On September 22, the Jiangsu Deep Blue Aerospace Company conducted the first high-altitude test of their Nebula-1 rocket: a reusable and recyclable first-stage rocket body. The test was mostly successful – but once the rocket came back to Earth, it touched down a bit too strongly, leading to a complete explosion. “According to the ‘Nebula-1 […]
At 123 Years Old, Henry Is The World’s Oldest Known Crocodile – And He’s An Absolute Unit
At the ripe estimated age of 123 years old, Henry is the oldest known crocodile in the world – and what a life he’s led. In the past few decades alone, the mature gentleman has fathered thousands upon thousands of offspring Advertisement With all those decades under his belt, Henry has amassed a gigantic size. […]
Clouds Of Interstellar Gas Might Have Changed Our Planet 7 Million Years Ago
The Solar System is not stuck in place. It moves around the Milky Way. Occasionally, it will cross regions of denser interstellar medium. The impact of these clouds of hydrogen and other materials on the Solar System and our planet is unclear, but it is possible that these encounters led to an ice age. Advertisement […]
Hubble Tension Solved? Astronomers Race To Save Standard Model Of Cosmology
The universe is expanding at an accelerated rate, however, the nature of this expansion – why it’s expanding and why it’s doing so at such an accelerated rate – is uncertain. One culprit has been dubbed “dark energy“, a hypothetical form of energy that could be seen as anti-gravity. While what dark energy is precisely […]
A Shift In The Geomagnetic Field Has Distorted Measurements Of The Florida Current
An apparent weakening of one of the world’s most important ocean currents is probably a measurement error caused by a shift in the geomagnetic field, a new study proposes. If correct, it would mean we face less danger from one of the most alarming, but also most uncertain, consequences of global heating. Advertisement The Atlantic […]
Second Member Of Lost 1845 Arctic Expedition Identified, Along With His Grim Fate
One of the brave sailors who was lost in Franklin’s ill-fated Arctic expedition of 1845 has been identified using a DNA sample. His name was Captain James Fitzjames, a senior officer onboard HMS Erebus born on July 27, 1813. In a grim twist, the latest study of his remains highlights another dark facet of the […]
Incredible Pic Of Moon Casting Shadow On Sun’s Ring Wins Astronomy Photo Awards
The winner of the Royal Observatory Greenwich’s Astronomy Photographer of the Year 16 has been announced. Once again, we are in awe of both the beauty of the universe and the incredible talent of the astrophotographers involved. The competition is the world’s biggest space photography competition and this year saw 3,500 entries from 58 countries. […]
Monkeys Enlisted To “Predict” US Elections By Staring At Candidates
Move over Mr. Nuts, push off Paul the Octopus, and sayonara Staten Island Chuck. There’s a new oracular animal in town – and they’re ready to call the presidency. Kind of. No, we know what you’re thinking – but this isn’t your average “random animal seems to predict the future until a horde of angry […]
Flyby Anomaly: The Unexplained Phenomenon Affecting Several NASA Spacecraft
On December 8, 1990, the NASA Galileo spacecraft experienced what has been dubbed a “flyby anomaly” as it flew past the Earth on its way to Jupiter and its moons. The anomaly, seen in several other spacecraft since then, remains an unexplained mystery to this day. Advertisement In missions to visit objects in the faraway […]
One Of The Earliest Hacks Was Performed Using A Cap’n Crunch Whistle Toy
When you picture a computer hack, you probably think of a guy in a balaclava hunched over a computer screen displaying the code from the movie The Matrix. Or at least you do if you’re a stock photographer. Advertisement In truth, most hacks rely on an amount of social engineering, or tricking people in some […]
Incredibly Rare 13 In 100 Billion Event Seen At CERN Particle Accelerator
Scientists at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) have observed an incredibly rare event, which could possibly hint at new physics beyond the Standard Model. Advertisement There’s nothing particle physicists like more than crashing particles together and seeing what comes out of the mess. Such experiments can help us find evidence of particles and […]
People Are Sharing Scans Of Gaps In Their Brains On Reddit
A curious show and tell is going down on Reddit right now. Over in the 13-million-strong subreddit r/interestingasfuck, people are sharing scans of their brains in which it appears part of their brains are missing. How can this be possible? It all comes down to plasticity. Advertisement For example, back in 2016, a woman known […]
Harbor Seal Has Very Bad Day When Humpback Whale Nearly Swallows It Whole
Many species across the world’s habitats share the same time and space as others in the same region. These species can coexist peacefully, or sometimes run into conflicts outside of direct predator-prey relationships. Some interactions can even be accidental – such as the case of a harbor seal who ended up inside the mouth of […]
Killer Whale Holding Knife Among 303 New Nazca Glyphs Spotted By AI
Getting shanked by an orca is the last thing you’d expect in the Peruvian desert, yet for some unknown reason, the ancient Nazca who once inhabited the area decided to decorate the landscape with an enormous geoglyph depicting a knife-wielding killer whale. Spotted using an artificial intelligence (AI) system, the armed marine mammal is one […]
Meet Pesto: Baby Penguin, Internet Superstar, And An Absolute Unit
While it’s always an exciting day in the IFLScience team when we stumble across the latest baby animal taking the internet by storm, it seemed as though nothing could match our obsession with Moo Deng – then came along Pesto, the most delightfully chonky baby penguin we’ve ever seen. Advertisement If you’re not already familiar, […]
Brain Deficits After Severe COVID-19 Can Equate To 20 Years Of Normal Aging
People who have been hospitalized with severe COVID-19 infection can exhibit brain changes that cause the equivalent of 20 years’ worth of aging, significantly impacting their cognition. The findings of a new study, the largest of its kind in the UK to date, show how neurological complications can persist in these patients long after their […]
Ridiculous Babies Of The World’s Rarest Fish Star In Award-Winning Photo
“Imagine dipping a toad in some brightly coloured paint, telling it a sad story, and forcing it to wear gloves two sizes too big.” That’s a description of the world’s rarest fish that appears on the Handfish Conservation Project’s website, and they really hit the nail on the head. Arguably the only thing more ridiculous […]
Zoroastrians May Have Made Mysterious Archaeological Site In Madagascar
Around the first millennium CE, an enigmatic group of people living in southern Madagascar carved large chambers and hollows into the rock of a cliff face. For decades, the terraces and architecture at this site puzzled archaeologists as it is like nothing else found in Madagascar or elsewhere along the nearby East African coast. Who […]
Five Thousand Years Ago, Africa Had A Major Civilization We Forgot
Evidence has been revealed of a city existing 5,400-4,900 years ago in what is now Morocco, that its discoverers claim was the era’s largest in Africa outside of the Nile Basin. There are signs the region had extensive trading links with settlements across the Strait of Gibraltar in Iberia, and its influence may well have […]
Freya Castle: NASA Investigates Rock “Unlike Any Seen On Mars Before”
From mysterious purple-coated rocks to formations that look a bit like a doorway, our trusty Martian robot pals have made some cool and sometimes strange findings over the years. Advertisement Every now and then, they capture an image of a rock that looks completely out of place in the Martian landscape. This happened on September […]