California chemical leak: What is methyl methacrylate, the chemical forcing 40,000 residents to evacuate?

California chemical leak: What is methyl methacrylate, the chemical forcing 40,000 residents to evacuate?

A major chemical emergency in Garden Grove, Orange County, has forced around 40,000 residents to leave their homes after a storage tank at the GKN Aerospace facility began overheating and releasing hazardous vapours. The chemical inside the tank is methyl methacrylate, or MMA, a volatile industrial liquid used in plastics and resin manufacturing. Officials warned…

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Quote of the day by English physicist Brian Cox: “We explore because we are curious, not because we wish to develop grand views of reality or better widgets.”

Quote of the day by English physicist Brian Cox: “We explore because we are curious, not because we wish to develop grand views of reality or better widgets.”

Brian Cox (Image: Wikipedia) Something is interesting about human beings that appears very early in life. Children ask endless questions before they know anything about science, philosophy or technology. They ask where stars go during the day. They ask why the sky changes colours in the evening. They ask why birds fly, why oceans seem…

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Scientists finally discover why gold never loses its shine after thousands of years

Scientists finally discover why gold never loses its shine after thousands of years

Gold has fascinated civilisations for millennia because of one remarkable quality: it rarely loses its shine. Ancient coins, jewellery and royal artefacts buried for thousands of years can still emerge gleaming with their familiar golden glow. Scientists have long known that gold resists corrosion better than most metals, but the exact atomic mechanisms behind this…

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‘The tick-tick quake’: Scientists crack the code of the world’s most frequent earthquakes in the Pacific

‘The tick-tick quake’: Scientists crack the code of the world’s most frequent earthquakes in the Pacific

Deep beneath the eastern Pacific Ocean, roughly a thousand miles off the coast of Ecuador, the seafloor has been keeping time. Every five to six years, in almost the same locations, at almost the same intensity, a magnitude 6 earthquake strikes with a regularity so precise that scientists reached for the word “clockwork” to describe…

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How streetlights may be affecting birds, bats and insects at night in ways scientists did not expect

How streetlights may be affecting birds, bats and insects at night in ways scientists did not expect

The link between artificial light at night, street lights, light pollution, biodiversity destruction, nocturnal fauna, bats, insects, and birds is becoming more evident in modern environmental science. It has been suggested that too much light during the night not only causes comfort for humans but also becomes a serious threat to the environment. Research concerning…

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Quote of the day by psychiatrist Viktor Frankl: “Life is never made unbearable by circumstances, but only by lack of…”

Quote of the day by psychiatrist Viktor Frankl: “Life is never made unbearable by circumstances, but only by lack of…”

Viktor Frankl (Image: Wikipedia) People usually imagine that difficult situations are what make life unbearable. It sounds like a reasonable assumption because it matches what most of us see around us. Financial stress weighs people down. Illness changes families. Relationships break. Careers take unexpected turns. Some periods feel unfair even when someone has done everything…

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43-foot ‘marine T rex’ bigger than great white sharks and more brutal than any mosasaur discovered in Texas

43-foot ‘marine T rex’ bigger than great white sharks and more brutal than any mosasaur discovered in Texas

Long before humans existed, giant marine predators ruled the warm prehistoric seas that once covered much of North America. Among them was a newly identified species called Tylosaurus rex, a massive mosasaur that stretched nearly 43 feet in length and lived more than 80 million years ago. Armed with serrated teeth, powerful jaws and strong…

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SpaceX could give Elon Musk the biggest reward payout in history if he colonises Mars with 1 million people

SpaceX could give Elon Musk the biggest reward payout in history if he colonises Mars with 1 million people

SpaceX may be preparing one of the most extraordinary executive reward packages ever conceived, and it is tied to an ambition that sounds more like science fiction than corporate strategy. According to reports surrounding the company’s long-term compensation structure, Elon Musk could eventually receive the biggest reward payout in history if he succeeds in helping…

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16-year-old girl turns orange peels into a water-saving farming solution in South Africa, transforming drought-hit agriculture

16-year-old girl turns orange peels into a water-saving farming solution in South Africa, transforming drought-hit agriculture

A simple kitchen waste item that most people usually throw away has unexpectedly found its way into global science conversations. Orange peels, something so ordinary, have been turned into a material that might help farms address one of their biggest modern problems: water shortages. As reported by the BBC, the idea reportedly came from a…

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Quote of the day by physicist Wolfgang Pauli: “I do not mind if you think slowly, but I do object when you publish more quickly than you think.”

Quote of the day by physicist Wolfgang Pauli: “I do not mind if you think slowly, but I do object when you publish more quickly than you think.”

Wolfgang Pauli (Image: Wikipedia) Something is interesting about certain quotations. They begin as a small sentence but somehow end up sounding larger than the number of words they contain. Wolfgang Pauli’s remark is one of those lines. At first, it feels almost playful, maybe even a little sarcastic. It sounds like the kind of thing…

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Quote of the day by American astronomer Carl Sagan: “The cosmos is within us. We are made of star-stuff. We are a way for the cosmos to know itself.”

Quote of the day by American astronomer Carl Sagan: “The cosmos is within us. We are made of star-stuff. We are a way for the cosmos to know itself.”

Carl Sagan (Image: Wikipedia) There are some quotations that people read quickly and immediately understand. Then others make readers stop for a moment because the words feel bigger than a simple sentence. Carl Sagan’s famous line belongs to that second kind. At first glance, it sounds almost like poetry. It feels reflective, emotional and deeply…

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Japanese proverb of the day: “He who runs after two hares will catch neither.” |

Japanese proverb of the day: “He who runs after two hares will catch neither.” |

Japanese proverb of the day (Image: AI-generated) Some sayings survive for hundreds of years not because they sound poetic, but because people keep proving them true generation after generation. Human habits change very slowly. Technology evolves, lifestyles become faster, and priorities shift, but people still struggle with many of the same things their ancestors struggled…

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A farmer digging his field uncovered a huge church bell buried for 82 years: Why villagers hid it during World War II

A farmer digging his field uncovered a huge church bell buried for 82 years: Why villagers hid it during World War II

What began as a routine day of excavation in a Lithuanian field turned into an extraordinary rediscovery when farmer Laurynas Družas struck a large metal object buried beneath the soil near the town of Antašava in the Kupiškis district. As the earth was cleared away, a massive church bell slowly emerged, one that locals believed…

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Scientists reveal over 1,100 newly recorded species from Coral Sea waters

Scientists reveal over 1,100 newly recorded species from Coral Sea waters

Deep-water expeditions in the Coral Sea continue to reveal how little of the ocean’s biodiversity has actually been documented. Areas that appear visually empty on sonar scans often contain dense biological communities once remotely operated vehicles descend to the seafloor. In several recent surveys, scientists working across reefs, seamounts and steep underwater slopes encountered species…

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NASA astronauts study cancer and cartilage treatments aboard the ISS as spacewalks near

NASA astronauts study cancer and cartilage treatments aboard the ISS as spacewalks near

On 20 May 2026, biomedical research onboard the International Space Station had a focus on cancer research and blood-related experiments, as well as preparations for spacewalks by astronauts onboard. As noted by NASA, during Expedition 74, the crew on board the ISS utilises microgravity conditions to understand how different diseases develop in space conditions, especially…

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Scientists are digging thousands of holes in England’s Pennine hills to fight climate change

Scientists are digging thousands of holes in England’s Pennine hills to fight climate change

The Pennine hills are likely to become ground zero for combating climate change. In northern England’s peatland bogs, thousands of strategically made holes, called “scallop bunds,” are aiding in bringing back destroyed peatlands to life, sequestering carbon, and restoring wetlands. Researchers at The University of Manchester and conservation organisations such as The National Trust claim…

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Scientists turn sheep wool into a bone-healing material in a major medical breakthrough

Scientists turn sheep wool into a bone-healing material in a major medical breakthrough

Scientists at King’s College London have developed an experimental bone-healing material made from sheep wool that could one day offer a sustainable alternative to collagen in regenerative medicine. The research focused on keratin, a structural protein naturally found in wool, hair, and nails. In laboratory and animal tests, the wool-derived material successfully supported bone regeneration…

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