Professor Brian Cox Decodes the Intricate Beauty of Snowflakes in Beautiful Stop-Motion Animation

Renowned physicist Professor Brian Cox recently lent his voice to explain the complex science behind snowflakes in a stop-motion paper animation for The Royal Society. Explaining their unique beauty, Cox revealed that gravity guides their descent, electromagnetism shapes their hexagonal forms, and symmetry captures the human brain’s fascination. Highlighting the universal laws governing snowflakes’ structure, […]

The curious link between animal hibernation and ageing – and what humans could learn from it

Nicoleta Ionescu/Shutterstock Peter Stenvinkel, Karolinska Institutet When the cold and dark winter is setting in, some of us envy animals that can hibernate. This long, deep rest is an example of how nature develops clever solution to difficult problems. In this case, how to survive a long, cold and dark period without much food and […]

Earth isn’t the only planet with seasons, but they can look wildly different on other worlds

Nearby planets can affect how one planet ‘wobbles’ on its spin axis, which contributes to seasons. Mark Garlick/Science Photo Library via Getty Images Gongjie Li, Georgia Institute of Technology Spring, summer, fall and winter – the seasons on Earth change every few months, around the same time every year. It’s easy to take this cycle […]

Privatised Moon landings: the two US missions set to open a new era of commercial lunar exploration

Photograph: Nasa (Goddard Space Flight Center) Gareth Dorrian, University of Birmingham and Ian Whittaker, Nottingham Trent University Two commercial spacecraft are scheduled to launch to the Moon early in 2024 under a Nasa initiative called the Commercial Lunar Payload Service CLPS. This programme is intended to kickstart a commercial transportation service that can deliver Nasa […]