A European spacecraft launched from South America Wednesday on a three-year mission to study planets in other solar systems. The Characterising ExOPlanets Satellite (CHEOPS) mission blasted off from Kourou, French Guiana at 0854 GMT (3:54 a.m. EST) atop a Russian Soyuz rocket. The launch came 24 hours after a first attempt was delayed shortly before…

The audacious attack on Saudi Arabia’s Abqaiq refinery and the Khurais oil field last September sent shivers down the spines of some Canadian military planners. The stunning damage caused by a swarm of drones and cruise missiles — launched either from Iraqi or Iranian territory — proved to be an almost perfect illustration of the…

In the tiny community of Little Harbour on Nova Scotia’s Eastern Shore sits 285 hectares of coastal Crown land known as Owls Head provincial park. The name is misleading: it’s not actually a provincial park and there are no obvious markings or trails to enter the coastal barrens and wetlands. But the headland, which has…

Is that scientific research “excellent,” “novel,” “promising” or “unique”? It’s more likely to be described that way if the study were led by men, according to a new study. And that could be holding women back in science — papers using positive adjectives like those are cited more often by other scientists, implying more scientific influence and…

Amsterdam is trying out a “bubble barrier” to help remove plastic from canals by capturing trash hidden beneath the surface of the water. While the project launched in November is just a small-scale test right now, the non-profit group behind it hopes it could be deployed elsewhere, if successful. “A bubble barrier is basically a…

Picture this: You’re playing a game of trivia with friends. The question is, “How many bones are in the human hand?” Your friend answers 27. You decide to ask Alexa, the smart speaker sitting in the living room, to verify the number. Alexa says, “26.”  Everyone agrees that even though your friend’s guess was close,…