Science & Tech News

The static fire test released more than 1,000 tons of thrust, which likely melted the concrete blow the rocket. The melted blobs were then launched into the grassy areas surrounding the site, including the protected habitat. Fire crews were called to the scene and battled the flames into the evening hours. The static fire test began just after 5:30pm ET, which is a crucial test to ensure the upper stage is ready for its first orbital launch - which CEO Elon Musk has yet to nail down a date for.

People in the San Francisco Bay area are freaking out after seeing numerous squirrels stretched out and motionless on the ground - but the animals are dumping their body heat. The splooting is a way for squirrels to beat the heatwave that is gripping the Bay area, and other parts of California, which has brought temperatures soaring above 110 degrees Fahrenheit.

After almost a year of anticipation from tech enthusiasts across the world, the new iPhone 14 series was finally unveiled at Apple's 'Far Out' event on Wednesday. CEO Tim Cook announced four variations of the iPhone 14 - the standard iPhone 14 model, the iPhone 14 Plus, iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max. These contained an array of flashy features, including more advanced camera technology, 'Always On' display and a pill-shaped notch at the top of the screen. While every Apple announcement promises something new, how many of these features already exist in other top-of-the-range smartphones? The sensor for the iPhone 14's main camera has larger pixels than flagship phones for Samsung and Huawei, meaning it will have improved low-light performance. However the front-facing cameras for the Android devices both boast more megapixels than that of the Apple handset. Satellite communication is also one of the main features on the new iPhones unveiled at the event earlier this week. However, Huawei beat the California tech giant to the punch by unveiling the same functionality the day before. MailOnline takes a look at the iPhone 14's selling points, and pits them against top-of-the-range handsets from Apple's biggest rivals.

An artificial intelligence (AI) art generator has been found to produce photos of a haunting woman with sunken cheeks in gory settings for multiple prompts. Twitter user @supercomposite shared a series of images of the creepy figure on Tuesday, named 'Loab', that they had created using AI tools since April. 'The AI reproduced her more easily than most celebrities,' wrote Supercomposite. Her presence is persistent, and she haunts every image she touches'. As the artist continuously combined images of Loab with other scenes, the figure appeared to become clearer and in increasingly gruesome settings. She also has allegedly made appearances on 'multiple' image-generating tools. Loab is thus being described as a 'cryptid of latent space' - where a cryptid is a creature whose existence is disputed but has had alleged sightings.

Scientists have analysed the mummified remains of two South American men to determine that they were brutally murdered over a millennium ago. Solving an extreme cold case, they determined one died after being hit over the head and then stabbed, and another from a dislocated spine. A third female mummy appeared to have died of natural causes, only showing skeletal damage that likely occurred after burial. Researchers from Munich Clinic Bogenhausen discovered these causes of death after analysing the remains with 3D computed tomography (3D CT). 'The types of trauma we found would not have been detectable if these human remains had been mere skeletons,' said corresponding author Dr Andreas G Nerlich. The study revealed important historic information about how prevalent violence was in prehistoric human societies.

United Airlines believes that people in congested cities will be happy to fork over $100-$150 for a one-way ride inside an electric air taxi that takes off and lands like a helicopter. Although the vehicles have yet to receive FAA approval, United has invested at least $25 million in two different companies producing these air taxis. 'It will take time for consumers to adopt this. People are going to have some hesitancy at first,' Michael Leskinen, president of United Airlines Ventures, in a statement. 'It will feel a lot similar to a helicopter ride, it might be scary for some, but this is going to change the way we work and live.'

Here's MailOnline's round-up of everything Apple revealed in Cupertino last night, including what the experts make of the new devices. At the 'Far Out' event on Wednesday evening, Apple CEO Tim Cook announced four variations of the iPhone 14, three Apple Watches and its next generation of wireless earphones. But criticism of the new iPhone 14 has focused on the spiraling prices. In the UK, the new phone starts at £849, which is £70 more expensive than the iPhone 13 released a year ago

Reactions poked fun at Apple's seemingly small, incremental improvements and much-higher prices for its flagship iPhone product and also mocked various features the company touted during its Far Out event on Wednesday. Besides the products themselves, users noted the higher prices for Apple's phones and watches, the impact the launch has on its older products and the features that were rumored but never materialized - among other things. One user mocked the high price for the Apple Watches, referencing the American animated series Ben 10 - about a 10-year old boy named Ben who transforms into ten different aliens after finding a powerful watch-like device called Omnitrix.

Stunning shots of the sun's chromosphere were taken by the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope (inset), the world's most powerful solar telescope on the island of Maui, Hawaii. Left image shows golden cell-like structures packed together like a honeycomb, which are the signature of violent motions that transport heat from inside the sun to its surface. Right image shows a forest of hair-like jets of plasma rising through the chromosphere, extending up to 6,200 miles (10,000 km) into the outermost part of the sun's atmosphere above.

The West Antarctica glacier - which is about the size of Florida - has been an important consideration for scientists trying to make predictions about global sea level rise. The potential impact of its retreat is huge because a total loss of Thwaites and its surrounding icy basins could raise global sea levels by up to 10 feet. That is why it is widely nicknamed the 'Doomsday Glacier.'

Researchers from Griffith University have found the remains of a youngster in Borneo whose left foot had been surgically amputated 31,000 years ago. Amazingly, the researchers believe that the youngster survived the surgery, and lived for another six to nine years.

Dotplot, created by two Imperial College London graduates, is a handheld 'breast health monitoring' device that links with a smartphone app. Users just have to hold the device against the breast to scan the tissue for lumps, assisted by a step-by-step guide on the app. The app also displays the results and generates a report at the end of each check, which can be compared to information from previous months to show how parts of the breast could be changing.

A steamboat wreck that dates to 1870 was uncovered in the Missouri River after drought in Nebraska caused the waterway's levels to drop off dramatically. Known as the North Alabama, the steamboat sank near Goat Island, which is on the border between Nebraska and South Dakota. The steamboat sank when it hit a snag that knocked a hole in the bottom of the boat, causing it to sink. 'It wasn't until 1904 that the North Alabama was exposed again and now when the water is low and the sands of time have shifted you might be able to catch a glimpse of her wreckage when you are out on the Missouri National Recreational River,' the Missouri National Recreational River said in a Facebook post.

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope captured thousands of never-before-seen young stars in a stellar nursery known as the Tarantula Nebula. The cosmic nursery is officially called 30 Doradus and is located 161,000 light-years away in the Large Megallanic Cloud galaxy, which happens to be the biggest and brightest star-forming region in the Local Group - the galaxies closest to our Milky Way. 'Take a moment to stare into thousands of never-before-seen young stars in the Tarantula Nebula,' NASA shared on Twitter. [The James Webb] reveals details of the structure and composition of the nebula, as well as background galaxies.' 'The Tarantula Nebula gets its name from its dusty filaments. The largest and brightest star-forming region near our galaxy, it's home to the hottest, most massive stars known!' the space agency said.

'Swiping left' and 'swiping right' have become ubiquitous with whether we find someone attractive or not, all thanks to the rise of dating apps. The likes of Tinder, Bumble and Hinge have made online dating pocket-sized, and singletons can whip out their phone wherever they are to search for a partner. But this accessibility has arguably made it more difficult than ever to stand out from the crowd, as an estimated 300 million people are currently using dating apps worldwide. Fortunately, experts are here to help the lonely hearts, and have worked tirelessly over the years to find the secret formula for success in online dating. Studies have shown that having a dog in your photos, or an Apple product, increase your chance of getting a match. However a direct chat-up line like 'your lips are so sexy', and even saucy pictures, could be putting off potential dates. To celebrate Tinder's ten year anniversary this month, MailOnline take a look at the top ten ways to create a dating profile worthy of a right swipe.

A sequence of images in the footage compares what Europe looked like in July and August this year, compared to 2021, and reveals how the continent has turned from a verdant green to an arid brown because of the lack of rain. The video was tweeted by the European Union's Copernicus Program, which operates the constellation of Earth-observing Sentinel satellites. 'In 2022, #drought has affected the whole of Europe,' Copernicus said in the tweet.

Video from experts at London charity Electrical Safety First shows a powerful explosion from a small lithium ion battery inside an e-cigarette. In the video, the device is being over-charged at a higher voltage using an incorrect USB connector. The battery inside the vape can't handle the higher voltage so enters a state of 'thermal runaway' and explodes wildly inside a protective Perspex container. Just like smartphones and electric cars, e-cigarettes (inset) contain lithium-ion batteries that can burst into flames or explode if pierced.