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The best gadgets and robots of 2020

This has been one heck of a year, that's for sure. Just look at this robot dog.

Robot workspace to get human touch remotely

Assemble, stitch, fasten, box, seal, ship. Wait, what can get done if assemblers, stitchers, and the others are staying at home?

57,000-year-old wolf pup mummy found in Yukon permafrost

The mummy may help scientists retrace the migrations of wolves across Europe, Asia, and North America.

To the bitter end: primates can also fall into the sunken cost fallacy

Giving up is how you win, sometimes.

These are some of the most awesome wildlife photos of 2020

A visual reminder of how beautiful and intriguing nature's creatures can be.

Researchers develop new tool to help regrow burned-down forests

We all need some help every now and then.

We probably aren't the first civilization in the Milky Way. It's just that the others are dead

A new study suggests that it is likely that other civilizations have existed before us in the Milky Way -- before they annihilated themselves.

Giant iceberg A-68a scrapes seafloor and breaks into two. Its current trajectory is unknown

It's currently drifting towards Georgia, US.

Coronavirus new variant – genomics researcher answers key questions

Here's what we know so far.

Blood pressure drug also improves alcohol withdrawal symptoms

A drug with a long history for treating blood pressure and prostate problems is also affective against alcohol withdrawal.

The most important news on the environment, climate and energy of 2020

It's been quite the year.

Poverty line shmoverty line: Backed by AI, researchers want a new way to measure poverty

The 'poverty line' concept is outdated and counterproductive.

Rare 'turtle tsunami' captured on film by conservationists

The giant South American river turtle takes 'safety in numbers' very seriously.

Wildfire smoke can carry microbes that cause infectious diseases, researchers find

There's no such thing as 'clean' smoke, microbes can survive in it.

NASA says a gargantuan supermassive black hole is somehow missing

The hunt is on for black hole with up 100 billion solar masses that is nowhere to be found.

The food industry is skewing research, but we're onto them now

Oh, food, don't betray me too!

Fossil Friday: Adalatherium, the largest mammal to run with the dinosaurs

To be honest it probably ran away from them, not with them.

Breathtaking underwater photographs document the hidden lives of humpback whales

An Australian artist has captured graceful photos of humpbacks and compiled them to in a enchanting book.

A second wave is looming over Africa. A locust second wave, that is

UN says more funding is required to help the most-affected countries and avoid widespread famine.

No-meat diets won't fix the climate -- too many poor countries can't adopt them

The choice between feeding your family and saving the climate isn’t easy to make -- but it will always go the first way.

Scientists report unusual seismic activity in Antarctica: over 30,000 tremors

The earthquakes range from 0.9 to 5.6 magnitude and took place from August to November.

New projections warn that Greenland's ice sheet will see 60% more melt than we've estimated

That’s a high margin of error.

Brain-eating amoeba infections expanding to Northern U.S.

Climate change may have contributed to the spread of infections in Kansas, Minnesota, Indiana, and other states farther north.

Astronomers find two failed stars wandering the universe together

Astronomers have discovered an exotic binary system consisting of two brown dwarfs orbiting each other.

Amazon's plastic packaging waste could encircle the globe 500 times

Most of the packaging isn't recycled and ends up in the ocean.

European rivers are fragmented by over one million barriers

Healthy rivers are flowing rivers, say researchers.

People are increasingly turning to nature to cope with the pandemic and improve their wellbeing

Nature can be an important ally in these trying times.

Human facial expressions may be universal across cultures, AI study found

Smiling at weddings and frowning at funerals seem to be natural across the world.

This hurricane season was so intense scientists ran out of names for storms

It's been a rought year in more than one way.

What's killing people around the world

Forget the scourge of COVID-19 for a moment to check out findings of all deaths in a recent report from WHO.

Ocean warming is a wrecking ball for coral reef systems. This researcher wants to understand it all

There's no simple solution to this problem.

Mammoth remains possibly butchered by human hunters found on Arctic Island near Siberia

The 20,000-year-old remains of a mammoth bear signs of human hunting and butchery.

Scientists find a fatal case of constipation in 1,000-year-old mummy with grasshopper diet

The man could no longer process food due to having a colon swollen to six times its normal diameter.

Japanese researchers open up the Hayabusa 2 capsule -- and it's full of asteroid samples

It's the first time any samples for asteroids have been brought back to Earth

They were looking for a beaked whale. Instead, they may have found a new species

It's unlike any other known species. Still, further testing will be needed to convince everyone.

3D printing may be worse for your lungs than assumed

Nobody likes the fumes -- I hope?

In the Red Sea, an oil tanker rots -- it could create the largest spill in human history

There may finally be hope towards fixing the issue, however.

Drugs that neutralize lethal effects of snakebites could replace antivenom

The toxin inhibitors could someday save hundreds of thousands of people who fall victims to snakebites each year.

In 10 to 20 years, it will be so hot that tropical trees live shorter lives

Not a good roadmark to pass.

Global warming is faster than evolution -- and this could spell trouble for marine life

Aquatic life may not have enough time to adapt to an increasingly warming world.

Strange dinosaur found in Brazil had stiff rods on its shoulders

The 'well-dressed' dinosaur may offer hints about how birds such as peacocks evolved to show off.

Pandemic causes 7% plunge in carbon emissions this year -- but there's little cause for joy

It's not much, but it's some good news.

Despite some success stories, we're still causing a major extinction, IUCN report shows

A few bright spots on a largely bleak picture.

This smart ring detects fever (and possibly COVID-19) before you feel it

The device could reveal that so-called asymptomatic cases may not be truly without symptoms.

Economic inequality and decline fracture society, says a new study

Well, this can’t be good.

More people are turning to cannabis in the pandemic. Should this worry us?

Hemp has been popular in some parts of the world for centuries or even millennia. Certain strains of this plant, those with higher concentrations of psychoactive substances, are typically called marijuana (or ‘drug cannabis’). They have also been used recreationally or ritually for just as long, and demand spiked during the pandemic. The surge has […]

The Paris Agreement, five years on. Can we still avoid a climate crisis?

It was supposed to be a pivotal moment to fight climate change. Things are not so clear.

Cheap perovskite tandem solar cell breaks new world record at 30% efficiency

A crystal known to science for more than a century has only in recent years become recognized for its use in harvesting solar power. Since the first successful usage of perovskite in solar cells in 2009, the advances in the field have grown exponentially. In just a few years of development, rated efficiency in the […]

Researchers are now studying earthquakes and geology with unused optic fiber cables

So-called 'dark fiber' could help seismologists map the underground and measure our planet's rumbles.

Sure, this pandemic sucks, but at least a bee didn't sting you in the eye

Doctors document a rare case of corneal bee sting.