Earth, as far as any of us know, is the only planet that has all the right ingredients for life. When astronomers gaze out past our solar system in search of new worlds it’s impossible to know exactly what is happening on its surface. Still, by measuring everything that can be measured from afar, we can get a pretty good idea of just how habitable or hostile any given planet might be. Scientists using data gathered by NASA’s Kepler Space Telescope have stumbled upon a planet that checks a lot of the boxes we’d consider crucial in the search for extraterrestrial life. It’s called...…Earth, as far as any of us know, is the only planet that has all the right ingredients for life. When astronomers gaze out past our solar system in search of new worlds it’s impossible to know exactly what is happening on its surface. Still, by measuring everything that can be measured from afar, we can get a pretty good idea of just how habitable or hostile any given planet might be. Scientists using data gathered by NASA’s Kepler Space Telescope have stumbled upon a planet that checks a lot of the boxes we’d consider crucial in the search for extraterrestrial life. It’s called...WW…

The astronomy community was buzzing in late 2017 after an object believed to have originated from outside our solar system was spotted speeding around the Sun and back out into interstellar space. Observations of the object sparked a debate among scientists who couldn’t decide whether it was a comet, an asteroid, or something else, but one thing was certain: Oumuamua, as the object was named, was not from our neck of the cosmic woods. Now, in an exciting development that began in amateur astronomy circles, another potential interstellar visitor has been identified, and scientists are...…The astronomy community was buzzing in late 2017 after an object believed to have originated from outside our solar system was spotted speeding around the Sun and back out into interstellar space. Observations of the object sparked a debate among scientists who couldn’t decide whether it was a comet, an asteroid, or something else, but one thing was certain: Oumuamua, as the object was named, was not from our neck of the cosmic woods. Now, in an exciting development that began in amateur astronomy circles, another potential interstellar visitor has been identified, and scientists are...WW…

Back in 2017, Walmart launched a pilot project that made some of its old-school brick-and-mortar retail stores seem like futuristic testbeds. The chain began trialing robots that could scan shelves to make sure items display the correct price and that they’re in stock, a test that started out in 50 stores. This year, those robots will have rolled out to 350 Walmart stores, making robots an increasingly familiar presence in the store’s aisles as shoppers hunt for the retail giant’s signature low-price deals. What’s more, Walmart — which also happens to be the world’s largest retailer,...…Back in 2017, Walmart launched a pilot project that made some of its old-school brick-and-mortar retail stores seem like futuristic testbeds. The chain began trialing robots that could scan shelves to make sure items display the correct price and that they’re in stock, a test that started out in 50 stores. This year, those robots will have rolled out to 350 Walmart stores, making robots an increasingly familiar presence in the store’s aisles as shoppers hunt for the retail giant’s signature low-price deals. What’s more, Walmart — which also happens to be the world’s largest retailer,...WW…

The novel coronavirus seemed like it might be a variation of the flu in the early days of the Wuhan epidemic. The more the virus spread and the more we learned about the pathogen, it became more apparent that COVID-19 isn’t anything like the flu. Not only does it spread a lot easier and faster, but it can cause a variety of serious complications that don’t appear in influenza cases. The new virus also kills a lot more people than the regular flu, even though some politicians claimed the two infectious diseases had similar mortality rates. Seven months later, the coronavirus has killed...…The novel coronavirus seemed like it might be a variation of the flu in the early days of the Wuhan epidemic. The more the virus spread and the more we learned about the pathogen, it became more apparent that COVID-19 isn’t anything like the flu. Not only does it spread a lot easier and faster, but it can cause a variety of serious complications that don’t appear in influenza cases. The new virus also kills a lot more people than the regular flu, even though some politicians claimed the two infectious diseases had similar mortality rates. Seven months later, the coronavirus has killed...WW…

The world has been battling the novel coronavirus for more than seven months, and we’ve had plenty of time to learn that COVID-19 is nothing like the flu, even though some people still dismiss it as such. It’s highly infectious, and its mortality rate is higher than influenza. It can’t be treated as effectively as the flu, and the drugs we take to treat flu symptoms aren’t enough to treat COVID-19. The complications are also far worse than the flu, and many people who have survived the infections will need months to truly recover. That’s because the virus doesn’t just hurt the lungs and...…The world has been battling the novel coronavirus for more than seven months, and we’ve had plenty of time to learn that COVID-19 is nothing like the flu, even though some people still dismiss it as such. It’s highly infectious, and its mortality rate is higher than influenza. It can’t be treated as effectively as the flu, and the drugs we take to treat flu symptoms aren’t enough to treat COVID-19. The complications are also far worse than the flu, and many people who have survived the infections will need months to truly recover. That’s because the virus doesn’t just hurt the lungs and...WW…

Japan’s Fukushima nuclear power plant suffered a devastating meltdown back in 2011, and while news about the disaster has died down significantly since then, the actual cleanup and containment efforts have been ongoing ever since. Now, with contaminated water from the plant continuing to pile up, the company handling its storage says it’s just a few years from running out of space to hold it. The tainted water, which is a mix of water from the reactor, groundwater, and rain that gets mixed in with it all, is being stored in tanks, but space is rapidly running out. As TechXplore reports,...…Japan’s Fukushima nuclear power plant suffered a devastating meltdown back in 2011, and while news about the disaster has died down significantly since then, the actual cleanup and containment efforts have been ongoing ever since. Now, with contaminated water from the plant continuing to pile up, the company handling its storage says it’s just a few years from running out of space to hold it. The tainted water, which is a mix of water from the reactor, groundwater, and rain that gets mixed in with it all, is being stored in tanks, but space is rapidly running out. As TechXplore reports,...WW…

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A man in Germany has died and his dog is being blamed for his passing. The dog didn’t bite or attack the man in any way, it simply licked him. The bizarre story is the subject of a new paper in the European Journal of Case Reports in Internal Medicine, and it’s an important warning for pet owners. The man first went to the doctor after experiencing three days of fever and difficulty breathing. His condition continued to deteriorate as medical staff attempted to determine the source of his symptoms. Ultimately his doctors narrowed it down to a simple lick from his only pet, a dog. The man...…A man in Germany has died and his dog is being blamed for his passing. The dog didn’t bite or attack the man in any way, it simply licked him. The bizarre story is the subject of a new paper in the European Journal of Case Reports in Internal Medicine, and it’s an important warning for pet owners. The man first went to the doctor after experiencing three days of fever and difficulty breathing. His condition continued to deteriorate as medical staff attempted to determine the source of his symptoms. Ultimately his doctors narrowed it down to a simple lick from his only pet, a dog. The man...WW…

Construction workers in Buckingham, England got a disturbing surprise when they began clearing land for new residential development recently. The housing development includes 72 flats for retired individuals, the first step in making those new homes a reality was, of course, to dig. Once work began, the excavation crews quickly realized something was amiss. There on the lot, buried in shallow graves, were the remains of 42 individuals. There was no indication that the area was a burial site of any kind. Adding an extra layer of creepiness to the bizarre discovery is the fact that the...…Construction workers in Buckingham, England got a disturbing surprise when they began clearing land for new residential development recently. The housing development includes 72 flats for retired individuals, the first step in making those new homes a reality was, of course, to dig. Once work began, the excavation crews quickly realized something was amiss. There on the lot, buried in shallow graves, were the remains of 42 individuals. There was no indication that the area was a burial site of any kind. Adding an extra layer of creepiness to the bizarre discovery is the fact that the...WW…