The Swiss company Climeworks has launched a pilot plant in Hellisheidi, Iceland, that can capture carbon dioxide directly from the air to be pumped into underground rock formations, effectively locking the greenhouse gas away for good. The project, called CarbFix, has developed a way to absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, pump it deep underground, and transform it into stone. …

Pumas, or mountain lions, are mostly thought of as solitary cats — lone predators, stalking in the night. But new study suggests the felines are more social than previously thought. Until now, scientists believed pumas interacted only to mate, settle territorial disputes and raise offspring. But a combination of GPS-equipped collars and motion-triggered cameras allowed a group of researchers with …

According to genetic analysis, Newfoundland, the northeastern Canadian island, was populated by three distinct groups — in three different waves — over the last 10,000 years. When researchers analyzed the DNA of two known cultural groups, the Maritime Archaic and Beothuk, they found the groups brought unique matrilines to the island. The findings are published in Current Biology on October …

A fisherman’s prank almost killed him after the Dover sole he had just caught jumped down his throat when he posed with it over his mouth. The 14cm (5.5in) fish completely blocked the 28-year-old’s airway, stopping him from breathing and causing him to go into cardiac arrest. Paramedic Matt Harrison says after arriving at the scene, he knew that he …

A mother has shared images of an electrical burn left on her daughter’s mouth after she sucked on a switched-on phone charger. Courtney N Davis, from Kentucky, posted the alarming images on Facebook in a bid to warn other parents about the potential hazard from the everyday object. She made the accident public after sharing the story with a “mum …

A mysterious hole the size of Maine has opened up in Antarctica, stumping scientists who have no clue how it formed. “It looks like you just punched a hole in the ice,” explained University of Toronto Mississauga professor Kent Moore. The hole has an area of approximately 80,000 square kilometers (30,000 square miles), and is as large as Lake Superior, …

In today’s world, coal is associated with Earth’s rapid warming – but, millions of years ago, its formation nearly turned our planet into a massive ‘snowball.’ Roughly 300 million years ago, much of the world was covered in the vast forests of the Carboniferous and Permian periods. When trees in vast forests died during a time called the Carboniferous and …

SpaceX launched 10 communication satellites into Earth low orbit on Monday, then watched its spent Falcon 9 first-stage rocket booster stick a landing on a drone ship in the Pacific Ocean. The launch was the first of two planned this week by SpaceX. Today’s Falcon 9 lifted off from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California at 5:37 a.m. PT, loaded …

A house fire in Nanaimo Tuesday afternoon led to the discovery of three bodies inside, local officials confirm. On Tuesday night, RCMP confirmed that the bodies were those of two adults and a seven-year-old girl. “This is a terrible tragedy to hit our community,” said Cpl. Jon Stuart. “We are working with the fire department to investigate this incident.”

Patients operated on by female surgeons have slightly lower death rates than those treated by men, study suggests. A new research in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) found a small but significant reduction in death rates of 12% for those patients treated by women compared with men. However, the study cannot establish cause and effect, and the researchers stress that …

Today is World Mental Health Day and according to the World Health Organization (WHO), on a global scale, more than 300 million people suffer from depression and more than 260 million have anxiety disorders, many of whom live with both. For many employers it is now second nature to consider their employees over all health, but in recent years tackling …