Ecology

How luminol works, the science behind blue stains at crime scenes

How luminol works, the science behind blue stains at crime scenes

You don’t have to be a Crime series fan to know it: the luminola chemical compound used by the Scientific Police, stands out and is remembered for its spectacularity, much loved by TV criminologists. Just turn off the lights, spray a mysterious solution on a spotless floor and luminescent spots appear to reveal the crime. The luminescence we see is ...

What's new in the 2026 Budget Law: the 10-point guide on taxes, aid for families and bonuses

What’s new in the 2026 Budget Law: the 10-point guide on taxes, aid for families and bonuses

Every year the Italian State, through the Budget Law, decides how it will use public money for the following year, and for the entire three-year period: the sums available are divided between healthcare, school, pensions, bonuses. The Government approved on 17 October 2025 the Budget law for 2026a maneuver from approx 18 billion euros annually with a dual objective: to ...

Why we call them “chain letters”: origin and meaning of the name

Why we call them “chain letters”: origin and meaning of the name

AI generated image The chain letters they have this name because in the past they were used to send religious messages with the suggestion of reciting prayers in honor of Saint Anthony. The name chain letter is though used only in Italy, in other countries they are simply called “letter chains”. Although they existed before the advent of the internet ...

Perhaps we understood how the giant Moai statues on Easter Island were moved

Perhaps we understood how the giant Moai statues on Easter Island were moved

Experimental phase of transport of a Moai according to the method theorized by Carl Lipo. Credit: Lipo et al. A groundbreaking new study suggests how the ancient inhabitants ofEaster Island they moved the Moaithe gigantic stone statues that make the island famous. The study, published in Journal of Archaeological Science and conducted by a US team led by the archaeologist ...

Predicting volcanic eruptions with earthquake analysis: the new INGV study on Etna

Predicting volcanic eruptions with earthquake analysis: the new INGV study on Etna

Analyzing earthquakes in a volcanic area can help improve the prediction of volcanic eruptions: this is stated by a recent study, entitled Earthquake frequency-magnitude distribution at Mount Etna sheds light on magma ascent in the volcano’s plumbing systemin which INGV researchers analyzed how the rise of magma underground influences the production of earthquakes on the basis of the so-called “value ...

How will Jeddah airport become one of the largest in the world? The expansion project

How will Jeddah airport become one of the largest in the world? The expansion project

As part of the revolutionary project Vision 2030which is redesigning the face of Saudi Arabia, one of the most ambitious projects is the expansion ofKing International Airport Abdulaziz of Jeddah. This airport is at the center of a massive project which aims to increase its annual capacity to 150 million passengers by 2050. The goal is to transform Jeddah into ...

Heavy metals in drinking water: how they are analyzed and quantified

Heavy metals in drinking water: how they are analyzed and quantified

If we evaporated a liter of water, a thin layer would remain at the bottom white powder: it is the so-called fixed residuecomposed of mineral salts and traces of heavy metals. Precisely the latter – lead, mercury, cadmium and others – are at the center of the chemical analyses which, as you can see from the video, guarantee the safety ...

Fossils from 300 million years ago discovered in the Alps in rocks from the Earth's mantle: it is the first time in the world

Fossils from 300 million years ago discovered in the Alps in rocks from the Earth’s mantle: it is the first time in the world

In the Dora-Maira massifin Piedmont in the Western Alps, have been found fossils dating back to around 300 millions of years ago within metamorphic rocks coming from the earth’s mantle. Making the discovery, published in a study in the journal Naturewas a team of researchers from the Universities of Turin and Perugia. Fossils, which consist pollen, spores and microscopic marine ...

Who was Jasper Maskelyne, the war wizard who made the port of Alexandria "disappear".

Who was Jasper Maskelyne, the war wizard who made the port of Alexandria “disappear”.

Jasper Maskelyne, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons The English illusionist Jasper Maskelyne it was famous in England in the 1930s. In 1939, at the outbreak of the Second World War, he decided to volunteer for the army to make his skills available to the English troops. camouflage and camouflage skills: according to some sources, thanks to him major war misdirections ...