The cratered edge of the Moon in the foreground and Saturn with its rings seen edge-on against the dark sky.

NB! · Observations · Science · Nature

American astrophotographer Andrew McCarthy photographs Saturn emerging from behind the Moon

Another shot of Saturn emerging from behind the Moon, taken by the American astrophotographer Andrew McCarthy from the summit of a volcano. It is striking how cramped the universe turns out to be: our neighbouring planets are, quite literally, a lens's throw away

Observations · Science · Humour

French verb form for unconfirmed facts, illustrated by the Snowden asylum report

What I also like is that French journalists simply stuff their "hard-hitting" pieces with the conditionnel, the conditional mood, though not with the particle "by" as in Russian, but literally with the particle "allegedly" It is a dodge to avoid complaints should the

Faith · Science · Society · Rome

Key provisions of the Vatican document on the use of artificial intelligence on its territory

The Governorate of Vatican City, the executive body of the city-state, has established certain rules governing the use of AI on Vatican territory and set up a special Commission on Artificial Intelligence. The main provisions of the document speak of the need to respect human dignity, to ensure the

NB! · Archive · Moscow · Museums · Science · People

Alexander Kohts, the biologist who founded the Darwin Museum, with colleagues in a teaching display in 1912

Observations · Science · People

Somewhere, Something Incredible Is Waiting to Be Known

The American astronomer Carl Sagan

Observations · Science · Society · Humour

The editorial board of the palaeoanthropological journal Journal of Human Evolution has resigned over the publisher's imposition of artificial intelligence tools, which increased neither the efficiency nor the quality of the work, but…

In particular, it is reported that when, in the autumn of 2023, an AI-based machine assistant was brought in to edit texts, it began replacing the capital letters in proper names with lower-case ones and altering the typefaces specially used to set off terms and scientific nomenclature. As

Science · Society

Withdrawal of coins from circulation and exchange at unfavourable rates in medieval Europe

The Right to Issue Currency Has Always Been a Source of Colossal Revenue for Those Who Held It, and of Incredible Injustice for Everyone Else. In medieval Europe there existed a practice of withdrawing coins from circulation. It happened constantly, sometimes twice a year. People were obliged to hand in

NB! · Archaeology · Science

The Ancient Homeland of the Blondes: Afontova Gora, near the City of Krasnoyarsk, on the Left Bank of the Yenisei

Archaeology · Geography · Science

Viking burials of non-Scandinavians and the question of the origins of Scandinavians

A study recently published in Nature presents a map of the genetic legacy of the Vikings, who possessed a complex web of family ties and a rich history of cultural exchange across Europe and beyond. Among the notable finds are the remains of cousins scattered between Denmark and England, as

NB! · Archaeology · Observations · Science · Nature

Comet NEOWISE in the sky above Stonehenge in the summer of 2020

Architecture · Science

Deliberate curvature of lines in the architecture of the Parthenon and other Greek temples

It turns out that the finest examples of classical Greek architecture, the Parthenon, the Hephaisteion, the Temple of Apollo at Corinth and the Temple of Zeus, are marked by a deliberate absence of perfectly straight lines. It is precisely the calculated curvature of the straight and the inclination of the

NB! · Geography · Science · Nature

21 December is the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year, after which comes the longest night of the year

21 December is the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year, after which comes the longest night of the year. Astronomical winter is held to begin precisely at the winter solstice. It will last until 20 March 2025, the day of the spring equinox