Risky space

Space could soon become too risky to visit unless derelict satellites and rockets are removed from orbit, according to a report in the journal Science. The stark warning is the result of a new simulation of space junk drifting around earth, and scientists at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, Houston, are calling for swift international action to solve the problem. A researcher warns, “If we don’t protect the space environment we might get to a stage where we can’t launch satellites.”

Breathing ears

Our ears could have started evolutionary life as a tube for breathing, say Swedish scientists, after examining the ancestral structure in a 370-million-year-old fossil fish, reports Nature. The bony structures in the fossilised Panderichthys, which at some point turned into ears, may have been like the breathing holes found in modern-day sharks and rays.

Bugs in soil

Soil-dwelling bacteria harbour an armoury of natural weapons to fight off antibiotics, according to a team of Canadian researchers. The discovery could help researchers anticipate the next wave of ‘superbugs’ that are resistant to antibiotics, the team from McMaster University in Ontario writes in Science.

Laser salt

US physicists have discovered a way to make what is essentially laser light, without using a laser. According to them, all you need to do to produce the light is give a crystal of table salt a sharp knock. The shock will generate a small amount of ‘coherent’ light, which comes from lasers, the physicists say in the journal Physical Review Letters.