Mysteries
Too Complex for Chance: Why Life on Earth Looks Like High-Tech Engineering
We live in an age when humanity prides itself on scientific achievements—we've decoded the genome, created artificial intelligence, and ventured into space.
GS.BY — Latest News from Belarus
Science & Tech
Heart Aerospace’s X1 Completes First 27-Minute Electric Flight
Heart Aerospace’s full-scale X1 demonstrator completed its first flight in upstate New York on August 12, 2026. The battery-powered aircraft stayed aloft for 27 minutes, but it remains an experimental test aircraft rather than a passenger plane ready for service.
Belarus
Lukashenko Opens Polesia Festival, Calls Region Ancestral Home of Slavs
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko attended the opening of the Zov Polesia festival, hailing the Polesia region as the ancestral home of the Slavs and the source of Belarusian identity. He also highlighted efforts to develop the region and preserve its heritage.
Faint radio galaxies may fade faster after their jets switch off
Radio observations of 14 distant galaxy candidates suggest that some radio galaxies enter a relatively short and varied fading phase after their central jets stop supplying energy to large lobes of plasma.
Read more →
Spider-Man's fictional power inhibitor draws on real RNA medicine
The power-suppressing device in Spider-Man: Brand New Day borrows its scientific language from RNA interference, a real medical technique. But current treatments could not quickly and precisely turn a complex set of superhuman traits on and off.
Read more →
EAEU officials discuss simpler customs declarations for online trade
Officials, postal operators and express carriers from the Eurasian Economic Union have discussed proposed changes to customs declarations for express shipments and cross-border online sales.
Read more →
Readers urge broader debate on UK food resilience
Three readers responding to a Guardian column have argued that Britain should strengthen local food networks, debate emergency planning more openly and treat stockpiles as only one part of food security. Their letters express policy views rather than new government decisions.
Read more →
Heavy showers may bring local flooding but will not end England's drought
Heavy showers could cause local surface-water flooding in parts of the UK, but forecasters and water experts say short bursts of rain will not reverse drought conditions across much of England.
Read more →
Ukraine appoints defence minister as senior officials face corruption probe
Ukraine's parliament approved Maj. Gen. Yevhenii Khmara as defence minister on August 19 as anti-corruption investigators pursued a money-laundering case involving senior officials.
Read more →
Victoria plans H5 bird flu vaccination for more than 5,000 little penguins
Wildlife teams in Victoria expect to vaccinate more than 5,000 little penguins at Phillip Island and St Kilda as part of an effort to reduce the impact of H5 bird flu.
Read more →
Deadly landslide hits South Korea as monsoon floods affect Philippines
Torrential rain caused a landslide that killed one person in southern South Korea, while separate monsoon flooding and landslides in the Philippines left at least 23 people dead, officials said on August 17.
Read more →
Stronger Florida building code linked to less hurricane wind damage
Homes covered by Florida's 2001 building code were 22% less likely to show signs of wind damage after Hurricane Irma than comparable homes built just before the rules took effect, a study found.
Read more →
New Underwater Adhesive Bonds in 10 Seconds and Remains Stable for Years in Tests
Researchers have developed a reusable underwater adhesive that can form a strong bond within seconds and remain stable during prolonged immersion. In laboratory tests, the material reached an adhesive strength of about 1.1 MPa after 10 seconds and a bonded sample supported a 2 kg load for more than three years underwater.
Read more →
Selective breeding may threaten valuable genetic diversity in cattle
Traditional cattle populations may preserve genetic variants that have become rare or disappeared from modern high-performing herds, potentially providing valuable resources for future breeding and adaptation, according to researchers at Aberystwyth University.
Read more →
Andrei Pochobut released in five-for-five prisoner swap between Belarus and Poland
A prisoner exchange operation between Belarus and Poland was held on April 28 at the state border in the Kamenets District. The swap was conducted under a "five-for-five" formula, the Belarusian state news agency BelTA reports.
Read more →
Trump orders military strikes on Venezuela; Maduro declares state of emergency
CARACAS, Venezuela — President Trump ordered strikes on sites inside Venezuela, including military facilities, U.S. officials told CBS News early Saturday, in a major escalation of the administration's campaign against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
Read more →