Science

Thai law enforcement officials reported on Monday that they seized more than a ton of crystal methamphetamine destined for Australia last week in a southern province. The 1.2 metric tons (2,646 pounds) of the substance, also known as "ice," reportedly originated from Thailand's northern frontier region, which is part of the Golden Triangle, where Myanmar, Laos, and Thailand meet. Myanmar is a significant producer of methamphetamine, which has replaced opium and its refined form, heroin, as the prevalent illegal substance in Southeast Asia for both domestic consumption and export over the past decade. Decades of political instability have rendered the border regions of Myanmar primarily unregulated and exploitable by drug producers and traffickers. In a report issued in May of...

China will send its first civilian astronaut into space on Tuesday as part of a crewed mission to the Tiangong space station, its Manned Space Agency announced, as Beijing pursues its extraterrestrial goals. After years of lagging behind the United States and Russia, the second-largest economy in the world has poured billions of dollars into its military-run space program in an effort to catch up. Up until this point, all Chinese astronauts have been members of the People's Liberation Army. "Payload expert Gui Haichao is a professor at Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics," China Manned Space Agency Spokesman Lin Xiqiang told reporters on Monday. Lin stated that Gui would be "primarily responsible for the on-orbit operation of space science experimental paylo...

The Food + Farm Exploration Center installed the World's Largest Potato Masher on May 19. The legendary 39-foot potato masher will welcome visitors to the site. Honoring the agriculture industry, producers, inventors, and consumers, the potato masher symbolizes discovery within and beyond the new center. In a written statement, Executive Director Andy Reitz said Plover is a natural home for the institute due to central Wisconsin's strong potato and vegetable heritage. Reconnecting people to agriculture and food inspired the Exploration Center. It will be a place to explore contemporary agriculture, meet the farmers, study science and engineering, play, and interact. "It will be a tantalizing celebration of food and farming with a teaching farm, children's museum, science center,...

Physicists at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) discovered directed hypernuclei flow. These rare, short-lived nuclei contain at least one "hyperon" along with protons and neutrons. Neutron stars, the densest and most unusual objects in the cosmos, may contain huge amounts of this material. Even if neutron stars are still science fiction, particle collisions can provide scientists with information about these celestial objects from a lab on Earth. In the study, LBNL physicist Xin Dong said, “The conditions in a neutron star may still be far from what we reach at this moment in the laboratory, but at this stage, it’s the closest we can get, By comparing our data from this laboratory environment to our theories, we can try to infer what happens in the neutron star.” ...

In a recent study published in The Astrophysical Journal, a single telescope accomplished a remarkable feat by simultaneously detecting a rapid radio burst (FRB) and star-forming plasma in a nearby spiral galaxy. The CSIRO's ASKAP radio telescope (Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder) enabled the discovery. FRBs, which are extremely potent radio emissions, were first detected in 2007 and have been traced to distant galaxies. These signals, which typically last only a few milliseconds, have perplexed astronomers for years. Despite their extreme brilliance, these bursts are extremely ephemeral, making it difficult for many radio telescopes to pinpoint their precise location. Without this vital information, the study of galaxies containing FRBs becomes a formidable endeavor. ...

A analysis of environmental studies in an unexplored area of the Pacific Ocean that might be a deep-sea mining hotspot found almost 5,000 new species on the seafloor. The Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ), a mineral-rich ocean bottom region between Hawaii and Mexico in the Pacific, has been fully studied for the first time. Given anticipated deep-sea mining contracts in the near-pristine area, the research will be crucial to estimating the species' extinction danger. Only six creatures, including a carnivorous sponge and a sea cucumber, have been sighted elsewhere. 17 deep-sea mining contractors have 745,000 square miles of CCZ mining exploration contracts. The UK, US, and China-backed corporations aim to mine cobalt, manganese, and nickel for alternative energy. These businesses ...

Brazil: Manaus An experiment in the Amazon may reveal how carbon dioxide levels may affect the world's greatest jungle. It simulates global warming on the world's lungs. "An open-air laboratory that will allow us to understand how the rainforest will behave in future climate change scenarios," says Carlos Quesada, one of the project organizers. Brazil and the UK co-funded the AmazonFACE project. Quesada stands at the base of a metal tower that rises through the rainforest canopy 50 miles (80 kilometers) north of Manaus in northwest Brazil. Sixteen towers in a circle surrounding it will "pump" CO2 into the ring, simulating global warming. "How will the rainforest react to the rising temperature, the reduction in water availability, in a world with more carbon in the atmosphe...

After effectively presenting their scientific research at the main final of the Indonesia International Science, Technology, and Engineering Competition (ISTEC) in Bali, a group of young South African scientists received an award. In December of last year, they competed at the Eskom Expo International Science Fair (ISF) and were awarded the opportunity to present their research projects at the ISTEC. Luke Boswell (9th grade, Pearson High School, Port Elizabeth) and Matthew Crouch (10th grade, Paul Roos Gimnasium, Stellenbosch) were both awarded gold medals. Silver medals were awarded to Zariah Parker (Grade 10) of Star College Cape Town and Ndzhaka Mukele Siweya (Grade 12) of Khanyisa Learning Centre in Giyani, Limpopo. Each of the four students was awarded a medal. Mat...