Archives: Cosmos
The lymphatic drain inside your brain
Has the human brain been hiding a dirty secret? While studying the membranes around a mouse brain, neuroscientist Antoine Louveau stumbled across something that wasn’t supposed to be there: a web of drainage channels called lymphatic vessels, the body’s waste disposal system.
A leap forward in the hunt for Earth-like planets
A new technique for studying distant worlds looks set to help scientists narrow the search.
Microbial gangs are organised killers
It turns out we have misunderstood bacteria. Rather than flying solo, their natural lifestyle is communal. And they can work together with devastating effect.
Crack addicts hooked on their environment
Around half of drug addicts relapse within a year of going “clean”. Research suggests we’d lower that figure if our crack clinics bore more of a resemblance to a drug den.
Some scientists are convinced more planets exist in our Solar System
Not many years ago, the idea our Solar System might contain undiscovered planets beyond Pluto would have been considered science fiction. But now, with NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft three months away from giving us our first close-up view of Pluto, astronomers are beginning to wonder. The more we study the dwarf planet and its surrounds, the less lonely it appears. Are there as-yet undiscovered worlds on the far edge of the Solar System?