Science

Why does your mind goes ‘blank’? New brain scans reveal the surprising answer

Why does your mind goes ‘blank’? New brain scans reveal the surprising answer

When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Scientists uses two brain-scan methods to see what happens when your mind goes totally blank. | Credit: Grafissimo/Getty Images You look up from your phone screen and suddenly realize you weren’t thinking about anything. It’s not a lapse in memory or a daydream; …

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Moon phase today explained: What the moon will look like on August 3, 2025

Moon phase today explained: What the moon will look like on August 3, 2025

The moon is looking brighter every night, and we’re inching closer to the next full moon. But let’s take a look at where we are in the lunar cycle first. The lunar cycle is a series of eight unique phases of the moon’s visibility. The whole cycle takes about 29.5 days, according to NASA, and these different phases happen as …

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100-hour-long exposure: ESA releases the sharpest image of the Ultra Deep Field

100-hour-long exposure: ESA releases the sharpest image of the Ultra Deep Field

Webb, combining data from its Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) with its Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI), revealed sharp, detailed views of the Hubble Ultra Deep Field. Originally assembled from Hubble observations from 2003 to 2004, the Ultra Deep Field showcases over 10,000 galaxies, some of which date back to less than a billion years after the Big Bang. Webb’s latest look at the …

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Earth’s Oxygen Dissipation Begins Earlier Than Expected, and NASA Sets a Date for the End of Life

Earth’s Oxygen Dissipation Begins Earlier Than Expected, and NASA Sets a Date for the End of Life

The air we breathe may seem like a permanent feature of our planet, but new research suggests it’s far from eternal. A study published in Nature Geoscience by scientists from NASA and Japan’s Toho University paints a stark picture: Earth’s oxygen-rich atmosphere, which supports complex life, will likely collapse within the next billion years. Even more striking, the initial decline …

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Warning — Next Week’s Perseid Meteor Shower To Be ‘Severely Compromised’

Warning — Next Week’s Perseid Meteor Shower To Be ‘Severely Compromised’

The Perseid meteor shower is seen over the Ulanbum grassland in Chifeng city, Inner Mongolia, China, August 14, 2023. (Photo by Costfoto/NurPhoto via Getty Images) NurPhoto via Getty Images The Perseid meteor shower, the most popular “shooting star” display of the year, will be far from its best because of the presence of a near-full moon in the sky, experts …

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Skyscraper-size spikes of methane ice may surround Pluto’s equator

Skyscraper-size spikes of methane ice may surround Pluto’s equator

Skyscraper-size spires of mehtane ice may cover around 60% of Pluto‘s equatorial region — a larger area than scientists previously estimated, new research finds. The study, published July 5 in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, was based on data collected by NASA‘s New Horizons spacecraft, which captured the first close-up images of the tiny world a decade ago, on …

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Scientists just recreated the Universe’s first molecule and solved a 13-billion-year-old puzzle

Scientists just recreated the Universe’s first molecule and solved a 13-billion-year-old puzzle

Immediately after the Big Bang, which occurred around 13.8 billion years ago, the universe was dominated by unimaginably high temperatures and densities. However, after just a few seconds, it had cooled down enough for the first elements to form, primarily hydrogen and helium. These were still completely ionized at this point, as it took almost 380,000 years for the temperature …

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Spacecraft equipped with a solar sail could deliver earlier warnings of space weather threats to Earth’s technologies

Spacecraft equipped with a solar sail could deliver earlier warnings of space weather threats to Earth’s technologies

This article was originally published at The Conversation. The publication contributed the article to Space.com’s Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. The burgeoning space industry and the technologies society increasingly relies on – electric grids, aviation and telecommunications – are all vulnerable to the same threat: space weather. Space weather encompasses any variations in the space environment between the Sun and …

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Lanternfish Extinction Could Set Off Global Marine Collapse

Lanternfish Extinction Could Set Off Global Marine Collapse

A recent study published in Communications Earth & Environment provides a stark warning about the ocean’s future: the looming oxygen crisis may threaten key marine species, including the crucial lanternfish. Using over 10,000 years of fossil records, researchers have found that lanternfish populations drastically declined whenever oxygen levels in the ocean fell below a critical threshold. As ocean temperatures rise …

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