All articles from Eoin O'Carroll
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Gerbil, mouse astronauts perish on Russian spaceflight
After a month in orbit, Russia's Bios-M space biology craft touched down in Russia, with most of its crew dead as a result of technical malfunctions.
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Why hasn't everything been annihilated yet? Pear-shaped atomic nuclei could hold answer.
Why are you currently reading this on your screen, instead of having had all your atoms completely obliterated at the dawn of time? A pear-shaped nucleus might explain.
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Saul Bass directed a movie about ants taking over the world. Could that really happen?
Directed by Saul Bass, who is celebrated Wednesday with a Google Doodle, the 1974 sci-fi flick 'Phase IV,' depicts ants developing a superior intelligence.
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Cicadas return: How do they know when it's time to emerge? (+video)
17-year cicadas spend almost their whole lives burrowed under the ground, suckling on the roots of trees. How do they keep track of the time?
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Jamestown settlers resorted to cannibalism, skeleton reveals
Facing starvation, Jamestown colonists resorted to consuming the flesh of a deceased 14-year-old girl, reveals an analysis of remains found at America's first permanent English settlement.
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How NASA dodged a derelict Soviet spy satellite
In March 2012, NASA's Fermi space telescope could have collided with a Russian naval signals satellite, were it not for an untested maneuver.
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Antimatter might fall up, say physicists
A paper published this week suggests that antimatter could exhibit antigravity, potentially resolving some of physics' biggest mysteries.
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Plant gases help curb global warming, finds study
Plants respond to warming temperatures by emitting vapors that help reflect sunlight, a team of scientists have discovered.
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Waters off Northeast US coast unusually warm, says NOAA
Sea surface temperatures on the Northeast US Continental Shelf reached the highest recorded in 150 years, says an advisory issued by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
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Scientists discover ridiculously small insect
With a length about 2.5 times the width of a human hair, Tinkerbella nana was spotted in a Costa Rican forest.
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Astronomers discover the Ed Begley Jr. of galaxies
An international team of researchers have spotted the most fuel-efficient galaxy yet, which converts nearly 100 percent of its hydrogen gas into stars.
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Humongous Chicago sinkhole swallows three cars, injures one driver
Following a severe rainstorm, a sinkhole opened up in Chicago's South Side, devouring three cars and sending one driver to the hospital.
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Boston Marathon tragedy: 2 dead, at least 28 injured in back-to-back blasts (+video)
The Boston Marathon finish line was the scene of two large explosions Monday that killed at least two people and injured many more. A third explosion occurred at JFK Presidential Library, several miles away.
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Giant snail invasion forces Floridians to walk for their lives
The African giant land snail, a notorious invasive species, is attempting to establish itself in Florida, say officials.
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Why Joe Barton's biblical flood comment is so illogical
It's not that Texas congressman Joe Barton cited the Biblical great flood as an example of natural climate change. It's that he misrepresented the arguments of those who say that human activity is changing the climate.
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Cthulhu fhtagn! Indescribably terrifying microbes named for Lovecraft monsters.
Eldritch scientists at the University of British Columbia have named Cthulhu macrofasciculumque and Cthylla microfasciculumque, a pair of sightless, writhing, unfathomable horrors twisting and groping through the ensanguined interiors of half-mad termites, for the unspeakably hideous abominations of the adjective-crazed pulp writer.
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Face-sized tarantula lives in trees in Sri Lanka
Face-sized tarantula: With a leg span of up to 8 inches across, the Poecilotheria rajaei, is one of the larger species of tarantula.
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Sea lion boogies down, overturns theory (+video)
Ronan, a California sea lion with a knack for keeping a beat, challenges theories about the nature of rhythmic ability.
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How Maria Sibylla Merian opened our eyes to nature
Google celebrates the 366th birthday of German artist and naturalist Maria Sibylla Merian, whose observations of insects and their habitats stood at the dawn of the scientific revolution.
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Humongous extinct bird egg up for auction. Where did it come from?
The fine arts auction house Christie's is auctioning off a huge, partly fossilized egg laid by an elephant bird, an extinct creature native to Madagascar. The starting price: $45,000.
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