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'It's either aliens or a swarm of comets': scientists baffled by bizarre star
Marcus Strom A star that some think might be home to high-tech aliens has scientists asking 'WTF?'.
Latest science news
Scientists probe whether humans killed off the 'hobbit' people 50,000 years ago
![Indonesian archaeologist Thomas Sutikna, and Professor Richard Roberts with a copy of a "hobbit" skull.](/web/20160401072436im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/n/u/s/g/x/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gnupf1.png/1459391691901.jpg)
The extinct human species dubbed the "Hobbits" vanished from its home on the Indonesian island of Flores far earlier than previously thought, according to scientists who suspect our species may have had a hand in the demise of these diminutive people.
Mapping the DNA inheritance from Neanderthal and Denisovan ancestors
![Denisovan genes could potentially be linked to a more subtle sense of smell in Papua New Guineans.](/web/20160401072436im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/n/s/x/l/w/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gnsvv0.png/1459257156938.jpg)
Bridie Smith Indigenous Australians may have a dash more Denisovan than Neanderthal in their DNA, with genetic traces of the mysterious population of hominids popping up in surprisingly high doses, according to fresh research.
Science
Scientists find evidence for ocean beneath Pluto's surface
![Pluto and its moon Charon taken by New Horizons on July 14, 2015.](/web/20160401072436im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/l/d/i/v/2/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gns57c.png/1459153219153.jpg)
Peter Spinks Alien weirdos might swim in a sea of water and ammonia beneath the icy surface of dwarf planet Pluto, some scientists believe.
Irradiated food labelling reviewed
![Some mangoes are treated using irradiation.](/web/20160401072436im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/m/9/n/o/6/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gnr8wu.png/1458984902254.jpg)
Stephen Jeffery Food Standards Australia New Zealand has asked the public whether mandatory labelling of foods treated with ionising radiation is still needed.
Sam's programming skills put to the test
![Telopea Park School year 10 student Sam Parkinson is working hard to represent Australia at the International Olympiad ...](/web/20160401072436im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/n/r/l/l/d/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gnr8qo.png/1458979591957.jpg)
Stephen Jeffery A Telopea Park School year 10 student could represent Australia at an international programming competition in Russia later this year.
Computers
Aussie breakthrough brings quantum computing closer
![A quantum Fredkin gate.](/web/20160401072436im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/n/r/j/v/1/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gnrioq.png/1458971730295.jpg)
Hannah Francis Griffith University researchers have discovered a way to make quantum logic gates bigger, bringing down the cost and complexity of a quantum computing circuit.
Science
Scientists create simplest ever microbe that could hold clues to life
![A cluster of JCVI-syn3.0 cells, showing spherical structures of varying size.](/web/20160401072436im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/n/q/y/u/o/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gnqy5v.png/1458868465357.jpg)
Rachel Feltman Four bottles of chemicals and just 473 genes have rounded out a 20-year goal for these biologists.
Feeling a wee bit angry? Brain parasite could have made you a cat's paw
![Mice infected with Toxoplasma gondii are attracted to the scent of cat urine.](/web/20160401072436im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/n/q/i/0/5/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gnqduj.png/1459257221889.jpg)
Liam Mannix Explosive temper? Prone to risk-taking? It might not be your fault. Your mind could be being controlled by a single-celled organism that can rewire our behaviour to its own advantage.
Science
Self-cleaning clothes a step closer after nanomaterial breakthrough
![Tomorrow's textiles may be able to clean themselves.](/web/20160401072436im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/1/3/0/d/t/r/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gnphpm.png/1458724757306.jpg)
Peter Spinks Scientists are working on nano-enhanced textiles that spontaneously clean themselves when exposed to sunlight - or even a humble light bulb.
HDTV, OLED, UHD, HDR, WTF?
![This year the AFL grand final will screen on free-to-air in HD for the first time, but is that reason enough to buy a ...](/web/20160401072436im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/n/j/3/z/8/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gnj2xu.png/1458799195161.jpg)
Peter Wells This year has marked a turning point, with television manufacturers focused once more on picture quality, but is it time to upgrade your HD TV? First, we have to look at 2016's marketing buzzwords, and see which you care about.
Internet wired for cows mating, dogs misbehaving, hens laying
![The Internet of Things is set to transform how farm animals are managed.](/web/20160401072436im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/n/n/x/2/h/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gnnw74.png/1459406997446.jpg)
Andrew Masterson Current mainstream coverage of the IoT tends to centre on its potential for fully automating houses and workplaces. Away from the limelight, however, there is much fevered work going on aimed at hooking up pets and farm stock.
Israeli cyber-soldiers turn to combat Quidditch
![Canadian Quidditch player Arfy Papadam. Probably not how the Israeli military do it.](/web/20160401072436im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/n/o/2/x/f/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gnnysl.png/1458691662296.jpg)
Gwen Ackerman and Jonathan Ferziger The Israeli military's elite Cyber Command is fighting in a virtual battlefield modelled on the adventures of Harry Potter.
HP's new Elite more than scratches the Surface
![HP's new laptop-hybrid is intended to out-perform the Surface Pro.](/web/20160401072436im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/n/o/a/a/a/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gno9n4.png/1459367678987.jpg)
Peter Wells The HP Elite X2 has its sights firmly on the Surface Pro's crown, as the best two-in-one laptop-tablet hybrid on the market. This is HP's high-end device, to complement the consumer Spectre series. And it's good. Very good.
The relative benefits of isolation, cancellation and cabbage ears
![Kef's new headphones are great for use at home. On aeroplanes, not so much.](/web/20160401072436im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/n/o/4/w/a/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gno4p1.png/1458690481178.jpg)
Rod Easdown Kef's M400 headphones are fine for home use but not so good when you are flying.
Mars, like politics, seems to be going round in circles
![Through April, Mars will seem to move in a circle.](/web/20160401072436im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/n/o/5/g/s/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gno5bp.png/1458689995127.jpg)
Perry Vlahos I'm up late almost every night. But I want you to stay up a little later than normal too, and check something out. It's a mystery, the oldest scientific puzzle about the planet Mars. It goes back to the Egyptians and it wasn't solved until Copernicus in the 16th century.
A beginner's guide to buying a virtual reality headset
![Australian sales of virtual reality headsets are tipped to surge as tech giants hook consumers into strange new worlds.](/web/20160401072436im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/n/n/z/s/i/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gnnxoz.png/1459399149834.jpg)
Hayley Tsukayama By the end of this year, consumers will have plenty of choice when it comes to buying serious virtual reality headsets. Here is our handy guide to help early adopters decide where to spend their money.
Science
Melbourne's Botanic Gardens set for new climate-tolerant face in 2090
![Today's Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne. By the year 2090, many of the species will be new.](/web/20160401072436im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/m/t/i/u/5/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gnner4.png/1458633640271.jpg)
Peter Spinks Plant scientists plan to adapt the botanical landscape to the harsh effects of global warming predicted for coming decades.
Richard III's grave like you've never seen it before
![The remains of Richard III as they were discovered in a Leicester car park in 2012.](/web/20160401072436im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/1/1/z/i/a/e/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gno16j.png/1458609390150.jpg)
Marcus Strom Find out what death was like for a king inside his 500-year-old forgotten grave.
NASA photos quiz: are you an Earthling or a spaceman
![Where (not) on Earth is it?](/web/20160401072436im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/n/n/6/j/f/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gnn6mn.png/1458587403178.jpg)
Marcus Strom Take this quiz to see how well you know the Earth and our nearby Solar System. Are you staring at the skies or at your shoes?
Geoffrey Rush and Brian Schmidt capture the cosmos for planetarium
![The Crab Nebula is the remnant of a supernova explosion in 1054.](/web/20160401072436im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/1/m/p/3/g/h/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gnj37h.png/1459490701861.jpg)
Andrew Stephens Imagine this: all around you, for your entire life, there has been a mysterious force at work that you knew nothing about. That force constitutes most of what surrounds you, yet it is invisible, and pulls unseen strings to make your world the way it is.