A group of researchers in Europe have announced a 3-year project to collect information about the important smells of Europe, from the 1500s to the 1900s. One part of the project will be recreating the smells of long ago.
Published in “Science”
In today's news roundup, Central America struggles to recover from two strong late-season hurricanes, violence rocks Uganda following the arrest of a candidate for president, and the famous Arecibo Observatory will be shut down because of damage.
Last Friday, Tristan da Cunha, a tiny, remote island in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean announced that it was creating one of the largest protected ocean areas in the world.
On Sunday, the rocket company SpaceX launched four astronauts to the International Space Station. It's NASA's first full flight with a private American space company, and marks a big change in the way that space travel will happen in the future.
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.
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".