Discovering a Habitable Planet, Analyzing Ancient Predators and Preparing for an Extreme Hurricane Season: Top Science Stories of the Week

Scientists recently made a significant discovery of a new planet that has the potential to support human life. Known as Gliese 12 b, this planet is located just 40 light-years away from Earth and orbits its host star every 12.8 days. Similar in size to Venus, Gliese 12 b has an estimated surface temperature of 42C, making it cooler than most of the 5,000 confirmed planets outside of our solar system.

In other scientific news, Dr Richie Howard, Curator of Fossil Arthropods at the Natural History Museum, discusses a study about a prehistoric ‘Dune like’ worm that existed around 200 million years before the dinosaurs. This predator has been compared to iconic creatures from films and was discovered in a collection at the museum dating back to the 1920s. Scientists have now been able to analyze the fossil worm and gain new insights into its behavior and characteristics.

Experts are warning that the North Atlantic is expected to experience an ‘extreme’ hurricane season. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicts as many as 13 Atlantic hurricanes of category one or above between June and November, with up to seven major hurricanes of category three strength or higher. This would be a significant increase compared to previous seasons.

Scientists have successfully employed drones to verify walrus counts using satellite images from space. Additionally, people with commonly autocorrected names are fighting back against technology. To learn more about these and other headlines, listen to the full episode on your favorite podcast platform, including Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.