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Environment

There's a new way to make everyday products without using fossil fuels

Everyday household products are made almost entirely from newly extracted fossilised carbon. But 'defossilisation' is an exciting alternative, finds Graham Lawton

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MANHATTAN, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES - 2024/09/20: Participant seen holding a sign at the protest. Youth climate activists and allies rallied and marched through New York City calling on world leaders to tear down the pillars of fossil fuels, shortly before the beginning of the United Nations General Assembly and the concurrent Climate Week NYC. (Photo by Erik McGregor/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Space

The Vera C. Rubin Observatory gets started next year. I can't wait

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On 22 August 2024, summit staff reinstalled Rubin Observatory's commissioning camera (ComCam) on the telescope. ComCam has previously been on the telescope, but was removed before the installation of the secondary mirror in late July. ComCam ??? a smaller (144 megapixel), simpler version of the full 3200-megapixel LSST Camera ??? is being used for testing activities prior to installing the LSST Camera, anticipated to happen late 2024. In the coming weeks the summit team will install the primary/tertiary mirror, enabling ComCam to produce the first astronomical data from the Simonyi Survey Telescope.

Technology

High-tech archaeology shows we aren't the first to endure hard times

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Lidar and crest lines, Tugunbulak Credit: SAIElab, J. Berner, M. Frachetti https://press.springernature.com/large-scale-medieval-urbanism-traced-by-uav-lidar-in-highland-ce/50086460

2KEFP4Y London, England, UK. 12th Nov, 2022. A protester outside Shell HQ holds a sign referencing the film 'Don't Look Up'. Thousands of people gathered outside Shell Headquarters in London and marched to Trafalgar Square as part of the Global Day of Action for Climate Justice as world leaders meet in Egypt for COP27. (Credit Image: ?? Vuk Valcic/ZUMA Press Wire) Credit: ZUMA Press, Inc./Alamy Live News

Environment

After another dire year for the environment, here's to better times

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Science can be our trusty shield in a time of deepening crises

Physics

Science can be our trusty shield in a time of deepening crises

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Could hibernation technology allow humans to skip winters?

Humans

Could hibernation technology allow humans to skip winters?

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T85947 Space elevator, illustration

Space

How a space elevator could make trips to the moon affordable for all

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Name Wilbur, John

Technology

The forgotten civil engineer with a vision we could all learn from

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2AFX2PH aerial view of Allerton Waste Recovery Park, on the A1(M) near Harrogate, North Yorkshire, UK

Environment

Putting food waste in the bin felt wrong until I learned where it went

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2C6F140 Atoms and their electron clouds , Quantum mechanics and atomic structure

Physics

You can't put a price on the sense of awe particle physics inspires

Astronomy and particle physics are no longer seen as vital by the US establishment, so funding has fallen. But our work creates a sense of wonder, and wonder matters, says Chanda Prescod-Weinstein

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2M2WTDW Islands of floating algae. Seaweed Brown Sargassum floating on surface of the water, sun's rays breaking through the thick grass. Underwater shot

Environment

Could seaweed be the ultimate carbon capture solution?

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San Francisco, CA, USA - September 15, 2024: Waymo self driving taxi driving in downtown San Francisco; Shutterstock ID 2517479849; purchase_order: -; job: -; client: -; other: -

Technology

How a ride in a friendly Waymo saw me fall for robotaxis

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Free

C8FAG5 York Minster, northern Europe's largest Gothic cathedral, York, Yorkshire, England,UK

Environment

Why we may be getting urban tree planting all wrong

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Simulation of a black hole

Space

What does it mean to “look” at a black hole?

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