The 2017 YZ4 asteroid was first spotted at Mount Lemmon Survey Observatory in Arizona and will be the 52nd to pass between Earth and the moon this year (stock image). Anything that flies closer than six million miles of our planet is a near earth asteroid and could cause severe damage were it ever to crash into Earth. The asteroid, which is 22.6 to 49 feet in diameter (7 to 15 metres), skimmed past Earth at 4.56pm GMT (11.56 ET) this afternoon at a distance of just 139,433 miles (224,000 km).
China's 7,680mph hypersonic aircraft delivered its warhead 'within meters' of its target 870 miles away, new details of historic test reveal
Last month, China conducted the first flight tests of its new hypersonic ballistic missile, revealing new insight on how it might operate in the real world. The DF-17 is a ballistic missile equipped with a hypersonic glide vehicle (HGV), which is said to be capable of achieving speeds of up to 7,680 miles per hour (12,360 kph) – or 10 times the speed of sound. In the tests, the missile’s payload flew roughly 870 miles (1,400 kilometers) in about 11 minutes with the HGV, though intelligence experts suspect it could one day achieve over 1,500 miles (2,500 km).
Real-life Transformers: £50,000 folding electric car modelled on shape-shifting robots is developed in Japan
NEW Called 'Earth-1', the folding car (pictured) was developed by Tokyo-based firm Four Link Systems and was designed after the shape-shifting robots that feature in the popular anime series 'Mobile Suit Gundam'. The £52,000 ($70,000) concept vehicle is expected to gain approval to run on public roads soon, opening the way to public sales.
Intersex shark, the first of its kind in the world, is discovered by stunned fisherman off the coast of Taiwan
The intersex Pacific spadenose shark was caught in a fishing trawl in the southern Taiwan Strait, and landed at Xiamen, China, earlier this year. Measuring just 1.6 feet (0.5 metres) long and weighing 0.4 kg (0.79 lbs), the predator is one of only a handful of intersex sharks ever found, and the first of its species. At first it appeared to be a fully grown male, with a developed pair of penis-like appendages called claspers (file photo in inset) that extend from the pelvic fin. But a study of the animal's interns found it had a complete pair of ovotestes - gonads that contain both ovarian and testicular tissue. The Pacific spadenose shark is a close relative of the Silvertip (file photo).
- Phew! Asteroid the size of a bus that Nasa only spotted on Christmas Day made a 'near miss' with Earth today after flying between our planet and the moon at 21,000mph
- China's 7,680mph hypersonic aircraft delivered its warhead 'within meters' of its target 870 miles away, new details of historic test reveal
- First glimpse of Falcon Heavy: SpaceX raises Elon Musk's 'megarocket' on Cape Canaveral launchpad
- The radical 'wifi power' transmitter that can charge your electronics from 80 FEET away
- Pressure grows on Apple over iPhone slowdowns as South Korea demands explanation and France sees first legal complaint
- Cassini captures stunning shot of Enceladus spewing water ice from its underground 'alien ocean' in front of Saturn's giant rings
- Bosses with 'Jekyll and Hyde' personalities cause staff more stress than managers who are ALWAYS nasty
- Bitcoin prices slip $1,000 in a day as South Korea becomes the latest country to impose a crackdown on 'abnormal' speculation
- Snap is working on a 'Stories Everywhere' feature that lets you share Snapchat clips and photos with anyone regardless of whether they have the app, report suggests
- Dozens of perfectly preserved dinosaur eggs dating back 130 MILLION YEARS are unearthed in China's 'hometown of scary dragons'
- Real-life Transformers: £50,000 folding electric car modelled on shape-shifting robots is developed in Japan
- The secret to lasting love? New couples should only see each other TWICE a week so their subconscious can develop 'deeper feelings', says expert
- Hackers could crack your PIN number in just THREE attempts using data from motion and light sensors installed on smartphones
- Guardian of the galaxy: American Girl reveals future astronaut Luciana Vega, 11, who loves STEM and dreams of going to Mars is the 2018 doll of the year
- Angry, jealous and very much in love: Nelson's letters to his married lover reveal a very different side to the hero of Trafalgar
- Apple chief Tim Cook's earnings go up 74% in 2017 to $102 million, and he now flies everywhere in a private jet for his 'personal safety'
- Instagram will now show 'recommended' posts in your main feed based on images that have been liked by your friends
- Intersex shark, the first of its kind in the world, is discovered by stunned fisherman off the coast of Taiwan
- Phew! Asteroid the size of a bus that Nasa only spotted on Christmas Day made a 'near miss' with Earth today after flying between our planet and the moon at 21,000mph
- Elon Musk WILL send his car to Mars: Tourist snaps picture of Falcon Heavy 'megarocket' fairing with Tesla inside
- The 'headless chicken monster' of the Gulf of Mexico revealed: NOAA dive captures footage of bizarre deep sea creatures
- Apple chief Tim Cook's earnings go up 74% in 2017 to $102 million, and he now flies everywhere in a private jet for his 'personal safety'
- Alcohol makes people more racist and homophobic by acting as an 'igniter' to prejudice
- Could hackers take control of YOUR home speakers? Warning over Sonos and Bose smart systems
- The world's oldest doll toy: Creepy 4,500-year-old statue with almond-shaped eyes and bushy eyebrows is unearthed in a Bronze Age child's grave
- Pressure grows on Apple over iPhone slowdowns as South Korea demands explanation and France sees first legal complaint
- Instagram will now show 'recommended' posts in your main feed based on images that have been liked by your friends
- The secret to lasting love? New couples should only see each other TWICE a week so their subconscious can develop 'deeper feelings', says expert
- From snow leopard cubs to miniature penguins: Bronx Zoo reveals its new arrivals in 2017
- China's 7,680mph hypersonic aircraft delivered its warhead 'within meters' of its target 870 miles away, new details of historic test reveal
- Hackers could crack your PIN number in just THREE attempts using data from motion and light sensors installed on smartphones
- Bosses with 'Jekyll and Hyde' personalities cause staff more stress than managers who are ALWAYS nasty
- Real-life Transformers: £50,000 folding electric car modelled on shape-shifting robots is developed in Japan
- World's smallest phone revealed: Thumb sized $50 handset can make calls and send texts (just don't try and check Facebook on it)
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Would you ride this? 'Jyro' is a one-wheeled electric rideable
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Icaros the virtual reality fitness & gaming machine at CES 2017
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LG shows off their next generation robots at CES 2017
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Kérastase and Withings unveil the world's first smart hairbrush
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Cringeworthy moment driverless demo goes wrong during reveal
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Latest gadgets on display at Consumer Electronics Show in Vegas
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LG reveals their ultrathin 'wallpaper' TV at CES 2017
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Daily Mail tries out portable, immersive Royole headset
Creepy 4,500-year-old doll with almond-shaped eyes and bushy eyebrows is unearthed in a Bronze Age child's grave
A prehistoric doll (left image) with almond-shaped eyes made of soapstone - comprising mainly talc and designed for a Bronze Age child - has been unearthed in Siberia. Another plaything, a mythical dragon-like animal head (bottom right image), made from antler or horn, was found in the same grave of a small child in Siberia's remote Khakassia region. The finds have been added to what has been described as 'the oldest toy collection in the world' following a series of 4,500-year-old discoveries in the area. The collection features a group of ghoulish figurines (one of eight pictured top right) discovered with a baby's remains in a birch-bark cradle two years ago, which have been hailed as the oldest rattles ever found.
Elon Musk WILL send his car to Mars: Tourist snaps picture of Falcon Heavy 'megarocket' fairing with Tesla inside
A tourist has got the first glimpse of to fairing of Elon Musk's megarocket loaded up with the car he hopes to blast to the red planet (right). Scheduled to blast off from Cape Canaveral on the same pad as the Saturn V Apollo 11 moon rocket on its first unmanned mission next month, Musk has boasted it will have double the thrust of the next largest rocket in use. Earlier this week he revealed pictures of a the rocket's payload - carrying a cherry red Tesla roadster (left).
Is Noah's Ark buried on a Turkish mountain? Experts claim they have 'new evidence' that suggests the Biblical ship ended up on Mount Ararat
Previous research has claimed to have found traces of the biblical ship (right, artist's impression) on Mount Ararat (left), and now a US researcher has says he is convinced the vessel's remains are there. More than 100 scientists from around the world have come together as part of a three-day international symposium on Mount Ararat and Noah's Ark in Ağrı in Turkey. In 2010, a group of evangelical Christian explorers claimed to have found traces of the biblical ship on the mountain. But their research was widely dismissed by experts who said it lacked real evidence.
The 'headless chicken monster' of the Gulf of Mexico revealed: NOAA dive captures footage of bizarre deep sea creatures
A remotely operated vehicle exploring the region has captured a look at a bizarre sea cucumber as it fed on the seafloor, known as the ‘headless chicken monster.’ The so-called headless chicken monster (left), a sea cucumber called Enypniastes eximia, was spotted during Dive 11 of the NOAA Okeanos mission in the Gulf of Mexico. Before wrapping up the expedition for the year, the team also captured footage of a metallic-looking squid (top right), and a colony of pink ‘ice worms’ (bottom right).
So that's what it was! Incredible time-lapse footage shows Elon Musk's Space X rocket blasting off for the last time this year after causing 911 calls and a Twitter frenzy because it was thought to be an ALIEN UFO
A photographer from Arizona captured an incredible 40-second time-lapse video of the latest SpaceX launch last week from central California. With nearly 2,500 original images the video is made up of 1,315 images taken by Jesse Watson. The strange sight caused a stir amongst the residents of Southern California with a number of calls to 911 and a twitter frenzy erupting. Elon Musk fuelled speculation with a mischievous tweet referring to it as a 'nuclear alien UFO from North Korea'.
From snow leopard cubs to miniature penguins: Bronx Zoo reveals its new arrivals in 2017
Ranging from a rare gelada (top right), the only one bred in a US zoo, to a colony of little penguins (bottom left) and a snow leopard, the The animals are not only attracting big audiences, but also helping safeguard their species future, the wildlife conservation society, which runs the zoo, says. The WCS operates five wildlife parks in New York City and works in nearly 60 countries and across the world's ocean saving wildlife and wild places.
The birth of our solar system: Hypnotic animation reveals how a stellar nursery could have formed in the 'wind bubble' of a massive dead star
Our solar system may have been born in a massive bubble around an ancient dead star, according to a new theory. Scientists say stellar wind from a giant type of star known as a Wolf-Rayet could have created a bubble with a dense shell, where dust and gas became trapped before condensing into stars. Supernovae of these stars, which burn the hottest of all stars, are known to produce certain materials that were abundant in the early solar system.
The horrifying alien creatures of the deep: Russian fisherman reveals his latest strange catches, including a bearded seadevil and fish with 'human teeth'
The Murmansk-based fisherman Roman Fedortsov has revealed a trove of terrifying catches, from eight-legged arthropods to fish with dagger-like teeth. These creepy images could make you think twice before dipping your toes at the beach again. These incredible creatures live in the 'twilight zone' of the ocean. This is the area between 660 to 3,300 feet (200 to 1,000 metres) below the surface which is known as the Mesopelagic zone. Some of these strange fish baffled even Mr Fedortsov. Pictured clockwise from top left; unidentified fish; an Angler fish; unidentified fish; unidentified fish; bearded sea devil and a frilled shark.
The giggling gorilla! Adorable moment orphaned ape laughs as she's tickled by one of her rescuers
This is the moment an orphaned baby gorilla rescued from cruel animal traffickers starts giggling uncontrollably while being tickled. Lulingu, whose parents were killed when she was just eight months old, can be seen laughing while playing with one of her rescuers at a sanctuary in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The tiny ape rolls around in excitement and can be heard grunting as the carer tickles her under the armpits.
Can YOU tell what's real? Amazing video reveals a mind-bending optical illusion that makes flat objects look 3D
Not everything on this table is real, and what you’re actually seeing is a simple ‘anamorphic’ illusion created by Sage Hansen from Texas. The moment you move, the image becomes distorted and the viewer can see it is an illusion. Leonardo da Vinci was the the earliest known modern artist to use anamorphosis in 1485.
5,000-year-old eyeliner and scarabs inscribed with the titles of the elite reveal the rise of ancient Jericho
Archaeologists have discovered the remarkable remains of 5,000-year-old makeup at one of the world’s oldest cities. A decades-long dig at Tell es-Sultan, led by researchers from Italy and Palestine, has uncovered traces of manganese oxide inside ancient mother of pearl shells (pictured center) – and, they say this was once the basis of a substance used as eyeliner. The team has also found countless other artifacts that stand as testament to the growth of Jericho and its interactions with neighboring cities spanning centuries, including the remains of a child buried (left) with jewelry, scarabs (right) and ancient perfume jugs.
So how many have YOU seen? Giphy reveals the most popular GIFs of 2017, including a waving pug, a sleepy baby, and the blinking white guy
Giphy has released its round-up of the most popular GIFs of the year, and though some are no-brainers, others may come as a surprise. The website announced that 300 million people share over two billion of the moving image files every day, but not all GIFs are created equal. Some seem to tap into universal truths better than others, making them go-tos to express particular emotions. Others are just cute. But one thing that every GIF in the top 25 have in common? Each was shared at least 32 million times this year.
Is your phone listening to your every word or watching you through the camera? How thousands of people are convinced 'coincidence' adverts are anything but
We all know ‘targeted advertising’ has been prevalent for some years now, via our social media apps and search engines. Facebook was one of the first to introduce it four years ago. It’s no big secret: go on the John Lewis website and choose a blouse, or Google Nigella’s smart eye-level oven, and the next time you log on to Facebook or Instagram, there’s a good chance they’ll pop up as adverts there. But when writer Jen Lewis saw an advert on Facebook of a woman wearing exactly the same clothes she was at that moment (left and right), she started to believe businesses snooping on customers one step too far.
Where will NASA go next? Ambitious plan to fly over Saturn's moon Titan and a project to bring back samples from a comet are among finalists for the agency's new billion-dollar mission
NASA has picked two finalists to determine what its next missions will look like. One will search for signs of alien life on Saturn's moon Titan, pictured right, while the other will take samples from a comet, pictured top left. The missions were chosen under NASA's New Frontiers competition programme, aimed at launching a robotic exploration into space in the mid-2020s based around the research priorities of the wider scientific community. The concepts were chosen from 12 proposals that had been submitted starting as of December of last year. NASA will choose one winner from its New Frontiers programme in July 2019.
Elon Musk reveals his megarocket: Falcon Heavy set to blast off within weeks (and could be taking Musk's car along for the ride)
The vast rocket, which is ultimately three Falcon 9 rockets linked together, will have the combined thrust to eventually launch 140,000 pounds (63,500kg) of cargo into orbit. 'Falcon Heavy to launch next month from Apollo 11 pad at the Cape. Will have double thrust of next largest rocket. Guaranteed to be exciting, one way or another,' Musk originally posted. 'Payload will be my midnight cherry Tesla Roadster playing Space Oddity.
The battle of the space billionaires heats up as Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin reveals it is aiming for a manned launch in 2018
The battle of the billionaires between Jeff Bezos (left), Richard Branson (middle) and Elon Musk (left) looks set to finally blast its first people into space next year. Speaking at the Next-Generation Suborbital Researchers Conference in Colorado, Jeff Ashby, a former NASA astronaut who is director of safety and mission assurance for Jeff Bezos's space firm Blue Origin, said the firm is now 'a year out' from human flights. It comes as Richard Branson claimed in October he will travel to space on his Virgin Galactic craft within six months.
World's largest plane with a wingspan longer than a FOOTBALL FIELD taxis down the runway for the first time ahead of its 2019 test flight
Stratolaunch used the aircraft’s six Pratt & Whitney turbofan engines (bottom) to conduct a low speed taxi test (top right) at the company’s facility at the Mojave Air and Space Port in California. Stratolaunch successfully travelled down the runway at 25 knots (28 miles per hour/45km/h). Once low-speed taxi tests have been safely completed, the company will begin the next phase of taxi testing, which will include increased speeds. Once testing has been completed, the aircraft (top left) will be used to launch satellites and other objects into space. This could include a Dream Chaser spaceship, which could act as a mini-shuttle to reach low Earth orbit destinations and return astronauts or payloads to a runway within 24 hours.
The REAL blue planet: Incredible NASA image shows 'glowing' Antarctic iceberg
NASA’s airborne Operation IceBridge mission has captured a stunning image of an Antarctic iceberg surrounded by an otherworldly blue halo. At first glance, the striking neon color appears artificial – but, according to the space agency, the submerged layer of the eroded iceberg truly is ‘the bluest of ice.’ The remarkable effect was spotted during a flight to Victoria Land, as the aircraft passed over Antarctica’s McMurdo Sound.
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