2026

Image(s): Guinness World Records For Wally Funk, the dream of becoming an astronaut began long before women were welcomed into America’s space programme. In 1961, the gifted pilot completed the same gruelling medical and psychological tests given to NASA’s first astronauts as part of the pioneering Mercury 13 programme. Despite outperforming many of her male…

For decades, archaeologists believed that while early humans had learned to control naturally occurring fires more than a million years ago, they only mastered the ability to create fire much later. A remarkable discovery in southeast England is now challenging that timeline. Tiny fragments of iron pyrite, found alongside heat-damaged stone tools and ancient hearth…

This might be the closest humans have come to finding another planet that can support life. In a shocking discovery, astronomers have detected an atmosphere around an Earth-like, rocky planet about 48 light-years away.The planet, called LHS 1140 b, is orbiting in the habitable zone around its star meaning that it is at the right…

High above the Amazon rainforest, invisible currents of water vapour move through the sky in narrow, fast-flowing bands, carrying a volume of moisture that dwarfs even the largest rivers on the ground below. Scientists call this phenomenon an atmospheric river, sometimes nicknamed a flying river when it occurs above dense forest, and unlike a conventional…

A person demonstrates Japan’s TRUSCO Do Reimon Box, a walk-in cooling booth. As record-breaking heatwaves become more frequent around the world, keeping outdoor workers safe has become an increasingly urgent challenge. Japan may have come up with an unusual solution. A Japanese company has developed what many are calling a “human refrigerator”, a walk-in cooling…