A letter from renowned physicist Albert Einstein outlining his own role in the development of the atomic bomb and his opposition to war has been put up for auction, with a guide price of between $100,000 and $150,000. In early 1939, German chemists Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassmann announced a discovery that would change the […]
Watch Friendly Dolphins Help Lead A Lost Humpback Whale Into Deeper Waters
Animals can work cooperatively in groups all the time to impress females, catch prey, or even groom each other. Species working with another species outside of their own is a lot more unusual, but this appeared to be what a local conservationist group in Western Australia recorded recently. Australia’s Dolphin Discovery Centre in Bunbury recorded […]
World’s Largest Digital Camera Snaps 2,104 New Asteroids And Millions Of Galaxies Within A Few Hours
Welcome to a new era in visual astronomy, and it is down to the incredible camera at the heart of the Vera C. Rubin Observatory. The instrument is the largest digital camera in the world, and thanks to the incredible pictures and just-released videos, you can tell that this is indeed the case. This morning, […]
Cat Or Otter? The Jaguarundi Looks Like Both
What does a cat look like? You’ve probably got a pretty good idea: big teeth, murder mittens, a range of facial expressions that make for excellent memes. Now imagine all of that, but with a hefty dose of mustelid thrown in, and you’ve got yourself one of the weirdest-looking cats out there – the jaguarundi. […]
“The Sea Shall Flow To Jackdaw’s Well”: Old English Mermaid Legend Traced Back Centuries
A medievalist and cultural historian from the University of Liverpool has uncovered the history of the “mermaids of Staithes”, finding the legend of mermaids leaving a curse on an old English fishing village is likely centuries older than we thought. Great Britain, being entirely surrounded by water and having a tendency to see monsters in […]
The Fungus Blamed For “Tutankhamun’s Curse” Could Make A Potent Anti-Cancer Drug
The fungus Aspergillus flavus produces a class of molecules that have strong potential as future anti-leukemia drugs, although they have yet to be tried in living organisms. Several of the archaeologists, and their funders, who first opened Tutankhamun’s tomb in the 1920s died relatively soon afterwards. Given that the ancient Egyptians were less than keen […]
Space Might Be A Byproduct Of Three-Dimensional Time
A new theory of the fabric of the universe has proposed that time has three dimensions. Moreover, this model leads to the conclusion that these three time dimensions are the true underlying feature of the universe, and the dimensions collectively known as space are just a byproduct, one might even say an offshoot. Currently this […]
“Jigsaw”-Like Fresco Made Of Thousands Of Fragments Reveals Artistic Traits Not Seen In Roman Britain Before
Archaeologists in London have reconstructed ancient Roman frescoes that have not been seen for over 1,800 years. The work involved reassembling thousands of fragments that were once abandoned in a pit after the original building was demolished around 200 CE. The reconstruction work was performed by Han Li, the Senior Building Material Specialist at the […]
Frequent Nightmares Are A Worrying Sign Of Early Death And Accelerated Aging, Says New Study
The dark dreams that haunt your nights may be leaving a deeper imprint on your life. Scientists at the UK Dementia Research Institute and Imperial College London analyzed data from 183,012 adults aged 26 to 86, as well as 2,429 children aged 8 to 10, collected from six long-term health studies. At the start of […]
UK To DNA Test All Newborn Babies In Plan To Predict And Prevent Disease
By the end of the next 10 years, the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) is aiming to test the DNA of every baby born, as part of plans to better predict and prevent disease and reduce pressure on healthcare services. Babies born in the UK already receive the newborn blood spot test (also called the […]
IFLScience We Have Questions: Why Does Snow Sometimes Look Blue?
Snow is beautiful, but also powerful and destructive – and, if we’re honest, a bit confusing. For something made entirely of water, it can come in many forms: light and fluffy, sticky and heavy, shaped like a perfect snowflake, or falling in needle-like flecks. Its consistency changes a lot, but so does its color, which […]
New Nimbus COVID Variant Present In The UK, Infections Could Spread This Summer
While memories of masks and enforced lockdowns may be fading for many, COVID-19 frequently rears its ugly head to make an appearance in world headlines. British newspapers are now warning that the percentage of known COVID-19 cases attributed to the new Nimbus strain has increased in the UK over the past month , and may […]
Scientists Have Finally Measured How Fast Quantum Entanglement Happens
Last year, a team of scientists working at TU Wein University measured the speed of quantum entanglement in action for the first time, pouring cold water on the idea that the process occurs instantaneously. Quantum physics is the study of the frankly downright bizarre world of atoms and subatomic particles, such as neutrons, photons, and […]
Why Earth’s Magnetic Pole Reversals Are So Fascinating
A rare geological event occurs every 300,000 years or so: the Earth’s magnetic poles flip. The magnetic poles are the two ends of the magnetosphere, which surrounds the Earth like a giant, invisible force field. This celestial shield protects the planet by fending off solar wind, particle radiation and cosmic rays – particles which, if […]
World First Artificial Solar Eclipse Created, The “Closest Thing” To HIV Vaccine Gets FDA Approval, And Much More This Week
This week, a site in Colorado may have been used as the “largest lekking arena in the world” by dancing dinosaurs, a child from the world’s oldest burial was a Neanderthal-Homo sapiens hybrid, and scientists have at last identified the first Denisovan skull, despite it hiding in plain sight since 1933. Finally, on the 50th […]
“Remarkable” Pattern Discovered Behind Prime Numbers, Math’s Most Unpredictable Objects
In the third century BCE, a clever Greek chap by the name of Eratosthenes came up with a novel new piece of mathematics: a “sieve”, by which one could painstakingly trawl through every integer in order and discard any with more than two factors, leaving only the primes behind. It was smart for the time […]
People Are Only Just Learning What The World’s Most Expensive Cheese Is Made Of
The world’s most expensive cheese costs more than some people’s monthly rent. By some accounts, picking up a pound of Pule in 2016 would have left you $1,700 out of pocket – accounting for inflation, that is somewhere in the region of $2,300 in today’s dollar. Other estimates put the cheese at a still eye-watering […]
The Physics Behind Iron: Why It’s The Most Stable Element
All the elements in the periodic table exist in multiple forms, known as isotopes. These isotopes are classified as stable or unstable, with the unstable isotopes undergoing radioactive decay or fission to become something else. There are, however, hundreds of known stable isotopes that have never been seen to undergo decay, so you might think […]
What Is The Reason Some People Keep Waking Up At 3am Every Night?
The world is full of terrifying things, jellyfish and hair loss, just to name two. And while 3 am isn’t exactly the ideal time to start panicking about them, that’s when many of us find ourselves wide awake, wondering if we’d really have to pee on ourselves after a jellyfish sting. Or is that just […]
Michigan Bear Finally Free After 2 Years With Plastic Lid Stuck Around Its Neck
After getting a plastic lid stuck around its neck as a cub two years ago, a young black bear in Michigan is finally free of his unwanted accessory, after state wildlife biologists successfully removed it. According to a statement from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR), the bear first caught the attention of biologists […]
