A Long-Lost Legendary Roman Fruit Tree Has Been Grown From 2,000-Year-Old Seeds

“Scientists have cultivated plants from date palm seeds that languished in ancient ruins and caves for 2,000 years,” writes ScienceAlert. schwit1 shared their report: This remarkable feat confirms the long-term viability of the kernels once ensconced in succulent Judean dates, a fruit cultivar lost for centuries. The results make it an excellent candidate for studying the longevity of plant seeds. From…

Solar Orbiter set to reveal Sun’s secrets

The European Space Agency will embark upon one of its most ambitious projects to date Sunday when its Solar Orbiter probe launches from Florida’s Cape Canaveral bound for the Sun. Source: https://phys.org/news/2020-02-solar-orbiter-reveal-sun-secrets.html…

Ötzi the Iceman’s final days

Scientists have identified ancient mosses in, on and around the 5,300-year-old glacier mummy that add to the story of the final 48 hours before his murder. Source: https://earthsky.org/earth/otzi-the-iceman-mummy-ancient-mosses…

Use the science of curing to turn salmon into gravlax at home

Salt curing preserves salmon while allowing great flavours to develop. Find out the secrets of this age-old technique of preservation and make gravlax at home Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg24532671-000-use-the-science-of-curing-to-turn-salmon-into-gravlax-at-home/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…

Free Software Foundation Suggests Microsoft ‘Upcycles’ Windows 7 As Open Source

The Free Software Foundation (FSF) is urging Microsoft to open source Windows 7, which is no longer supported by the company. The Register reports: On the face of it, the logic seems pretty simple. On January 14, Windows 7 reached its end of life as Microsoft turned off the free security update taps with a final fix. “Its life doesn’t have…

Global Gaia campaign reveals secrets of stellar pair

A 500-day global observation campaign spearheaded more than three years ago by ESA’s galaxy-mapping powerhouse Gaia has provided unprecedented insights into the binary system of stars that caused an unusual brightening of an even more distant star. Source: https://phys.org/news/2020-01-global-gaia-campaign-reveals-secrets.html…

Major US Companies Breached, Robbed, and Spied on by Chinese Hackers

Rob Barry and Dustin Volz, reporting for Wall Street Journal: The hackers seemed to be everywhere. In one of the largest-ever corporate espionage efforts, cyberattackers alleged to be working for China’s intelligence services stole volumes of intellectual property, security clearance details and other records from scores of companies over the past several years. They got access to systems with prospecting secrets…