Monty Python’s Silly Walk created by John Cleese is ‘exactly 6.7 times’ more silly than a normal human walk, say scientists – and it’s all in the way he flexes his knees ‘at the wrong time’ The team studied the way John Cleese knees bend while doing the silly walk They found his knees would … Read more
An ancient human settlement was obliterated by a comet that exploded in Earth’s atmosphere around 12,800 years ago, a study has found. The event destroyed a village found in the Abu Hureyra dig site in Syria and splattered fragments of molten glass ‘hot enough to melt cars’ to the ground. The impact is also believed to have … Read more
1919 The world’s first flight from London to Australia touches down in Darwin. It took 28 days. Hudson Fysh, one of the men who would go on to found Qantas was first to meet it – he’d just built the airfield, and with Paul McGinness had plotted an air route across Queensland and the Northern … Read more
Irish pair are charged with human trafficking after 10 migrants including two children are found inside lorry carrying tyres in Belgium Two Irish men charged with suspected human trafficking of 10 Asian migrants Eight adults and two children were found in back of lorry near Ghent in Belgium NCA officers also conducted a raid in … Read more
A group of university researchers have partnered with NASA to build the technology for a self-sustaining, zero-waste human settlement on Mars. Called the Center for the Utilization of Biological Engineering in Space, or CUBES, the team is made up of scientists, researchers, and students from UC Berkeley, UC Davis, Utah State and the Planetary Science … Read more
Someone who is infected with the coronavirus can spread it with just a simple cough or a sneeze, scientists say. More than 3,200 people with the virus are now confirmed to have died and over 94,000 have been infected. Here’s what we know so far: What is the coronavirus? A coronavirus is a type of … Read more
A video shows an incredible bionic arm moving ‘like a human hand’ controlled by the patient’s thoughts. The modern prosthetic, designed by engineers, gives hope to amputees who have to rely on plastic moulds with barely any dexterity. Scientists created a so-called ‘nerve interface’ which picks up tiny electrical signals coming from the remaining nerves of … Read more
Apes’ inner ears could help scientists reconstruct the early branches of the human family tree and identify the last common ancestor from which we evolved Researchers compared the bony inner ear structures of 27 primate species These included humans and gorillas as well as extinct apes and Australopithecus They found that ear structure similarities indicate evolutionary relationships … Read more
The coronavirus could damage people’s kidneys and send their immune systems ‘haywire’ as well as infecting the lungs, according to scientists. More than 90,000 people have now been infected with the disease, which is known to cause serious lung damage and deadly pneumonia. It does this by attaching to and reproducing in tissue inside the … Read more
Human populations in India SURVIVED the Toba ‘super-eruption’ 74,000 years ago that plunged the Earth into a decade-long ‘volcanic winter’ and led to the near-extinction of our species Experts thought humans outside Africa may not have survived Toba event Humans are known to have migrated out of Africa into Eurasia before this time Researchers have … Read more