91av

Regulars

Close-up of delighted senior man twirling moustache and smoothing his grey beard. Man taking care of his bushy beard and mustache ; Shutterstock ID 559674487; purchase_order: -; job: -; client: -; other: -

Why does our hair go white while eyebrows stay their original colour?

Eyebrows and eyelashes do go white if you live long enough, says one reader - but it’s really a question of how hard your hair follicles are working

Regulars
Blue and dark space landscape with planets and starry sky and mountains. Huge planet on the horizon volumetric lighting 3d rendered baackground.; Shutterstock ID 2208373835; purchase_order: -; job: -; client: -; other: -

This week’s new questions

Regulars

Scientists find a use for old tea bags – turn them into roads

Regulars

Tom Gauld on an astounding discovery

Regulars

Twisteddoodles: Good news, your results are back

Regulars

Space

See the messages NASA is sending to Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa

Regulars
PP65DP Building with climber plants, ivy growing on the wall and grass on the floor. Ecology and green living in city, urban environment concept.

Life

Why ivy growing on your walls may actually be beneficial

Regulars
grass lawn with yellow daffodils in dutch garden 'Keukenhof', Holland; Shutterstock ID 172603808; purchase_order: -; job: -; client: -; other: -

Why are so many spring flowers yellow?

Regulars
The two interacting galaxies making up the pair known as Arp-Madore 608-333 seem to float side by side in this image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. Though they appear serene and unperturbed, the two are subtly warping one another through a mutual gravitational interaction that is disrupting and distorting both galaxies. This drawn-out galactic interaction was captured by Hubble???s Advanced Camera for Surveys. The interacting galaxies in Arp-Madore 608-333 were captured as part of an effort to build up an archive of interesting targets for more detailed future study with Hubble, ground-based telescopes, and the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope. To build up this archive, astronomers scoured existing astronomical catalogues for a list of targets spread throughout the night sky. By so doing, they hoped to include objects that had already been identified as interesting and that would be easy for Hubble to observe no matter which direction it was pointing. Deciding how to award Hubble observing time is a drawn-out, competitive and difficult process, and the observations are allocated so as to use every last second of Hubble time available. However, there is a small but persistent fraction of time ??? around 2???3% ??? that goes unused as Hubble turns to point at new targets. Snapshot programmes, such as the one which captured Arp-Madore 608-333, exist to fill this gap and take advantage of the moments between longer observations. As well as creating beautiful images such as this, these snapshot programs enable astronomers to gather as much data as possible with Hubble. Links Video of A Snapshot of Interacting Galaxies

What would happen to Earth if the Milky Way hit another galaxy?

Regulars
Reindeers migrate for a best grazing in the tundra nearby of polar circle in a cold winter day.; Shutterstock ID 605430995; purchase_order: -; job: -; client: -; other: -

This week’s new questions

Earth’s north magnetic pole is moving from Canada towards Siberia. Has there been a noticeable effect on migrating animals that sense the geomagnetic field as a navigation aid? And why is it harder to remove a crease from a shirt with an iron than to put one in?

Regulars

Why you should always yell at the ref – according to science

Regulars

Tom Gauld on the Masked Botanist

Regulars

Twisteddoodles on the best way to remember a person’s name

Regulars

Space

Astonishing photograph of last year’s annular solar eclipse in Utah

Regulars