Bird strike: what happens when a plane collides with a bird?
Defending planes against running into birds is vitally important – and high-speed frozen chickens play a surprising role. …
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Life / Culture
Some of Earth’s most ancient lifeforms can live on hydrogen – and we can learn from their chemical powers
Enigmatic organisms called archaea can harvest energy from hydrogen, and new research is revealing exactly how they do it. …
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AI is not a magic wand – it has built-in problems that are difficult to fix and can be dangerous
With any AI system, we should match our expectations to its abilities – which have many potential limits. …
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Modern human DNA contains bits from all over the Neanderthal genome – except the Y chromosome. What happened?
A mysterious century-old law of genetics may explain the puzzling genetic legacy of our extinct Neanderthal cousins. …
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Melissa Caddick mystery shows we need more research of a rare kind – marine forensics
When human remains are found underwater, forensics needs a different approach. To understand what happens at sea, we need to study it. …
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South Australia’s enigmatic pink sand was born in ice-covered Antarctic mountains, new research shows
The hunt for the origin of garnet crystals found on South Australian beaches took researchers thousands of kilometres and half a billion years back in time to a hidden Antarctic mountain range. …
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Why doesn’t water help with spicy food? What about milk or beer?
Knowing a little bit of chemistry can help a lot when your mouth is on fire. …
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The secrets of Maya child sacrifice at Chichén Itzá uncovered using ancient DNA
At the heart of the Maya civilisation were sacred sites where ritual sacrifices took place. A new DNA analysis reveals more about this practice and Maya genetic legacy. …
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100-million-year-old fossil find reveals huge flying reptile that patrolled Australia’s inland sea
In 2021 a former avocado farmer discovered the most complete pterosaur skeleton ever found in Australia – and new research shows it represents a previously unknown species. …
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Tech solutions to limit kids’ access to social media are fraught with problems, including privacy risks
There are various methods for estimating or verifying an online user’s age, none of them foolproof. Importantly, is this the social media future we want? …
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