Among the more unusual news stories recently…a 110-year-old carrier pigeon message is found in France, a Japanese village uses robot wolves to scare off bears, and an unusual bright yellow turtle is found in India.
Published in “Science”
In late October, scientists in Washington state destroyed the first nest of Asian giant hornets found in the US. Now they're reporting that the nest held nearly 200 queens - insects capable of going out and starting even more nests.
Two surfers recently discovered a strange metal tube on a beach in Ireland. The tube was a time capsule that had been buried in ice near the North Pole. Because of rapidly melting Arctic ice, the time capsule was found after just two years.
The drug companies Pfizer and BioNTech say the coronavirus vaccine they're developing seems to be 90% successful at preventing people from getting Covid-19. The results aren't final, but the news is much better than many experts expected.
On Sunday, a company called Virgin Hyperloop held the first human test of a hyperloop system - a technology which some people believe will change transportation. In the test, a car carrying two people traveled at high speed through a special tube.
In today's news roundup, Joe Biden will be the next president of the United States, Ethiopia launches a military attack on its own Tigray state, and Denmark will kill millions of minks to avoid spreading a changed version of the coronavirus.
Among the more unusual news stories recently…a sculpture of a whale's tail keeps a train from crashing to the ground, an AI camera system tracks a bald referee instead of the soccer ball, and a doctor in India buys "Aladdin's Lamp".
Scientists at MIT have developed a method of telling whether someone has the coronavirus simply from their cough. The method could be especially useful for detecting people who have the disease, but show no signs of it.
Scientists mapping the bottom of the sea around Australia have discovered an underwater coral tower near the Great Barrier Reef that's taller than New York's Empire State Building. It's the tallest underwater structure discovered in over 120 years.
Among the more unusual news stories recently…NASA scientists discover water hidden on the sunny side of the moon, reporters take a super-fast ride on a new Japanese bullet train, and the ogre-faced spider has excellent hearing - but no ears.
A research project called Mineral has created robots that move around in farm fields, collecting information about how plants are growing. The project aims to use computers to help farmers grow more food in ways that are healthy for the environment.