Ever since humans have embarked on sea voyages, they needed to ensure vessels were waterproof, resistant to salty seawater, and could withstand microorganisms or sea-dwellers like worms. Until the mid-20th century, however, the study of non-wood materials used to build ships was overlooked. Even today, little work has been done on materials used for waterproofing….
Get the Popular Science daily newsletter💡 Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. About 2,200 years ago, a Roman Republic ship sank off the coast of modern-day Croatia, with wood and amphorae (ancient storage containers) of wine on board. Scientists are not sure why it sank, but the Ilovik–Paržine 1 shipwreck was…
About 23 million people live in Taiwan, a Pacific island about the size of Maryland. Despite its size, the island produces a tremendous amount of agricultural goods per year—about $18 billion, according to Taiwan’s Ministry of Agriculture. The average size of a farm in Taiwan (less than 1 hectare) is much smaller than in the…
Most shipwrecks tell you where a ship died — not how it stayed afloat. The materials that kept ancient vessels seaworthy have rarely been studied. Now, a Roman wreck is offering a record of repairs made as it sailed across the Mediterranean. In a new Frontiers in Materials study, researchers from France and Croatia examined…
The Decade of Action for Cryospheric Sciences (2025–2034) has begun (1), but international and regional guidelines for managing glacier ecosystems are lacking. In the European Union (EU), the only legislative tool that acknowledges glaciers as a protected habitat is the EU Habitats Directive (2), but even that does not fully take into account glacier biodiversity…
Paleontologists in Brazil have identified a new genus and species of hyperodapedontine rhynchosaur — an extinct lineage of beaked, herbivorous reptiles — based on a partial skull and lower jaws recovered from Triassic rocks. Named Isodapedon varzealis, the species appears to represent a distinct branch within a group that was once thought to be less…
Last month, Isaacman announced that NASA had canceled a plan to build a space station in orbit around the moon and will instead repurpose the components of that station to construct a $20 billion base on the lunar surface. That announcement followed an even bigger announcement in February, when Isaacman overhauled NASA’s Artemis return-to-the-moon program…
Labor is poised to reject a growing push for a new 25% tax on gas exports in next month’s budget, prompting David Pocock to accuse the government of “caving in” to the gas industry. It’s understood the government has elected not to pursue a new tax on gas exports in the budget, prompted in part…
Harmful compounds in children’s nappies and toxic “forever chemicals” in everyday products are among 14 hazardous substance groups hit by lengthy delays to EU pollution controls, according to report findings described by scientists as “extremely frustrating”. The European Commission sought to push broad categories of dangerous substances off the market with a “restrictions roadmap” in…
Less than two weeks after NASA’s Artemis II mission, the crew’s observations from their lunar flyby are already providing insights into what it might take to build a base on the moon, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said Thursday. In a live conversation with NBC’s Lester Holt and former NASA astronaut Sunita Williams, Isaacman said that…
