Last week’s launch was the third time China used the Long March 5B rocket model since debuting it at the pad in 2020. In the first flight, the rocket’s entire main-core stage reached low orbit, allowing atmospheric friction to drag it back down to Earth and disintegrate most of the parts. This isn’t the first time China has been responsible for falling space junk. In May 2021, the second booster of the Long March 5B rocket launch landed in the Indian Ocean near the Maldives, but caused no injuries....

Like its smaller American counterpart, the JLENS (currently parked outside Washington DC), the Yuanmeng can use its sensors and high altitude to detect threats such as stealth aircraft, cruise missiles, missile launchers, and warships from several hundred miles away. But the Yuanmeng has other advantages over the JLENS. While the JLENS is an aerostat, anchored to one location by a 3,000m long tether, the Yuanmeng can freely move about and be redeployed....

Cloning livestock enables farmers to ensure a high, consistent quality of meat by allowing them to choose animals with the most desirable qualities, such as resistance to disease and large size. So it’s not surprising that this technology isn’t new; since Dolly the sheep was born in 1996, scientists have cloned animals including goats, horses, cats, and rabbits. Last year, another Chinese company called BGI opened a factory that produced pork from cloned pigs....

Researchers at the University of Miami and collaborators tracked the movement of three species—great hammerheads, bull sharks, and nurse sharks—in and around Florida’s Biscayne Bay between 2015 and 2019. Stressors on the region, including pollution from power plants and boat traffic, led the team to assume that the ocean predators would shy from the area, especially during periods when crowds descended. But the human presence may be having the opposite effect....

Those re-infections are proving to be risky, according to the results of a new study published today in the journal Nature Biology. The research from a team at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and the Veterans Affairs St. Louis Health Care system found that repeat infections with the virus contributes to significant additional risk to multiple organ systems in the body. Some of the risks include hospitalization, problems with the lungs, heart, and brain; problems with the musculoskeletal and gastrointestinal systems, and even death....

Excellent throws come in a wide range of materials, textures, and warmness levels. Find some of our favorites below. If you’re nostalgic for warm knitted blankets during the winter (and have no certain plans to make your own), this throw from prAna is a great choice. It’s basically a giant, machine-washable sweater, with a color palette and texture just interesting enough to be fun and not overbearing. Choose between dark plum and earth grey....

Fortunately, you can laugh in the face of icy precipitation with some solid deals on snow blowers and snow shovels this Cyber Monday. From heavy-duty snow blowers to easy-to-use kits for your car, these Cyber Monday deals are powerful enough to make snow removal almost fun and let you get back inside for some hot chocolate. Greenworks Cordless Brushless Snow Blower $339.99 (Was $499.99) If you contend with serious amounts of snow on the regular, you need a powerful device that you can depend upon....

The downpours are sending flooding down from northern mountains and melting the country’s numerous glaciers, destroying homes and villages, and wiping away crops. In an interview with Sky News, Pakistan’s climate change minister Sherry Imran called the flooding “apocalyptic,” noting on Twitter that one town in Sindh saw 67 inches of rain in one day. This disaster par with the devastating 2010 floods, which killed more than 2,000 and is deadliest flooding in Pakistan’s history....

Death Valley National Park on the California-Nevada border received almost 75% of its annual rainfall last Friday, triggering a wave of flash floods. According to park officials, no injuries have been reported, but the flood waters buried about 60 vehicles in mud and stranded hundreds of visitors and park employees. According to the California Department of Transportation, parts of State Route 190 will remain closed through at least August 17th....

Tovala Smart Oven $199.99 (Was $299.99) Whether cooking to you is a multi-course affair or pulling a frozen pizza out of the freezer, the Tovala Smart Oven will help you dig into a perfectly cooked dish. The countertop steam oven is designed with five easy-to-use cooking modes: steam, bake, broil, reheat, and toast. You can get dinner started from your smartphone with the Toval app, which features a library of recipes you can create from scratch....

But does she remember her life on the streets? And if so, which parts of it? This question has probably occurred to almost anyone with an animal friend, but for simplicity’s sake, we’ll limit this discussion to our feline and canine companions. Certainly they behave as though they have memories—after all, your special furball doesn’t treat you like a stranger each time you walk through the door—and evolutionary theory suggests as much: It behooves any long-lived animal to have long-lasting recollections....

If you think you’ve seen more prescription drug ads in recent years than in the past, you’re probably right. The bonanza began with gusto in 1997, when the Food and Drug Administration relaxed the restrictions on the sorts of ads that pharmaceutical companies could use to target consumers directly. If their spending is any indication, these ads have been wildly successful—in 2014, pharma companies spent a total of $4.5 billion on consumer ads, an increase of $1 billion from 2012....

The dodo (Raphus cucullatus) resided on the island of Mauritius, its only home, off the southeast corner of Africa, where it roamed around likely grazing on fruits and nuts or plucking marine invertebrates from the surf. It had no natural predators on the island and was flightless. In 1507, Portuguese ships slipped into the island’s harbor, which was the beginning of the end for the odd-looking bird. Their rotund bodies proved too tasty and easy pickings for the waves of sailors that followed....

But what if pumpkins and squash didn’t exist? Well, that could’ve been a reality when large numbers of the wild forms of pumpkins, squash, and gourds went extinct perhaps over 10,000 years ago. A new paper published today in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences suggests that the modern pumpkins and squash we have now are the survivors of those ancient fruits that avoided extinction by becoming domesticated by humans....

Decoded, the name “LP 780-4 Ultimae” means “Longitudinale Posteriore,” which indicates that the engine is situated longways and mounted behind the driver. The “780” is the car’s metric horsepower rating, and the “-4” represents its all-wheel drive. “Ultimae” is self-evident as “final,” even to those of us who didn’t spend much time in Latin class, indicating that this Aventador is the last in the line. The Aventador is the flagship Lamborghini V12 mid-engine missile, descended from the sultry 1966 Miura, through the menacing 1974 Countach, the oft-overlooked 1990 Diablo, and the stupendous 2001 Murcielago....

“We know that these whales are extremely social,” says lead author Michael Weiss, a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Exeter, and previous studies have shown that social relationships seem to be important for their survival. Being able to measure these relationships in fine detail—understanding who is closely tied to whom, for example—could be critical for understanding how this population will fare in the future, he says. Southern Resident orcas are currently endangered, and their preferred food source, the Chinook salmon, is declining in population....

The outbreak in Uganda was officially recognized on September 20, 2022 and saw 164 confirmed or likely infections, 55 lab-confirmed deaths, and 22 suspected deaths due to the virus. The last recorded victim was a stillborn baby at 28 weeks gestation that tested positive for the virus. Previously, the baby’s mother had been infected with the virus, but recovered and was reportedly in good health. Scientists are studying both cases to understand vertical transmission, or whether the virus could have crossed the placenta to infect the baby....

This fall, students might not recognize their college campuses. No bustling move-in days and long hugs in front of dorm rooms, no breathless reunions over dining hall tables, and no daily treks to new classes. As about 20 million college students prepare to either return to school or take courses remotely, they’re not only facing the risk of infection with coronavirus, but also a mental health crisis. The typical college environment isn’t just overwhelming, it’s consuming—and that presents challenges for adapting during a pandemic....

During the late 16th Century, England and many other nations in the region were in a trade boom, with routes expanding and the English Channel serving as a major trading route. Today, very few English-built ships that date back to this busy time remain. “To find a late 16th-century ship preserved in the sediment of a quarry was an unexpected but very welcome find indeed,” said Andrea Hamel, a Marine Archaeologist at Wessex Archaeology, in a statement....