May 18th, 2024 - Hundreds of holidaymakers on board a P&O cruise ship have been taken ill with suspected cases of norovirus. More than 150 guests are isolated on board P&O's MV Ventura ship, which left Southampton in the UK on May 11 for a 14-night cruise around the Canary Islands, a source told Metro.co.uk. The unnamed source said there had been 250 suspected cases in the last four days, adding that guests had been "throwing up in public spaces" around the vessel. "This is a serious outbreak. We don't know where it came from, it has been on board for a month maybe 5-6 weeks now and each cruise we think it ... [Read More]

May 17th, 2024 - What if your earbuds could do everything your smartphone can do already, except better? What sounds a bit like science fiction may actually not be so far off. A new class of synthetic materials could herald the next revolution of wireless technologies, enabling devices to be smaller, require less signal strength, and use less power. The key to these advances lies in what experts call phononics, which is similar to photonics. Both take advantage of similar physical laws and offer new ways to advance technology. While photonics takes advantage of photons – or light – phononics does ... [Read More]

May 17th, 2024 - Buried near a walking path at a park in Lithuania sat the forgotten treasures of centuries long gone. The well-kept green grass and orange-tinged dirt hid the 600-year-old secrets — but not anymore. Archaeologists excavated a section of Verkių Regional Park this spring, the National Museum of Lithuania said in a May 15 news release. Situated at the outskirts of the European country's capital city, Vilnius, the park boasts greenery, forests and a large old manor. Excavations at the park in 2008 uncovered a dozen graves and artifacts from medieval times, the museum said. The extent ... [Read More]

May 17th, 2024 - Usually, when scuba divers explore the waters off San Diego, they see lots of fish—and maybe the occasional shark or octopus. But, in recent weeks, they've found the seafloor completely covered in small, red crustaceans. The plentiful creatures are called tuna crabs ( Pleuroncodes planipes )—they're related to hermit crabs but are actually a type of squat lobster. Measuring one to three inches long, these bright animals can fit in the palm of a human hand. Tuna crabs typically live in the waters off Baja California, Mexico. But, for at least the third time in ten years, they've ... [Read More]

May 17th, 2024 - Sign up for CNN's Wonder Theory science newsletter. Explore the universe with news on fascinating discoveries, scientific advancements and more . Albert Einstein was right: There is an area at the edge of black holes where matter can no longer stay in orbit and instead falls in, as predicted by his theory of gravity. Using telescopes capable of detecting X-rays, a team of astronomers has for the first time observed this area — called the "plunging region" — in a black hole about 10,000 light-years from Earth. "We've been ignoring this region, because we didn't have the data," ... [Read More]

May 17th, 2024 - Around 1,000 years ago, pagans living near the Baltic Sea imported horses from their newly Christian northern neighbors and then subjected the animals to gruesome public sacrifice, a new study finds. Horses were an important component of Balt culture between the first and 13th centuries, evidence shows; numerous ancient equestrian artifacts have been recovered, and travelers have reported that elite Balts drank fermented mare's milk. Because the Balts were not literate prior to their conversion to Christianity, however, most information about their lives, including their pagan religion, ... [Read More]

May 17th, 2024 - A team of professional and citizen scientists has found a Neptune-like exoplanet orbiting one of two Sun-like stars in a binary system. The planet, dubbed TOI 4633 c (and nicknamed Percival), was identified using data from NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS).  The exoplanet was spotted when it passed in front of its host star, TOI 4633 A, temporarily dimming its light like a solar eclipse. The find, published in  The Astrophysical Journal , might help astrophysicists understand how planets form around and orbit multi-star systems, opening the door to even more ... [Read More]

May 17th, 2024 - COVID-19 infections are now likely growing in at least 12 states and the District of Columbia, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated Friday, as health authorities are watching for signs the virus might be starting to accelerate again after a springtime lull. Based on data analyzed by the agency from emergency department visits , CDC modeling suggests COVID-19 infections are increasing in Alaska, Arizona, California, Washington D.C., Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon, Texas and Washington state. The uptick comes as nearly all parts of the ... [Read More]