A 2-billion-year-old rock has been unearthed in South Africa – and if its advanced age wasn’t enough to knock your socks off, it’s also home to pockets of microbes that are still alive and thriving. Having been around for eons, these are the oldest examples of living microbes ever found within ancient rock. Advertisement “We […]
Geomagnetic Storms Imminent After Strongest Solar Flare This Cycle – And For 7 Years
Welcome to the solar maximum. We do not know exactly when the peak of solar activity will be during this cycle, but we are near it and the Sun is showing it. Yesterday, we reported the release of the second most powerful flare for this cycle, and our star decided to one-up itself and release […]
World’s Largest Amphibian Turns Out To Be Up To 9 Different Species
Long thought to be a single species, a new study has revealed that the Chinese giant salamander might actually be up to nine different species, bringing fresh calls to ramp up protections for this critically endangered group. Advertisement This isn’t the Chinese giant salamander’s first identity crisis; back in 2019, scientists confirmed that there were […]
9-Kilometer Impact Crater Beneath Atlantic Reveals Dino-Killing Asteroid Had A Friend
Some 66 million years ago, a massive asteroid slammed into Earth. The Chicxulub impactor, as it is called, famously wiped out the non-avian dinosaurs and left a huge crater at the edge of the Yucatán peninsula – but it may not have acted alone. New research has revealed that a second, smaller space rock smashed […]
New Species Of Tropical Moth Found 7,000 Kilometers From Where It Should Be
Your own living room is probably the last place you’d expect to find a brand-new species of bug, but that’s exactly what happened to one ecologist from Wales, UK – except what she found turned out to be a long, long way from home. Advertisement The new species is a clearwing moth, named Carmenta brachyclados, […]
Uniquely Shining Galaxy May Be Missing Link To The Universe’s Unseen First Stars
Galaxy GS-NDG-9422 might not have a catchy name or look that impressive, but it has the potential to be revolutionary in our understanding of galaxy evolution. It has an odd light signature – it seems that its gas is shining a lot brighter than its stars. This peculiar feature might open a window onto a […]
IFLScience The Big Questions: What Would A Human On Mars Look Like?
Are humans done evolving – or could settling on an alien world with an environment unlike Earth’s take us on a different evolutionary trajectory? Host Tom Hale is joined by Scott Solomon, author and professor of bioscience at Rice University, to discuss the myriad ways Homo sapiens may continue to evolve on Earth, and how […]
An Electrical Donut And Magnetic Horns Spotted Around Mercury During Quick Flyby
BepiColombo’s June 2023 flyby of Mercury put the spacecraft on the right trajectory to get in orbit around the smallest planet, and it was also a chance to test its science instruments. Even with such a brief window of time, researchers were able to get incredible insights into the planet’s magnetosphere. Advertisement Mercury’s magnetic field […]
Light Experiment Shows Atoms “Seem To Spend A ‘Negative’ Amount Of Time” In An Excited State
Quantum mechanics just can’t keep from getting freaky. The latest thing is negative time, and how light going through a cloud of atoms might appear to come out before it goes in. Unfortunately, it is not a time machine – your best bet there is still a DeLorean – but a curious phenomenon with intriguing […]
California Legalizes Fully-Fledged Cannabis Cafes
From the start of next year, cannabis retailers in California will be allowed to sell fresh food and non-alcoholic drinks – and even put on a party whilst doing so – after Governor Gavin Newsom signed a “cannabis café” bill into law on September 30. Advertisement Cannabis lounges, where people can smoke and socialize, already […]
We Finally Know Why Some People With Schizophrenia Hear Voices
People with schizophrenia who hear voices in their head may be experiencing the results of “noisy” signaling produced by the brain’s motor system. As counterintuitive as this seems, the new discovery could be a gamechanger for scientists working on treatments for auditory hallucinations as it suggests that the target may lie outside of the auditory […]
Can You Really “Feel” When You’re Being Watched?
At some point in your life, chances are you’ve felt that prickle in the back of your neck suggesting somebody staring at you from across the room. And when we say “chances are”, we’re not exaggerating: various surveys over the years have placed the proportion of people reporting this feeling as anywhere between 68 and […]
A Cold Heart And Patchy Clouds: Jupiter’s Great Red Spot As We’ve Never Seen It Before
The Great Red Spot is a storm larger than our own planet. It’s been moving around Jupiter for at least a few centuries and for as long as we have seen it, we have studied it. Missions like Galileo and Juno, and observatories around the world and in space, have taken their turn to look […]
This Black Sand Beach Is One Of Iceland’s Most Dangerous Destinations
Iceland might be home to stunning glaciers, puffling tossing, and horses that’ll write your out-of-office message for you, but, like anywhere, it also has its dangers. Its volcanic activity is a given, but we’re talking about Reynisfjara, a black sand beach with a reputation for having claimed lives. Advertisement Found on Iceland’s southern coast, it’s […]
Three Stars Found In The Closest Ever Recorded Embrace
Astronomers have found a triple star system with shorter mutual orbits than any previously recorded, breaking a record that goes back almost 70 years. The system serves as an extreme laboratory for the formation and development of star systems. Advertisement Like the Sun, many stars live their lives alone, other than a collection of planets. […]
Lunokhod 1: The First Moon Rover Was An Impressive Beast Of A Robot
These days, we are used to having a number of robotic rovers (and briefly, a helicopter) driving and flying around the Moon and Mars, sending us back photographs of strange features and rocks. Advertisement The first robotic exploration of a body other than our own came earlier than you might think, with humans only beating […]
JWST Spots Unusual Jets Coming From Highly Active Centaur 29P
JWST has turned its considerable mirrors towards intriguing object 29P/Schwassmann–Wachmann 1, a highly active icy centaur that undergoes not-well-understood periodic outbursts. Advertisement Centaurs are pretty interesting space objects, which orbit the Sun between the orbits of Jupiter and Neptune. These objects are believed to be former trans-Neptunian objects that have made their way further towards […]
Why Do Wolves Howl At The Moon – Or Do They?
There are few ideas that are as spine-tinglingly iconic as wolves howling at the Moon. It’s a trope that has appeared in innumerable films, TV shows, books, art, and so on. Wolves and the Moon are inseparable in our minds, but this association is odd given that wolves don’t actually howl at the Moon. So […]
Type 1 Diabetic No Longer Needs Insulin After First-Of-Its-Kind Stem Cell Treatment
A 25-year-old woman with type 1 diabetes has been able to stop taking insulin after a groundbreaking stem cell treatment. This is the first human trial of the procedure, and while it’s too soon yet to say that the woman is “cured”, it certainly demonstrates that the approach merits a closer look. Advertisement In most […]
Four Asteroids Named After Prolific Catholic Nun Astronomers
The Minor Planet Center of the International Astronomical Union has announced the names of many new asteroids this summer and, among them, four nuns deserved recognition among the stars. Advertisement They are Sister Emilia Ponzoni (1883-1950), Sister Regina Colombo (1885-1953), Sister Concetta Finardi (1896-1975), and Sister Luigia Panceri (1893-1982), with the first two announced in […]
