Issue 41 (December 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 […]
People Sailed To Australia And New Guinea 60,000 years ago
The ancient landmass known as Sahul – which includes Australia, Tasmania and New Guinea – was home to groups of humans as early as 60,000 years ago, according to genetic data. This finding suggests that our ancestors may have made it Down Under just ten millennia or so after first setting foot outside of Africa, […]
How Do Cells Know Their Location And Their Role In The Body?
Each of us has grown out of a tiny group of cells that at one time had the capacity to turn into any component of the body. As we grew, these cells divided and became specialized, but how does a cell know that it needs to become a piece of brain, bone or liver cell, […]
What Are Those Strange Eye “Floaters” You See In Your Vision?
About 76 percent of all non-visually impaired people experience something known as “floaters”. These appear as moving structures, like little worms, that sometimes appear in your field of vision if you are staring at something bright and uniform, such as the sky, snow, or a white screen. The rest of this article is behind a […]
Have We Finally “Seen” Dark Matter? Mysterious Ancient Foot May Be From Our True Ancestor, And Much More This Week
This week, a total of 175 generations of painters created rock art spanning 4,000 years, depicting cyclical time and multiple dimensions. A world-first study has identified five brain “ages”, and we may finally know where pet cats come from – spoiler, it’s not where we thought. Finally, we explore a new vaccine that’s 34.5 percent […]
The Unexpected Life Hiding Out in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is an area of contaminated ocean split between two regions, one off the coast of California and another near Japan. The Patch is not a mountain of tin cans and old tires sitting on the ocean’s surface, but more like a thick soup of millions of plastic particles, trapped in […]
Scientists Detect “Switchback” Phenomenon In Earth’s Magnetosphere For The First Time
The Earth’s magnetosphere is a protective shroud that blocks charged particles and cosmic rays blasted out by the Sun. The four unmanned spacecraft that make up NASA’s Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission (MMS) have spent nearly a decade studying how the magnetosphere interacts with the Sun’s magnetic field. Now, they have discovered an unusual zigzag in our […]
Inside Your Bed’s “Dirty Hidden Biome” And How To Keep Things Clean
Whether you sleep alone, with someone else, or buried under a cat or dog, you will also share your sleep space with a world of tiny creatures, from bacteria to bed mites. A dirty bed could worsen our health when we’re sick, keep us from having a good night’s sleep, and is also just a […]
“Ego Death”: How Psychedelics Trigger Meditation-Like Brain Waves
Many users of the psychedelic drug dimethyltryptamine (DMT) report intense experiences. One of the feelings they most commonly go through is a loss of their sense of self, or “ego death”. Researchers interested in these drugs’ potential medical benefits, as well as those studying consciousness, have tried to pinpoint exactly what is happening in the […]
Why We Thrive In Nature – And Why Cities Make Us Sick
The world we live in today is a far cry from the one our ancient ancestors evolved in, and while modern life obviously has its advantages, some researchers think that our bodies are not designed to operate in industrialized habitats. Intuitively, this is something most of us probably agree with, as pollution and urban strife […]
What Does Moose Meat Taste Like? The World’s Largest Deer Is A Staple In Parts Of The World
Did you know the tallest mammal in North America is also the largest species of deer in the entire world? Moose all fall under one species known as Alces alces, but there are several subspecies within the group. The largest of them is the Alaska moose (Alces alces gigas), which can be 1.8 meters (6 feet) […]
11 Of The Last Spix’s Macaws In The Wild Struck Down With A Deadly, Highly Contagious Virus
Yet another barrage of bad luck has struck the last remaining Spix’s macaw in the wild. A significant number of the super-rare, sky-blue parrots have tested positive for a highly contagious and fatal viral disease, marking a heartbreaking setback for the species’ rehabilitation. The infected birds are part of the Spix’s Macaw Reintroduction Program, a […]
Meet The Rose Hair Tarantula: Pink, Predatory, And Popular As A Pet
Colorful creatures are all over planet Earth, from those with incredible coats that blend into the surroundings to bright feathers and even feet. In the world of arachnids, the jumping spiders get a lot of credit for being the colorful ones, but the rose hair tarantula can hold its own. It’s not just Wednesdays that […]
433 Eros: First Near-Earth Asteroid Ever Discovered Will Fly By Earth This Weekend – And You Can Watch It
It’s time to say hello to an old friend again. The first near-Earth asteroid ever discovered by humans, 433 Eros, will have a close fly-by of Earth this weekend, and it should stay visible for a few weeks for anyone with a half-decent telescope. The rest of this article is behind a paywall. Please sign […]
We’re Going To Enceladus (Maybe)! ESA’s Plans For Alien-Hunting Mission To Land On Saturn’s Moon Is A Go
Saturn’s icy moon Enceladus is currently the best place to look for life elsewhere in the Solar System. We don’t know if this distant work is habitable, but it has several characteristics that make us hopeful. Excitingly, the European Space Agency has just announced it’s going ahead with a unique mission to find that answer […]
World’s Oldest Little Penguin, Lazzie, Celebrates 25th Birthday – But She’s Still Young At Heart
Thought this week’s celebrations had ended with the Hungry Hungry Hippos-themed festivities for the birthday of the world’s oldest pygmy hippo? Well, you’d better put your gladrags back on and get yourselves back on the party train, because it’s time to celebrate Lazzie, the world’s oldest little penguin, who’s just turned a whopping 25 years […]
“We Will Build The Gateway”: Lunar Gateway’s Future Has Been Rocky – But ESA Confirms It’s A Go
The European Space Agency (ESA) has a bold plan for human exploration in space, and it seems like the member states are ready to back it. This week, IFLScience is reporting from the agency’s Ministerial Council for 2025, where its budget and its priorities have just been approved. Both low-Earth orbit and deep space exploration […]
Clothes Getting Eaten By Moths? Here’s What To Do
Winter is coming, and that means sweater season. But perhaps you’ve had a nasty surprise when you pulled them out of storage recently: tiny holes dotting your wool, silk, cashmere, or other natural fiber-based (and often expensive!) garments. The culprit? Moths. But fear not: these little blighters can be avoided – and it’s not even […]
We Finally Know Where Pet Cats Come From – And It’s Not Where We Thought
Domestic cats the world over can trace their ancestry back to North African wildcats that lived around 2,000 years ago. It was from these feral felines that the very first domestic cats were produced, yet their cuteness and companionship were so coveted by humans that within a few decades they had spread to all corners […]
Why The 17th Century Was A Really, Really Dreadful Time To Be Alive
The Black Death of the 1300s would have been an undeniably sucky time to live, the year 563 CE was pretty dire, and the first half of the 20th century saw more than its fair share of misery. However, when looking at terrible times to be a human, the dreadfulness of the 17th century is […]
