New Zealanders woke up to a bit of a surprise on Monday morning: billboards dotted around three of its cities stating that the country’s population wasn’t actually 5 million – it was 695 billion. That’s more people than exist on Earth, and we’d certainly know about it if billions of aliens had descended upon New […]
Welcome To Earth’s Newest Nature Reserve: Protection Of The Great Maya Forest
In a historic move for the planet’s biodiversity, Mexico, Guatemala, and Belize have officially joined forces to create the Biocultural Corridor of the Great Maya Jungle – 14 million acres (5.7 million hectares) of rainforest reserve. “We should be proud to be able to say to the world: we join our will to preserve and […]
New Liquid Crystal COVID-19 Test Could Be Quicker And More Accurate Than Lateral Flow
Liquid crystals, the same technology found in TV screens, strip thermometers, and mood rings, could soon be used in the next generation of COVID tests. According to scientists at the University of Arkansas and the University of Alabama, such a test could return an accurate result in under two minutes, even when only trace amounts […]
Distant Dwarf Planet Quaoar Might Have More Moons Than We Thought – Or Yet Another “Impossible” Ring
The small, faraway world we call Quaoar is pretty peculiar. It is egg-shaped, and it also possesses a moon and two rings. In particular, the rings are where no ring should be; Quaoar is clearly unaware of this fact. In a recent campaign to observe and study one of its rings, a team of astronomers […]
Most Detailed Geologic Map Of The US To Date Lets You Explore Country’s Ancient History
Ever wanted to know more about the ground beneath your feet? Well, thanks to a new geologic map of the lower 48 states of the USA, now you can – and in more detail than ever before. The rest of this article is behind a paywall. Please sign in or subscribe to access the full […]
Alien Life Could Be Found By Simply Changing The Shape Of Telescopes
Since Galileo perfected the telescope and used it to look at the stars, we have made a giant leap forward in terms of technology. Materials, sizes, locations, and configurations have changed, but ultimately, a telescope has a mostly circular setup where mirrors and lenses magnify and direct light on detectors. A new paper argues that […]
Lion Cubs Seen In Africa’s Bamingui-Bangoran National Park For The First Time In Decades
The North-Eastern Central African Republic (CAR) is celebrating the first video and photographic evidence of lion cubs in the region in decades. Following the dedicated efforts of conservation teams, new footage has revealed a female with three cubs in tow in Bamingui-Bangoran National Park. The rest of this article is behind a paywall. Please sign […]
Contender, The Largest Male Great White Shark In The North Atlantic, Prowls Off The US Coast
This is Contender, the largest male great white shark that’s been caught, tagged, and released in the Atlantic. Measuring 4.19 meters (13 feet 9 inches), this heavyweight predator has been quietly stalking up and down the US East Coast, where scientists hope his presence signals the revival of the region’s once-struggling great white population. The […]
Sneaky Spiders Can Turn Trapped Fireflies’ Glow Into A Handy Hunting Tool
Nature doesn’t mess around when it comes to survival. One species of spider has come up with a hunting trick – using the bioluminescence of trapped fireflies as a living, glowing bait. Males of the firefly species Diaphanes lampyroides can sometimes find themselves entangled in sheetweb spider (Psechrus clavis) webs. But instead of going quietly, the […]
A New Lineage Of Tropical Mammoths Is Discovered In Mexico
A new lineage of mammoth has been discovered in… Mexico? While we usually think of these shaggy Ice Age giants roaming icy landscapes and temperate plains, the find shows that North American mammoths were more genetically diverse – and more widespread – than previously appreciated. In late 2019, construction workers unearthed several large, prehistoric bones […]
Rain At Burning Man? Prepare For The Return Of The Three-Eyed Dinosaur Shrimp
Burning Man festival in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert has once again been putting its visitors to the test, as the first week has seen an onslaught of tricky weather. First came the dust storms whipped up by 80-kilometer-per-hour (50-mile-per-hour) winds, taking with them the famous “Orgy Dome”. Then came the rain, turning the ground so […]
Supercell Storm Leaves 200-Kilometer-Long Hail Scar Across Canada’s “Hailstorm Alley”
A destructive hailstorm has literally made its mark on southern Alberta, Canada, after pummeling the region with golf ball-sized hailstones, leaving a 200-kilometer-long, 15-kilometer-wide (124-mile-long, 9-mile-wide) “scar” across the landscape that’s been captured in satellite images. The rest of this article is behind a paywall. Please sign in or subscribe to access the full content. […]
“I Never Thought I’d Get To See A Blue Lobster In Person”: Meet Neptune, He’s 1-In-2-Million
Lobster fisher Brad Myslinski is no stranger to pulling up crustaceans in a net, but this year he caught something few will ever get to see in person. You see, in his net he saw a flash of electric blue, one that would turn out to be a lobster that’s as rare as one in […]
Why Don’t Polar Bears Hibernate?
Polar bears do not truly hibernate, which might seem unusual for a giant predator that has to endure brutally cold temperatures, scarce prey, and a constant battle for survival in one of the harshest environments on Earth. Yet unlike other bears, they don’t generally curl up to sleep a season away. We spoke to Dr […]
Anyone Born After 1939 Is Unlikely To Live To 100
While the number of centenarians may be increasing, new research reveals that statistically, no one alive today should expect to live to 100 years of age. Using six different forecasting methods to predict life expectancy rates for 23 high-income, low-mortality countries, the study authors found that average lifespans for those born between 1939 and 2000 […]
Are Space-Made Medicines The Future? Find Out More In Issue 38 Of CURIOUS – Out Now
Issue 38 (September 2025) of CURIOUS is out now, bringing you science highlights for the month plus deep dives into intriguing topics, interviews, exclusives, diary dates, and explanations for some of Earth’s most perplexing natural phenomena and landscapes. The rest of this article is behind a paywall. Please sign in or subscribe to access the […]
An Alien-Like Fish With A See-Through Head And Green Eyes Lurks In The Ocean’s Dark Depths
Of all the weird and wonderful adaptations that have evolved in the world’s oceans, the barreleye fish’s might be the most impressive. These deep-sea dwellers are equipped with a transparent head, allowing their tubular eyes to look upwards, like gazing out of a car sunroof, as they hunt for prey above in pitch-black waters. The […]
Africa Wants To Change Misleading World Map, The “Wow!” Signal Was Likely From An Extraterrestrial Source, And Much More This Week
This week, scientists toying with the afterglow of phosphor particles have been able to make succulents glow like something out of Avatar, new fossils have revealed that an ankylosaur known as Spicomellus afer was covered in enormous spikes that were fused to its bones, and, in 1978, a physicist was struck through the head by […]
A “Good Death”: How Do Doctors Want To Die?
How do you wish to die? It’s an important question that, no matter how scary, should be considered by every person at different stages in their life. But do doctors, those people who tend to see death and dying more frequently than other people, have different views on how they want to spend their final […]
People Are Throwing Baby Puffins Off Cliffs In Iceland Again – But Why?
It’s that time of year again. No, we’re not talking about back-to-school – it’s throw a puffin off a cliff season, duh! In Iceland, as summer draws to a close, obliging locals give baby puffins a helping hand as they leave their burrows for the first time and attempt to find the ocean. The rest […]
