A Roman-era skeleton from York, northern England, shows signs of having been bitten by a big cat, thus providing the first archaeological evidence that gladiators did battle with lions and other terrifying beasts. Previously, these fabled human-animal contests were only known from written and artistic sources, leading many scholars to question whether the brutal encounters […]
Some Parts Of Human DNA Might Be Evolving Way Faster Than Scientists Thought
Scientists might have succeeded in sequencing the entire human genome, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t still learning new things about it. Case in point: a new study has found that some parts of our DNA are acquiring changes much more rapidly than previously thought. Changes in the genome are known as mutations. That word […]
Unexpectedly, A Car Was Found On A WW2 Shipwreck – And NOAA Is Asking For Help Identifying It
The USS Yorktown was a major chess piece in one of the most pivotal naval battles in the Pacific Theater of World War Two. But on a recent deep-sea expedition, ocean explorers made a bizarre discovery aboard its watery grave: a shell of an old car, resting silently on the hangar deck. What was it […]
Rare Alignment Gives NASA A Chance To Peer Into Uranus
On April 7, 2025, star HIP 16271 was occulted by Uranus. As a star, it is by no means famous. A yellow-white star in the constellation of Taurus, not bright enough to be visible to the naked eye given its distance – about 400 light-years away – but bright enough to allow astronomers to look […]
US Moves To Ban 8 Synthetic Food Dyes And Switch To “Natural Alternatives”
The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) yesterday announced plans to remove all petrochemical food dyes currently in use in the country. The six-stage roadmap starts by establishing a firm timeline for the transition, moving quickly on to beginning the process of banning two food dyes […]
Archaeologists May Have Found The Forgotten Capital Of A Lost Civilization
For decades, a scattering of ruins in southeastern Europe was dismissed as little more than an unremarkable military outpost, but new excavations are rewriting that story. Archaeologists now believe the site may be the lost capital of an ancient kingdom with direct ties to none other than Alexander the Great, the ferocious conqueror whose campaigns […]
“Peter Pan” Cane Toads Gene-Edited To Never Grow Up Could Save Australian Tropical Ecosystems
Scientists have knocked out genes that trigger cane toad tadpoles to turn into active toads, turning them into “Peter Pan”-like perpetual adolescents. The work provides a way to slow or halt the spread of an invasive species that is wreaking havoc on Australian ecosystems everywhere that heat and high rainfall coincide. Cane toads were introduced […]
Spider Crickets Are Like A Prehistoric Throwback To The Age Of Dinosaurs
Spider crickets are intriguing insects that often surprise homeowners with their long, spindly legs and sudden jumps. Don’t fear, though; they might look a bit creepy, but these creatures are harmless and do not bite humans. What Are Spider Crickets? Spider crickets – also known as cave crickets, cave wētā, land shrimp, sand treaders, jumping, […]
Autism Rates In The US Have Risen To 1 in 31, CDC Says. This Is Why
The most recent analysis from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows an increase in diagnoses of autism in US kids. Based on data from 2022, the agency now estimates that 1 in 31 kids aged 8 have a diagnosis of autism. “Prevalence of [autism] among children aged 8 years was higher in […]
Cadaver Synod: In 897 CE, The Catholic Church Put A Pope’s Corpse On Trial
After the last few years and the hit movie Conclave, you probably have a rough idea of how the Catholic church deals with the death of a Pope and the process afterwards. But the process has evolved somewhat, as highlighted by events in 897 CE, when a newly appointed Pope dug up his predecessor’s corpse […]
NASA’s Lucy Spacecraft Just Met Its Second Target, Asteroid Donaldjohanson – And It’s Defied Scientists’ Expectations
NASA’s Lucy spacecraft has encountered its second official asteroid, and once again, the object has defied expectations. The asteroid in question, Donaldjohanson, was visited by the mission on April 20, 2025. It flew approximately 960 kilometers (600 miles) from the space rock, revealing interesting insights into its properties. Donaldjohanson has a weird shape, a bit […]
In Texas, An Arid Mountain Of Fossils Was Once A Bustling Reef Ecosystem
Set a time machine to around 275 million years ago and the Guadalupe Mountains would look like another world. Instead of dusty towers of desert rock, you’d see an underwater reef bustling with alien-like animals. The Guadalupe Mountains are a range of mountains located in West Texas and southeastern New Mexico, reaching 2,667 meters (8,751 […]
Ever Wondered What It’s Like To Be “Hugged” By An Octopus? We’ve Got Just The Video For You
Most people would probably be a bit freaked out if an octopus appeared and started wrapping its sucker-laden limbs around them, but that’s far from the case for one marine videographer, who recently captured footage in which a large, red octopus appears to have given them a quick cuddle. The videographer in question is Jules […]
Chemicals Essential For A Fundamental Life Cycle Could Form In Interstellar Ice
The mitochondria are the powerhouses of the cells, and that power is created by freeing the energy stored in nutrients with a series of biochemical reactions. These are known as the citric acid cycle or Krebs cycle. It is a mystery whether this is something that life developed or if it was simply co-opted from […]
How Could Humanity (Or Aliens) Use A Black Hole To Harvest Energy?
As civilizations grow and mature, if humanity so far is anything to go by, they require a lot more energy to sustain themselves. A number of power-supply options for advanced civilizations have been dreamt up by sci-fi writers and scientists alike, including Dyson spheres and swarms. These are hypothetical megastructures placed around a star to […]
Planet Being Boiled Apart Like A Comet Sheds Mount Everest’s Worth Of Material Every Orbit
Planet BD+054868Ab is one of only four known disintegrating planets, worlds close enough to their star that they end up being roasted and torn apart. But this little world is unique in the extent of this process; it has the longest tail of any such planet. Yes, these worlds form a comet-like tail of materials […]
Most Powerful Cosmic Explosions Reveal Largest Structure In The Universe Is Even Bigger Than Thought
According to our best understanding, the universe should be homogeneous at large scales. This means that it’s ok to have clumps of matter and areas of void, but it should all average out. So it’s ok to have galaxy clusters and cosmic voids, but you won’t find structures extending for billions of light-years. Somebody must […]
NASA Finds “Skull Hill” Rock On Mars, Believes It “Originated From Elsewhere”
NASA’s Perseverance rover has stumbled across a rather intriguing rock while driving west downslope towards lower “Witch Hazel Hill” on the edge of the Jezero Crater rim on Mars. Over the last week, the Perseverance rover has moved down the Witch Hazel Hill area, towards an area named by the team as “Port Anson”. From […]
Earth’s Rotation Is Wobbling More Than Expected And Now We Know Why
Global warming is flooding low-lying coastal regions, but it’s drying out the land beyond. The most serious consequences of this are for agriculture and ecosystems that depend on soil moisture, but it’s also changing the way the Earth’s axis points, which can be a useful way to monitor the global scale of the changes. Higher […]
Rarely Seen “Interspecific Infanticide” By Dolphins Caught On Camera Near Wales
Dolphins might have a reputation for being playful, friendly creatures, but best believe they aren’t always like that – something that was made all the clearer last week when a group of people on a wildlife-watching trip in Cardigan Bay, Wales, were witness to four bottlenose dolphins hunting down and killing a young common dolphin. […]
