Science

Updated: 19:27 EDT

The bizarre airbag car that could do away with dents for good: 'Flesby II' is lined with shape-shifting rubber that absorbs impacts

Japanese manufacturing firm Toyoda Gosei has unveiled a bizarre new concept that could put your rubber bumper-shield to shame. At the Tokyo Motor Show, the company showed off a new dent-proof car, Flesby II – and, the outside of the vehicle is covered in undulating airbags. According to Toyoda Gosei, the design uses shape-shifting rubber that moves with electric power to protect the exterior from collisions, rather than relying solely on traditional placement inside the car.

FILE - This Monday, Oct. 23, 2017 file photo show fall colors beginning to show along Route 209 in Reilly Township, Schuylkill County, Pa. Across the United States, 2017's first freeze has been arriving further and further into the calendar, according to more than a century of measurements from weather stations nationwide. (David McKeown/Republican-Herald via AP)

Across the United States, the year's first freeze has been arriving further and further into the calendar, according to more than a century of measurements from weather stations nationwide.

Research by the University of Exeter and the University of Queensland in Australia found that tropical forests are preventing the release of three times as much carbon as the UK emits per year.

Colorado-based research scientist Janelle Shane has trained a neural network to invent costumes based a dataset set of more than 4,500 crowdsourced submissions.

To reveal the elusive ‘sounds,’ NASA converted the radio emissions collected across the various missions into sound waves. They've compiled these into a Soundcloud playlist.

Aerospace engineer Thorsten Denk created a device can extract water from lunar soil, and then split this to also obtain oxygen. It could so far support a crew of 6-8 astronauts.

Catalan engineer Sergi Santos, the inventor behind the silicon Samantha sex robot, says that his bots will become more aroused by people who treat them respectfully.

Research has revealed that severe weather is not necessarily harmful to individual adult sea turtles - when researchers tracked a sea turtle during Florida's tropical storm Debby, they found that she survived.

England's native ladybirds have been decimated by the Harlequin ladybird, which can carry a STI called Laboulbeniales - a fungus which lives off the exoskeletons of insects and cause yellow growths.

Will Nibiru trigger apocalyptic earthquakes next month?

A team of conspiracy theorists claim that recent natural disasters on Earth, including the recent earthquakes in Florida and Puerto Rico, are a sign the world is about to end. They claim the disasters were caused by the gravitational pull of the mysterious planet Nibiru (artist's impression) and that the frequency of these events has risen as the mysterious planet's orbital path brings it closer to Earth. Nibiru, also known as Planet X, was supposed to collide with Earth (artist's impression inset) on September 23 after a Christian numerologist claimed the planet would destroy our planet.

The findings by Stanford University, published today in the Journal of Sexual Medicine, are based on an analysis of more than 50,000 Americans between the ages of 25 and 45.

Wayne State University researchers say that some of the main chemicals that contribute to the 'fight or flight' response are also involved in other positive emotional states, such as happiness and excitement.

At the Tokyo Motor Show, Nissan unveiled a concept model of its e-NV200 electric van with refrigeration capabilities, designed to transport chilled food to restaurants and homes.

The 'Pause Pod', from a pair of inventors in Gothenberg, Sweden, is a 4-foot (1.2m) tent with an extendable leg compartment which lets busy people switch off by sitting or lying down in it.

Researchers from Vicarious, a firm based in San Francisco, have developed an algorithm that can solve complex Captchas, including those used by PayPal and Google.

Spectacular pictures show China's £1 billion VR park

Astonishing images of a ground-breaking virtual reality theme park due to complete in south-west China have been revealed. Curious gamers will be able to travel to the future, battle with dragons, fly to space, or live alongside aliens through virtual experience. One of the most impressive features is that the attraction will have a gigantic Transformer statue which measures 53 metres (174 feet) in height.

Bing

Get the Science RSS feed

More RSS feeds...

Glasgow study saya parents and lovers' eyes colour linked

Men are drawn to lovers with the same colour eyes as their mothers while women are drawn to men who have eyes the colour of their father's, according to research from Glasgow University. People were twice as likely to find someone whose eyes were the same colour as those of their parent in question - which could explain the origins of Freud's Oedipus complex. Angelina Jolie's (top left) ex-partner Brad Pitt (top middle) has light blue eyes like her father Jon Voight (top right). George Clooney's (bottom left) wife Amal Clooney (bottom middle) has dark eyes like those of his mother, Nina Warren (bottom right)

The feature is rolling out to global users on Android and iOS. Messages you successfully delete for everyone will now be replaced with 'This message was deleted' in your recipients' chats.

Experts from the Burford-based Blue Cross have advised that pet owners should get their animals neutered or speyed at a young age to prevent the risk of infection.

Researchers at Penn State University have found that exoplanet Kepler-13Ab has bouts of precipitation made up of Titanium dioxide - a key ingredient in sunscreen.

Home Office Minister Ben Wallace said the Government believed 'quite strongly' that a foreign state was behind the ransomware attack and named North Korea.

Americans mainly use toilet paper when cleaning the anus after pooping. But that could be unsanitary and leave feces behind. Some experts suggest using bidets to clean the area instead of wiping.

Strange seasonal patterns on the surface of Mars are made by freezing and melting of gas not water, a new study by researchers from Trinity College Dublin has found.

Is your vacuum cleaner SPYING on you? Flaw in mobile app could let hackers take control of any LG smart home device

According to Tel Aviv-based security firm Check Point, LG's Hom-Bot robot vacuum cleaner (inset) could be hijacked by hackers wanting to use it as a spy device (main image). Hackers could log into the LG users' system and cause havoc - such as switching dishwashers or washing machines off, or even turning the oven up to the highest temperature. Hackers found a vulnerability in the login process on the LG SmartThingQ app which means that hackers could control your home remotely - just like you do.

Dr Meg Jay explains that some people do seem to have a natural inclination to coach themselves through adversity, but no one is born resilient and there are things we can all do to steel ourselves.

Pre-orders for Cupertino-based Apple's iPhone X launched today at 8am BST (3am ET), but experts who had warned of a 'catastrophic stock shortage' after launch were proven right.

Reptiles are now more popular than horses but an expert from the Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics says people should stop buying them because it is virtually impossible to give them a good life.

UK scientists said that the ‘imaginary fear’ experienced by children on digital devices makes the body react like it would to physical fear, meaning ‘energy is sent to the muscles’.

NHS officials said 47 trusts in Britain had been affected – but the National Audit Office found that the impact was far greater, and in fact 81 were hit by the cyber-attack earlier this year.

Where did that come from? Astronomers spot the first ever 'alien' comet passing through our solar system

While most comets follow ellipse-shaped orbits around the sun, this comet, called C/2017 U1 (artist's impression pictured), appears to orbit at an angle, and doesn't circle the sun. Its orbital path suggests it entered our solar system from the direction of the constellation Lyra, looped around the sun, and will never return. Observations published by the Massachusetts-based International Astronomical Union's Minor Planet Centre (MPC) suggest the comet likely escaped the orbit of another star.

An Australian National University researcher believes that historians incorrectly classified Roman cameo glass from 30BC-50AD as blown class, when it was made by a cold-pressing process.

Now, a study on volcanic ash found in seafloor sediments in California’s Santa Barbara Basin has revealed the cataclysmic event 630,000 years ago was not one, but two super-eruptions.

With Halloween weekend just over the horizon, a study cautions Californians to be weary of lead-contaminated candy. The study found that candy is the most common imported food-source of lead.

The dark web marketplace for ransomware is growing at a rate of more than 2,500 per cent per year, a report has found. Ransomware attacks have cost worldwide businesses about $1 billion this year

Scientists from Stony Brook University in New York warn climate change will force the bamboo lemurs which live solely in Madagascar will gradually be forced to eat culm for longer periods.

Billionaire Bill Gates said in his annual letter that polio will be eradicated by the end of the year. The deadly infectious disease has no treatment but can be prevented through vaccinations.

The ProPILOT operates autonomously on urban roads and freeways using artificial intelligence and is currently being tested on public roads in Tokyo.

Sketch of Mary Queen of Scots found under portrait

The image of a woman,(right) which experts say has 'compelling similarities' to other depictions of the queen,(inset) was discovered by an x-ray of a portrait of Sir John Maitland, the Lord Chancellor of Scotland(left). The 1589 painting by Dutch portrait artist Adrian Vanson was among a number of works to be examined by conservator Dr Caroline Rae as part of research by the National Galleries of Scotland (NGS) and the Courtauld Institute of Art in London.

Twitter says it is banning ads from Russia-based RT and Sputnik over concerns they spread misinformation during the 2016 US election

Twitter is banning advertisements from Russia-based media outlets RT and Sputnik, in response to findings that the groups sought to spread misinformation during the 2016 elections.

Forty two people died and over 8,000 structures were destroyed in this month's Northern California Wildfires, but a researcher says that the conditions leading to the fire disaster were not unpreventable.

Alphabet Inc's self-driving car unit Waymo is expanding winter testing as it works to address a potential blind spot for autonomous vehicles: snowy and icy conditions.

Yusuf Mohammed, from Bristol was ordered to pay damages to Sky, pay back the money he made from the scheme and hand over the details of all his customers.

EXC: The Electoral Commission confirmed to MailOnline it was a 'proactive' regulator that was in 'dialogue with Facebook' chief Mark Zuckerberg (pictured) about applying election laws.

Software engineer Felix Krause, based in Vienna, Austria, was able to build an app that silently takes a picture of its users every second and then uploads them without telling the user.

The team of researchers from Oxford and Aberdeen universities discovered that modified Antheraea pernyi silk had important properties desirable in a 'scaffold' suitable for spinal repair.

Raccoon-sized dino with 'bandit mask' amazes scientists

Scientists have reconstructed the color patterning of a small, feather-clad dinosaur that roamed China 130 million years ago (illustrated left) – and, they say it shared a distinctive trait with the furry modern mammal that topples trash cans in North America. The analysis has revealed the small Sinosauropteryx dinosaur had a ‘bandit mask’ across its eyes (inset center), just like today’s raccoons (pictured right). This stripe, along with a light-colored underbelly, a dark back, and a striped tail, likely helped it evade predators and sneak up on prey in the ancient savannah.

The Bloodhound racing car

Bloodhound Supersonic Car reached speeds of more than 200mph (320kph) as it hurtled down a 1.7 mile (2.7km) long section of runway at Cornwall Airport in Newquay.

Researchers from the University of Padova in Italy have now set a new distance record of more than 3,500 kilometres (2,174 miles) for detection the wave-particle duality of light.

The rare footage shows the trevally stalking its prey ff the coast of the Seychelles before jumping into the air and opening its enormous mouth in a bid to secure its next meal.

On average, men working in the UK earn between 9 per cent more than women in the same profession, numbers released by the Office for National Statistics show.

Uber has introduced multiple destinations, letting riders add up to three stops to their trip. The new feature has been rolled out to users globally from today.

A bizarre dinosaur with scissor-style teeth that roamed France 80 million years ago has been discovered by scientists from the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences in Brussels.

Researchers from the University of Massachusetts found that when mixed with water, baking powder removes nearly all residue left by two common pesticides within 15 minutes.

In an announcement in Washington on Wednesday, The White House said it wants to free up new commercial uses for drones and create jobs by expanding how and when they can be tested.

Instagram adds SUPERZOOM feature that will automatically turn videos into dramatic close-ups

It’s been years since the ‘Dramatic Chipmunk’ video first went viral, seeing a prairie dog abruptly turn toward the camera just before it zooms in for an uncomfortably close look. But, the zooming trend lives on. Instagram has unveiled a new ‘Superzoom' feature, which allows users to capture short videos that automatically zoom in to the subject – and, they’re set to dramatic sound effects.

Researchers from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development in Maryland found men's risk is up to three times higher, while women's is 51 percent.

Researchers from the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) in Paris are challenging the method used to estimate ocean temperatures in the past.

The bottles are wrapped in plastic film, which recycling facilities are unable to process. Uxbridge-based Lucozade has confirmed that it is 'working to address the plastic sleeve'.

Instead of trouble springing from youths on street corners, they are planning offences using phones and computers in their bedrooms, said Chief Inspector of Probation Dame Glenys Stacey.

Menlo Park-based Facebook's new desktop app allows co-workers to message each other throughout the day without having to rely on a browser tab.

What Car?s report was good news for Japan, but not so great for UK car making, with the Range Rover Sport, Jaguar XE and British-built Nissan Qashqai bottom of their respective categories.

Saudi Arabia becomes the first country to grant citizenship to a ROBOT as critics say it now has 'more rights than women'

History has been made in Saudi Arabia today as a humanoid robot has been granted citizenship for the first time. The robot, Sophia, took to the stage at a conference in Riyadh this week to express her delight at being given citizenship, which she described as 'historical.' Not everyone is happy with the Sophia's citizenship, with some describing her as 'bizarre' and others referring to it as 'Terminator in real time.' Others have pointed out that Sophia has 'more rights than women in Saudi Arabia'.

Researchers at the University of Washington simulated 50 different ways that a magnitude-9.0 earthquake on the Cascadia Subduction Zone on the Pacific Northwest could unfold,

Harvard researchers have revealed a nature-inspired RoboBee that can dive into water mid-flight, and launch itself back out for a safe landing. It could be used for search-and-rescue missions.

Research by the University of Bordeaux in France has revealed that oysters close their shells at low sound frequencies characteristic of noise pollution from cargo boats, explosions and wind turbines.

In America, California has a higher risk than Nevada. In the UK, Cornwall and Wales have a higher risk than Norwich. Why? In those western edges of time zones, they use more artificial light at night.

Found in the Maseru District of Lesotho, the footprints are the first evidence a huge carnivorous dinosaur lived in South Africa more than 100 million years before T Rex.

The Pentagon’s research branch has revealed its Offensive Swarm-Enabled Tactics (OFFSET) program is seeking ideas for new systems that could allow for ‘human-swarm teaming’ in cities.

Scientists at MIT and Harvard have discovered a way to use CRISPR technology to cure cystic fibrosis. With this new gene editor, they can now fix any wrong letter in the genome.

This photo provided by Uber shows an Uber Visa credit card. On Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2017, Uber unveiled a no-fee, co-branded credit card with British bank Barclays. (Courtesy of Uber via AP)

The ride-hailing giant on Wednesday unveiled a new no-fee, co-branded credit card with British bank Barclays that it hopes becomes a major part of consumers' everyday spending habit.

London's 'Big Brother billboard' is switched on in Piccadilly Circus: Controversial screen tracks you with hidden cameras and shows adverts based on your age, gender, mood and the car you drive

The six old advertising boards in London's Piccadilly Circus have been replaced with one high-definition curved screen which is around the size of four tennis courts. Dubbed the 'Big Brother billboard', it features facial and car recognition technology to target people with hidden cameras. It also provides free Wi-fi which researchers have warned could be used to 'monitor and capture your every online move.' Commuters are shown inset during the launch of the screen this morning.

Markings on the seafloor of Pine Island Bay, in West Antarctica, show how the Antarctic Ice Sheet retreated rapidly at the end of the last Ice Age as it 'balanced precariously' on sloping ground.

Researchers from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute in Cambridgeshire found many people are unaware they carry MRSA and therefore readily spread it both within and outside of hospitals.

NASA has intensified efforts to understand how space travel altered Scott Kelly's body in comparison to his twin brother, retired astronaut Mark Kelly who remained home during his ISS trip.

The findings, by Duke University in North Carolina, raise concerns because plastic poses a risk of choking or intestinal blockages which could kill off areas of coral reef.

Unveiled at the Tokyo Motor Show, Honda's Riding Assist-e is an all-electric concept motorbike that assesses its position and moves the steering bar to ensure the heavy machine stays upright.

Kima the cheetah lies unconscious on an operating table at Singapore Zoo while blood samples are taken and a monitor beeps in the background, being treated not for the results of a savage attack, but for the ravages of old age

Animal populations in developed countries are living longer, putting a strain on healthcare resources, but Singapore Zoo is tackling this issue with its senior animals' programme.

The Waiapi, an ancient tribe living in Brazil's Amazon rainforest, live in the Waiapi indigenous reserve - a pristine rainforest near the eastern end of the Amazon river.

Researchers capture eerie footage of jellyfish that can survive freezing Arctic temperatures

Researchers at Columbia University suggest that Chrysaora melanaster jellyfish (pictured) in the Chukchi Sea in Alaska may thrive during cold winters when sea ice is thick because it shields them from winter storms, and low temperatures reduce their metabolism enough for them to survive on relatively little food. With climate warming and sea ice declining rapidly, the fate of Chrysaora jellyfish is uncertain.

Global customers of Google's latest Pixel 2 handset have taken to the firm's support forums to report a series of irritating high pitched sounds and strange clicks with the newly released device.

The spray is being used by forces including the Metropolitan Police to clampdown on soaring incidents of crooks using mopeds to carry out crimes including robbery and acid attacks.

Dubbed Kronos after the child-eating Titan of Greek mythology, the star is the most dramatic case yet of a sun-like star consuming its own planets, according to the study by Princeton University (stock image).

Attractive job seekers are generally thought to receive more work offers, but being pretty may be a liability for less desirable jobs, according to London Business School research (stock image)

New research carried out by business psychologist Dr Lynda Shaw has unearthed ten different personality types you'll find in the office - and which are the most and least popular.

Apple ordered suppliers to reduce the accuracy of its facial recognition software to make it easier to manufacture, an industry source has claimed ahead of its global launch next week.

Amazon's new service, called Amazon Key, goes live on Nov 8 in 37 US locations, and it is unclear if it will be introduced in other countries in the future.

Christine Lagarde told a conference in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, that if the world wants a future that 'looks like utopia and not dystopia', it needs to address climate change and inequality.

A 6,000-year-old skull the oldest known tsunami victim

In 1929, Australian geologist Paul Hossfeld stumbled on a partial human skull (right) in a mangrove outside the coastal town of Aitape in Papua New Guinea (inset). Originally thought to belong to Homo erectus, the skull was subsequently dated to the mid-Holocene period, about 6,000 years ago. The most recent tsunami to swamp the Aitape region in 1998 killed more than 2,000 people. Pictured (left) are scientists explaining their project to people living near Aitape.

The prestigious institution has released its annual batch of sample questions potential students may have to face, as part of its ongoing attempts to demystify the application process.

Researchers from the Parco Faunistico di Piano dell'Abatino animal sanctuary in Italy observed a new mother carrying her dead infant for weeks, before eating its mummified remains.

NASA has published a stunning image captured by Osiris-Rex during its travels, showing our planet in breathtaking detail. Australia, California and southwestern US can all be seen in the photo.

The video, taken in June of 1961, shows Hal Graham - a Buck Rogers fan and pilot of the rocket belt - strapping himself in before attempting to fly over Buffalo’s Niagara Falls Boulevard.

Researchers from the University of Portsmouth tested 24 dogs of different breeds by presenting them with four different situations, recording their facial responses for analysis.

Close contact between the hominin Parathropus boisei and our ancestors was common around sources of water, such as Kenya's Lake Turkana, providing the perfect opportunity for infection.

An ancient skeleton discovered in a Mexican cave could be one of the earliest examples of human settlement in the Americas. Isotopic analysis has dated it back to 13,000 years ago.

A team of MIT researchers has unveiled an AI horror writer, Shelley , named for the famed Frankenstein author. Shelley can generate her own stories, and collaborate with humans.

Two spectacular hole-punch cloud formations appeared in the sky above West Bay, Dorset, on Wednesday afternoon, caused by part of a cloud layer forming ice crystals and dropping to the floor.

A giant trevally fish defied natural order by emerging from the waves and snapping up a bird in a single bite off the Seychelles. It was captured for new BBC series Blue Planet II.

Dr Jurgen Otto spotted the five new species of spider on his travels through Western Australia, including the Jotus auripes spider, which has almost holographic bristles at the front.

Facebook and Instagram are down in parts of the US, UK, Brazil, Japan, India and parts of Europe, sparking a hilarious social media meltdown with people comparing it to the 'end of the world'.

The eye-catching ancient jewellery was discovered on the skeletons of female invaders from the nomadic Xiongnu warrior people who lived by the Yenisei River in remote Tuva republic.

An American robot called Eagle Prime will battle the Japanese Kurata robot in the Megabots Giant Robot Dual league tomorrow, Tuesday, October 17th, 2017 at 7pm PST (10pm EST).

During a conference at the American Astronomical Society Division for Planetary Science meeting in Provo, Utah, the Cassini team shared a number of new findings after the mission ended.

image001.jpg

The jet is an early unmanned prototype of the company's 18 passenger S-512 Quiet Supersonic Jet, and the firm says the tests were a 'huge success'.

In a co-ordinated dawn action on Friday, October 13, 1307, the king's men raided every religious house belonging to the unsuspecting Templars from Normandy to Toulouse.

Andrés Ruzo explores the river, in the Mayantuyacu region of Peru, in a short documentary film which captures the breathtaking uniqueness of the Shanay-timpishka river.

Humans could be 'melded' to machines, giving us huge advancements in the power of human brains, experts told peers at the House of Lords Artificial Intelligence Committee in London.

An image of an Australian Green Tree Frog eating what appears to be an Eastern Brown Snake has gone viral, after a Reddit user posted it with the caption 'One Last Scream Into the Abysssss'.

The search giant has been working with NASA to include data from the Cassini mission, along with data from other missions.

A pre-Norman skull unearthed in a garden in Hoxne, Suffolk, was found to have been infected with the same strain of leprosy identified in other skeletal remains in East Anglia.

An Italian architect has released a dramatic concept which sees humans setting up a colony on the red planet in 2117. The artistic design is being presented at an exhibition in China.

The motorised mouth guard created by Venice-based company Unico is expected to be delivered in February 2018 and it will ship anywhere in the world.

Dr James Carpenter, an insect expert from the American Museum of Natural History in New York, said the yellowjacket wasp likely flew off with the abdomen to share its spoils.

These and many more weird and wacky remedies have been outlined in a new book, Quackery: A Brief History Of The Worst Ways To Cure Everything, written by a Nebraska doctor.

Life-like robot Sophia, created by Hanson robotics, made a surprise appearance at a UN technology event in New York as a panellist.

The graveyard sits in South Pacific between Australia, New Zealand and South America (pictured), and is used by space agencies to safely crash space stations and satellites.

The driverless vehicles, which are called Podzeros (pictured), were designed by RDM Group and are being tested on a guided busway in Cambridge.

A tower of human skulls unearthed beneath the heart of Mexico City has raised new questions about the culture of human sacrifice of women and children in the Aztec Empire.

A stunning new map from Imgur user Fejetlenfej shows the complex network of rivers and streams in the contiguous United States, highlighting the massive expanse of basins across the country.