Nasa is set to announce a major discovery made by its planet-hunting Kepler space telescope (artist's impression) this week, in an event that could help guide the search for alien life. The probe's latest find was made by researchers using artificial intelligence from Google. Nasa scientists will be joined by a senior Google AI engineer and an expert from the University of Texas at Austin to reveal the Kepler telescope's latest planet candidate results. The Kepler mission has spotted thousands of exoplanets since its launch in 2009, with 21 Earth-sized planets now known to orbit within the habitable zones of stars. The telescope's latest catalogue is set to be Nasa's best look yet at distant worlds with the potential for alien life.
Has an alien probe entered our solar system? Cigar-shaped interstellar 'comet' Oumuamua is being investigated for signs of extraterrestrial technology
The alien-hunting Breakthrough Listen project, led by Russian billionaire Yuri Milner (inset image), will use the Green Bank Telescope in West Virginia to investigate the mysterious comet (artist's impression main image). The researchers say they are looking for alien radio signals, claiming the mysterious visitor could be an alien probe. The cigar-shaped object, named 'Oumuamua by its discoverers, sailed past Earth last month and is the first interstellar object seen in the solar system.
Collectors assemble the largest known early map of the world: Misshapen countries, mythical creatures, and illustrations of kings revealed in stunning 10 FOOT map from the 16th century
The remarkable map is said to be the largest map of the early world, and was created in 1587 by Urbano Monte. Experts at the David Rumsey Map Center at Stanford Libraries, where the original is now bring housed, have digitally joined its 60 separate pieces, revealing stunning illustrations of the continents, oceans, kings (top right, King Philip II of Spain is shown), and even mythical creatures. It also includes geographical misconceptions from the time, such as the bizarre shape of Japan (bottom right).
Egyptian archaeologists discover 3,500-year-old mummified body as they explore pair of ‘exceptional’ tombs
The tombs were found across the Nile from the southern city of Luxor in the 1990s by German archaeologist Frederica Kampp. However, she had only reached the entrance gate and 'never entered', the antiquities ministry said. It said that both tombs, which were given numbers by Kampp, were likely to date back to dynasties of the New Kingdom, which lasted several centuries until about 3,000 years ago.
- Mystery as NASA reveals it will make a 'major' alien-hunting announcement on Thursday after teaming up with Google's AI in the search for habitable planets
- Has an alien probe entered our solar system? Cigar-shaped interstellar 'comet' Oumuamua is being investigated for signs of extraterrestrial technology
- The Antarctic microbe that can live on THIN AIR: Experts say incredible find could radically change the hunt for alien life
- Look up this week! Stunning Geminids meteor shower is set to peak with up to 120 shooting stars every hour: Here's how to see it
- Men with older brothers are more likely to be GAY because their mothers carry antibodies that trigger homosexuality in the womb
- People in Britain's former coal heartlands are more likely to be neurotic and demotivated due to 'psychological scars' from the Industrial Revolution that have been passed down through generations
- The remarkable island born from an underwater volcanic eruption: NASA reveals new Pacific island Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai formed in 2015 and could survive for up to 30 years
- Britain must designate its marine territories as 'bluebelt' to protect its wildlife and stop plastic pollution from destroying the world's oceans, claim campaigners
- How Neolithic weapons were made to kill with one strike: Study of 5,500-year-old wooden club suggest it was used as a lethal tool
- Turn your body into a BOAT! The amazing inflatable 'suit' that allows users to be pulled along at incredible speeds
- Collectors assemble the largest known early map of the world: Misshapen countries, mythical creatures, and illustrations of kings revealed in stunning 10 FOOT map from the 16th century
- Meet Ichi the blackback bachelor: World's rarest gorilla ventures out from the Nigerian forest in desperate bid to find a mate
- Tasmanian tigers AREN'T extinct (or at least they won't be for long!): Scientists unlock mysterious creature's DNA - and plan to clone it bring the beast back to Australia
- Construction workers digging up a LA subway extension uncover fossils of creatures that lived 10,000 years ago in the last Ice Age
- Apple buys Shazam song identifying app in $400m deal
- Watch out for the 'Weltmeister': Chinese electric car firm reveals new brand and SUV to try and take on Tesla
- Could this have prevented the Grenfell blaze? Simple £5 device fits on to radiators to tap their water supply in the event of a fire
- Has an alien probe entered our solar system? Cigar-shaped interstellar 'comet' Oumuamua is being investigated for signs of extraterrestrial technology
- Mystery as NASA reveals it will make a 'major' alien-hunting announcement on Thursday after teaming up with Google's AI in the search for habitable planets
- Former Facebook executive, who has banned his own children from the site, says social media is ripping society apart by manipulating users
- Look up this week! Stunning Geminids meteor shower is set to peak with up to 120 shooting stars every hour: Here's how to see it
- Dogs are BETTER at reading our moods than we are at understanding theirs because we tend to view them like children rather than as canines
- Your laptop could be recording EVERYTHING you type: Sinister keylogging software that lets hackers spy on users is found on almost 500 models of HP computer
- Why humans will happily follow a ROBOT messiah: Religions based on AI will succeed because we tend to 'worship supreme understanding', claim experts
- Collectors assemble the largest known early map of the world: Misshapen countries, mythical creatures, and illustrations of kings revealed in stunning 10 FOOT map from the 16th century
- The remarkable island born from an underwater volcanic eruption: NASA reveals new Pacific island Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai formed in 2015 and could survive for up to 30 years
- Apple gives a rare private demo of its driverless car system that uses lasers to detect pedestrians and cyclists from a distance
- Meet Ichi the blackback bachelor: World's rarest gorilla ventures out from the Nigerian forest in desperate bid to find a mate
- How Neolithic weapons were made to kill with one strike: Study of 5,500-year-old wooden club suggest it was used as a lethal tool
- End to annoying WhatsApp notifications? App tests private replies in group chats to help cut down on message alerts
- Google Doodle celebrates Nobel Prize winner Max Born
- Why asking for a pay rise via email DOESN'T work: Written arguments are less likely to convince people of a point of view than having a meeting because they 'dehumanise' arguments
- Mount Hope is crowned the highest peak on UK territory at 3,239 metres after satellites reveal it is nearly 400 metres TALLER than first thought
- Watch out for the 'Weltmeister': Chinese electric car firm reveals new brand and SUV to try and take on Tesla
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Prosthesis explained: A look at the racing anti-robot at CES
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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
Can YOU see it? Baffling new optical illusion makes curvy lines appear zig-zagged
Researchers have unveiled a mind-bending new type of optical illusion. At first glance, the ‘Curvature Blindness Illusion’ appears just an arrangement of wiggling and zig-zagging lines crossing over a white, gray, and black background. But, according to the creator, the image doesn’t actually contain any zigzags – instead, all of the lines have the same wavy shape.
Amazon uncovered: Incredible images show remote Brazilian tribe which was nearly wiped out by disease dancing, balancing in trees and swimming in waterfalls
Stunning photos show indigenous Kamaiurá people diving underwater and swimming beneath a waterfall in the Amazonian basin in a remote part of Brazil. The Kamaiurá, whose name means 'a raised platform to keep meat, pots and pans', were first contacted by the outside world in 1884. Its population was ravaged by disease in the 1950s but the region was declared a national park by the Brazilian authorities in 1961 to prevent the spread of deadly epidemics.
'I filmed with tears rolling down my cheeks': Heart-breaking footage shows a starving polar bear on its deathbed struggling to walk on iceless land
The 'soul-crushing' footage was taken by photographer Paul Nicklen and filmmakers from conservation group Sea Legacy after they arrived on northern Canada's Baffin Island. The former biologist who has now turned his hand to wildlife photography has seen over 3,000 bears in the wild, but this particular encounter (pictured) will no doubt linger in his memory. The photographer shared the haunting moment with his Instagram followers, attracting over one million views.
Whale-sized asteroid capable of DESTROYING a major city skimmed past our planet at just a third of the distance between Earth and the moon – and NASA didn’t even notice
The asteroid, named 2017 VL2, shot by Earth on November 9. It has now emerged that experts at Washington D.C.-based Nasa did not find out about it until a day later. 2017 VL2 flew by at around 73,000 miles (117,480 km) from our planet. This is around a third of the distance between Earth and the moon (inset). The potentially lethal space rock (stock image) was first observed at Mauna Loa observatory in Hawaii at 11:24 UTC (23:24 GMT) on November 10.
Incredible footage captures a mid-air COLLISION between a murmuration of starlings and a flock of geese
The clip, captured at Martin Mere nature reserve in Tarlscough, Lancashire, shows a mesmerising starling murmuration being rudely interrupted by incoming geese. Animals that move and live in close proximity to one another have developed complex methods of navigating without crashing. A common theory is that these animals have developed zones around them to tell them where others are.
Why you should never microwave hard-boiled eggs: Super-heated water causes them to explode so violently, the noise could damage your hearing
Sound engineers from San Francisco-based firm Charles M. Salter Associates, explored the mechanism of exploding eggs as part of expert witness testimony. The case was settled out of court but in the meantime 100 eggs were boiled in a microwave and experts found the explosion can be as loud as listening to a jet plane from 100 feet (30m) away (stock, main image, inset).
Rewriting the history of man's migration out of Africa: Study backs theory that our ancestors traveled to Eurasia in several waves 60,000 years EARLIER than first thought
Researchers from the Max Planck Institute in Jena, Germany, suggest that early humans began crossing to Eurasia as early as 120,000 years ago (blue and white line from Africa in main image). The traditional 'Out of Africa' model suggests that modern humans evolved in Africa and then left in a single wave around 60,000 years ago (dark blue line from Africa). But advances in DNA testing and other fossil analysis techniques show that humans actually arrived in Asia much earlier than previously thought. A treasure trove of teeth found in central China in 2015 (top right), for instance, was found to be at least 80,000 years old. Earlier this year, a separate team found evidence of human activity in Australia 65,000 years ago, including an edge-ground hatchet head (top left inset). Migrants dispersed across Eurasia in a number of waves across tens of thousands of years, interbreeding with their human-like cousins the Neanderthals (skull pictured bottom right) and the Denisovans along the way, the study shows. The researchers reviewed studies on early human migration spanning the past decade.
Mysterious 2,000-year-old rock art of mythical beasts and ancient rituals in Venezuela is revealed in unprecedented detail
Researchers from University College London have mapped the petroglyphs in the Atures Rapids area of Amazonas state in Venezuela. Eight groups of engraved rock art were recorded on five islands within the Rapids. The largest panel is 304 square metres, and contains at least 93 individual engravings, the largest of which measure several metres across. Another engraving of a horned snake measures more than 30 metres in length. The team used drones to photograph the engravings, some of which are in highly inaccessible areas.
Inside the 'star in a jar' fusion reactor that could lead to LIMITLESS energy: Stunning video reveals super-heated plasma inside Germany's stellarator
A stunning new video has revealed a look inside the Wendelstein 7-X ‘stellarator’ fusion reactor – the largest of its kind in the world. The video includes a compilation of footage from tests at the massive device, as scientists work to bring humanity closer to achieving ‘limitless’ energy by mimicking the conditions inside the sun. Bright flashes can be seen erupting inside the reactor, showing the path of superheated plasma.
'World's most complex machine' is 50% complete: $24 billion nuclear fusion experiment could lead to unlimited energy
Construction of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor, or ITER, in southern France has been dogged by delays and a surge in costs to about 20 billion euros ($23.7 billion). Scientists have long sought to mimic the process of nuclear fusion that occurs inside the sun, arguing that it could provide an almost limitless source of cheap, safe and clean electricity. Unlike in existing fission reactors, which split plutonium or uranium atoms, there's no risk of an uncontrolled chain reaction with fusion and it doesn't produce long-lived radioactive waste.
From Ed Sheeran's carpool karaoke to an interview gatecrashed by toddlers: Here are the top viral YouTube videos of 2017
This year's top trending video worldwide was a performance from the bizarre Asian TV show 'The Mask Singer', in which a contestant performs while wearing elaborate headgear. The clip has garnered 183 million views since it was posted in June, and shows a contestant dressed in a sparkly oyster outfit singing a Taiwanese pop song. This year's trending list also includes clips of Lady Gaga's stunning Super Bowl halftime show (bottom left image), and the hilarious moment a BBC News interview was interrupted by a pair of toddlers (bottom right image). Ed Sheeran's cameo on Carpool Karaoke (top right image) and the moment a 12-year-old ventriloquist stole the show at America's Got Talent in May (top left image) also feature. In total, YouTube’s 2017 top trending videos amassed more than 633 million views collectively, up by 83 million on 2016's list. They were watched for a total of 40 million hours by viewers across the globe.
REVEALED: Wreck of USS Ward - which fired the first American shots of WWII an hour BEFORE Pearl Harbor attack - is found off the Philippines by team led by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen
The first ever underwater images of a sunken Navy warship which is believed to have fired America’s first shot of World War Two were revealed on Wednesday. A team of deep-sea explorers were sent far beneath the surface of the Pacific Ocean near the Philippines. It was there, on the seafloor of Ormoc Bay, that they used maritime drones and a research vessel to photograph the wreckage of the USS Ward (above). The Ward (top inset) was a Wickes-class destroyer that patrolled the entrance to Pearl Harbor nearly 76 years to the day – December 7, 1941 – that Japanese aircraft launched a surprise attack on the Hawaiian base.
Watch the hypnotic dance of a deep sea spider: NOAA captures stunning footage during Gulf of Mexico dive
Scientists exploring a canyon floor more than 2,000 feet beneath the ocean’s surface have captured the breathtaking moment a leggy sea-spider appeared to waltz through the water. So-called sea spiders are not actually spiders at all, but marine arthropods that bear a striking resemblance to their terrestrial counterparts. The footage reveals the unusual swimming strokes of the eight-legged creature, as it cycles its legs in a hypnotic ‘dance’ before drifting out of sight.
Is this Santa's skeleton? 'St Nicholas's Pelvis bone' DOES come from the fourth century when Christian saint inspired the legend of Father Christmas
Researchers at the University of Oxford radiocarbon tested the relic (right image), long thought to belong to St Nicholas (left image), and found it dates from the correct historical period. While they cannot categorically prove they are from the Christian saint, the team said the results pinpoint the relic's age to the fourth century AD. This is the period widely believed to have been when St Nicholas died, around 343 AD. (Stock image in inset)
Our ancient ancestor 'Little Foot' makes her debut: World’s oldest and most complete hominid skeleton is unveiled two decades after she was first found
The world’s oldest complete hominid skeleton, 'Little Foot', has been unveiled in South Africa. The remains of Little Foot, who roamed South Africa 3.67 million years ago, were first found in the Sterkfontein caves near Johannesburg in 1994. Now, two decades after her discovery, Johannesburg's University of the Witwatersrand has displayed the virtually complete Australopithecus fossil. The skeleton is expected to help researchers better understand the human ancestor's appearance and movement.
Talk about out of this world! Jaw-dropping footage shows a brave astronaut diving HEAD FIRST out of the International Space Station
Randy Bresnik, a Nasa astronaut from Kentucky, posted the video on Twitter with the caption: 'Diving head-first into the vastness of space. How spectacular is that view?' The video shows Mr Bresnik and engineer Joe Acaba stepping out of the International Space Station as they look down on the planet below. The pair carried out a spacewalk lasting more than six hours, during which time they installed new cameras and carried out maintenance work on robotic arms.
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The German town that is CRACKING apart: Bungled drilling operation is making the ground swell in Staufen - and experts have no idea how to stop it
In 2007, the German government drilled seven boreholes behind Staufen's town hall for geothermal energy. Staufen lies above a layer of anhydrite, beneath which is a layer of groundwater. The boreholes released water into the anhydrite, where it formed gypsum which expands by about 50 per cent. This causes the ground expand and bulging, forming cracks in buildings (pictured).
All around the world... and beyond
British photographers Fiona Rogers and Anup Shah captured apes in Indonesia and Borneo - and highlighted how human our evolutionary cousins are.