Category: 7. SciTech

Holly is the Staff Writer for BBC Science Focus and looks after the popular Q&A section. She holds an MSc (distinction) in Geoscience (Space and Climate Physics) from UCL, and specialises in astronomy and earth sciences. Before joining Our Media, she worked as a geoenvironmental consultant and…

Could lumpy metallic rocks in the deepest, darkest reaches of the ocean be making oxygen in the absence of sunlight?

Some scientists think so, but others have challenged the claim that so-called “dark oxygen” is being produced in the lightless abyss of the seabed.

The discovery – detailed…

The UK needs more houses. Demand is outstripping supply and it’s driving up prices, making affordable housing harder to come by. That’s just one of the reasons behind the government’s intention to build 1.5 million new homes over the next five years.

But as of 2025, the UK’s Future Homes…

We share about 98.8 per cent of our DNA with chimpanzees, our closest living relatives. Yet, despite this near-identical genetic blueprint, chimps have not built civilisations, waged wars or mastered the art of the TikTok dance routine. 

But what exactly sets us apart? Now, neuroscientists may…

A “supergiant” deposit of high-quality gold ore containing an estimated 1,000 metric tons (1,100 US tons) of the precious metal was discovered in central China in late 2024, according to Chinese state media.

Valued at up to approximately 600 billion yuan or US$83 billion, the discovery could…

Navigating the workforce cuts has “been absolute chaos,” says Armando Rosario-Lebrón, a vice president of the National Association of Agriculture Employees, which represents workers in Plant Protection and Quarantine program.

“These ports were already strained in how they process cargo,…

What is Darth Vader’s most iconic line in The Empire Strikes Back? And how doe the Evil Queen address her mirror in Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs? Unfortunately, there are no points for the answers “Luke, I am your father” and “Mirror, mirror on the wall.”

The actual lines are “No, I…

In a 1985 paper, the computer scientist Andrew Yao, who would go on to win the A.M. Turing Award, asserted that among hash tables with a specific set of properties, the best way to find an individual element or an empty spot is to just go through potential spots randomly—an approach known as…

For more than a century, giant patterns and pictures sketched into the plains south of Lima, Peru, have mystified archaeologists. Named for their makers, the Nazca people who lived between 200 BC and 650 AD, the ‘Nazca lines’ remain one of archaeology’s greatest mysteries. 

With the arid…