Emily Smith

A simple way to terraform Mars could help make it suitable for humansLavaHive By Leah CraneNurturing life on Mars may be as simple as bringing a thin blanket of superlight silica. Aerogel, a lightweight material made mostly of air, could be used to heat up the ground and protect it from harmful radiation while allowing…

The source of fast radio bursts remains a mystery Bill Saxton, NRAO/AUI/NSF; Hubble Legacy Archive, ESA, NASA By Leah CraneMany of the brightest, weirdest phenomena in space come from cataclysmic events like explosions or collisions. But many fast radio bursts (FRBs), one of the most mysterious space signals we’ve seen, must not. That might mean…

Anorexia may be linked to many genetic variantsGetty images By Jessica HamzelouAnorexia nervosa isn’t just a psychiatric condition – it is a metabolic one, too, according to a genetic study of around 72,500 people. The findings help to explain some of the symptoms of anorexia, and could help to shape future treatments. Anorexia affects between…

Health 14 July 2019 Eating well can help lower the risk of dementiaDreamer Company/Getty By Adam VaughanPursuing a healthier lifestyle reduces your chance of developing dementia whatever your genetic risk of being affected by the condition, according to new research. “In a sense we [already] knew what is good for the heart seems to be…

New Orleans is facing an uncertain futureMatthew Hinton/AP/Shutterstock By Michael Le PageParts of New Orleans flooded on Wednesday after 15 centimetres of rain fell in places, faster than pumps could drain the city. Now Tropical Storm Barry is moving ashore. There are fears the slow moving storm could cause major flooding as it moves over…

The vibranium fairy wrasseLuiz Rocha By Ruby Prosser ScullyScuba divers have discovered a new fish – a vibrant purple fairy wrasse. They have named it Cirrhilabrus wakanda, after the fictional African kingdom in Marvel’s Black Panther movie. The 6-centimetre-long fish has dazzling, deep purple fins and a yellow head. Luiz Rocha at the California Academy of Sciences and…

Back-to-back heatwaves in the central Indian Ocean killed more than two-thirds of corals in just two yearsZSL/PA Wire By New Scientist Staff and Press AssociationBack-to-back heatwaves in the central Indian Ocean killed more than two-thirds of corals in two years. But some corals were more resilient to the high sea temperatures, which could provide hope…

Some clouds could become thinner as global temperatures riseJason Edwards/National geographic collection/Getty By Michael MarshallThe climate may be more sensitive to greenhouse gases than we thought. That’s because in a warmer world high-altitude clouds may become thinner, causing them to reflect less sunlight back into space. “This is a previously unrecognised effect that should be…

Too much saltCamhi Franck/Alamy Stock Photo By Chelsea WhytePeople in China consume 10 grams of salt a day on average, twice the amount recommended by the World Health Organization, and over the past four decades adults in China have had among the highest salt consumption in the world. This trend was seen in a review…

Space 11 July 2019 The Hubble constant may not be that constant after allABELL 370 By Leah CraneSomething is wrong with the expansion of the universe. Nearby galaxies seem to be moving away from one another too fast, we don’t know why, and every new set of data just seems to make the problem worse.…