Category: Feature Stories

In February 2021, a meteorite struck the English county of Gloucestershire. Water was found in the 4.6 billion-year-old chunk of rock – evidence that water on Earth is probably also due to asteroids in the outer solar system. Experts* from the Natural History Museum and the University in Glasgow were able to quickly locate the meteorite, with 16 public cameras recording the fireball’s path in the sky. “The rapid find makes it one of the most unapologetic meteorites ever available for analysis,” study author Ashley King said in a release.…

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Is it nonsense to rinse honey jars before disposing of them in the glass container? Unfortunately, no. But not because the sweet remains attract insects or animals but because of a bee epidemic. To protect local bees, rinse empty honey jars before throwing them in the bottle bank. That’s because about 75 percent of honey that originates from “EU and non-EU countries,” according to the label, is infected with the American foulbrood pathogen spores. Although these pathogens are harmless to humans, the highly contagious bee disease kills the bee larvae…

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We all know that smoking harms our health and can even shorten our life expectancy. Therefore, many smokers try to get rid of their cigarettes. A new study now shows at what age this should happen. According to the study, smokers who stopped smoking 35 years ago had a similar mortality rate as those who never smoked. This is the latest age to quit smoking.“Tomorrow I’ll quit” is something many smokers resolve to do now and then. And some manage to quit smoking; others fail again and again. But those…

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Heating costs continue to rise, and people are saving money wherever possible. But hardly anyone knows the cheerful effect curtains have on the room temperature. So they are not just there for darkening or decoration but are helpful when saving heating costs. We are afraid that soon we will only be able to stay at home wrapped in a thick blanket and hot tea in our hands. Energy prices seem to be going up to infinity. However, there are some tricks to save on heating costs that we wouldn’t think…

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Almost two years after the presentation of the draft law, the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA) comes into force on Wednesday. Together with the Digital Markets Act (DMA), this is intended to create clear rules for the Internet – and put dominant tech corporations like Facebook, Google, Amazon, and Apple in their place for the first time. Among other things, the aim is to tackle social problems such as hate speech and disinformation, prevent the formation of monopolies, and enable smaller companies to compete genuinely in the digital space.For affected…

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Astronomers have discovered the remains of one of the oldest planetary systems in our galaxy. Clues were provided by two white dwarfs, each 90 and 120 light years away from Earth. They are supposed to be over 10 billion years old. White dwarfs are the cores of extinct stars. These were not massive enough to explode in a supernova and become a black hole or neutron star. Instead, they have lost their outer shells and are now cooling. They have high density but low luminosity. 10.7 billion years oldResearchers* at…

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They give the room a great scent and a pleasant mood. However, scented candles can release substances of concern. The cozy season has begun! That means out with the scented candles, in with the cozy blanket, and drinking lots and lots of tea. Scented candles and room fragrances exude lovely notes of vanilla, orange, or cinnamon throughout the room. Unfortunately, what is good for your well-being can harm your health. Researchers have found that candles release questionable substances and can thus lead to headaches, dizziness, and other complaints. Surprising warningsThere…

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Will it be in Tokyo, Delhi, or Cairo? Will it be somewhere among the evergreen forests of Central Africa, or will it be in a U.S. state in the Midwest? Or even in Austria? Today, in any case, the birth of the eighth billionth earth citizen is expected: 8,000,000,000 people – thousand times as many as in Austria, will thus live on our fragile globe, according to the calculations of the United Nations. Fear of overpopulationIt is an unbelievable population development that has taken place in the last 200 years:…

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According to a recent study, the Arctic is now similarly littered with plastic as densely populated regions. High concentrations of microplastics are found in the water, in rivers, on the seafloor, on uninhabited beaches, and even in ice and snow, report researchers at the Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI) in Bremerhaven. This has consequences for the living creatures there, but possibly also for the climate. The Arctic is perceived as a largely untouched wilderness – but that no longer corresponds to reality, says AWI biologist Melanie Bergmann, co-author of the analysis…

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