Wing, Minnesota. (credit: Getty Images) Nuclear plants occupy an odd position in the US’s energy landscape. They’re currently the most expensive form of generation out there, and many of the plants are a decade or more past their planned life span. […]
Enlarge (credit: Nicholas Skopal) Hundreds of huge stone jars lie partially buried on hillsides and ridges in northeastern India. A recent survey found 65 jars at four previously undocumented sites, and the survey’s leaders say there are probably many more sites still hidden in the area’s mountainous forests. The jars are part of a whole […]
April 2, 2021, solar eclipse on Mars. When NASA’s Perseverance rover landed on Mars in February 2021, it carried a high-definition video camera, complete with a powerful zoom capability. This camera has since provided all sorts of amazing views of the red planet during the last 14 months. However, earlier this month operators of rover turned […]
Enlarge / This illustration shows a concept for a commercial lunar lander from Astrobotic Technology. (credit: NASA) For more than three years, NASA has been intensely focused on the Artemis Moon program. This high-profile international effort, spearheaded by the US space agency at a cost of nearly $7. 5 billion per year, seeks to return […]
Artist’s animation of a micronova, a new type of stellar explosion. Credit: European Southern Observatory. Astronomers have discovered highly localized thermonuclear blasts coming from the surface of three white dwarf stars—unusually short-lived events they have dubbed “micronovae.” They’re similar to novas, except these blasts can burn through a tremendous amount of material in just a […]