If you thought oceangoing ships could only go so far as the coast, the Port of Duluth-Superior is about to prove you wrong. Situated a whopping 3,700 kilometers (2,342 miles) away from the Atlantic Ocean, it’s the farthest inland port in North America to serve oceangoing ships – and that’s not the only thing that’s […]
What Is “The Ick”, And Why Do We Feel It?
For Millie Bobby Brown, it’s men holding umbrellas; for Ed from the UK, it’s weird sandwiches. Small, objectively inoffensive things, but immediate dealbreakers for these two in particular – these habits, they say, give them “the ick”. ADVERTISEMENT GO AD FREE But what is the ick? And why do we get it? Is it helpful […]
Most Things Soften When Heated, So Why Do Eggs Go Hard?
Heating is usually a way to soften things. Solids turn to liquids, liquids to gas – and when the process doesn’t go all the way, extra heat can lead to a softer solid or a more runny liquid. So why are eggs, normally liquid inside, an exception, turning hard when cooked appropriately? The answer turns […]
Going To The Moon Or Mars Next? NASA And Congress Are Not Seeing Eye-To-Eye
If everything goes according to plan, in just over two years we should see humans back on the Moon. That has been the goal of NASA over the last several years, a goal that seems now a lot more uncertain than previously thought. ADVERTISEMENT GO AD FREE There is the problem of Starship – the […]
Do Any Animals Whistle? The “Whistling Dog” Dholes Do-hoo-hoo-hoo
You’re running through the forest, flashes of orange all around, when suddenly, it all goes quiet. Gone are the high-pitched vocalizations they chirped while in pursuit. Now, there’s only a faint whistling. You’re a deer in one of Asia’s forests, and you’re about to get chomped by a pack of dholes. ADVERTISEMENT GO AD FREE […]
Underwater Mountains Are Teeming With 41 Times More Sharks Than The Open Ocean
Oh, you didn’t get an invite to the shark party? Shame, because on the underwater mountains off Ascension Island, it’s popping off. New research has revealed that there are 41 times more sharks found here than out in the open ocean, a trend that could indicate seamounts represent vital “hubs” where these animals can socialize, […]
Watch Turtles Boogie When Magnetic Fields Say Food Is Near
Loggerhead turtles can recognize the magnetic signatures that they associate with getting a nice meal – and do an adorable little dance when they do! That’s according to new research that suggests that these turtles use Earth’s magnetic field as a map and a compass in two different ways. ADVERTISEMENT GO AD FREE “Our study […]
Mexico May Sue Google Over Renaming The Gulf Of Mexico
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has stated that her government is considering a possible civil lawsuit against Google for changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico on maps worldwide. The company changed the name to “Gulf of America” for users worldwide after declaring that it was not going to do so. ADVERTISEMENT GO AD FREE […]
“Weird” Fog Hits Florida – And Its Smell Supposedly Defies Description
A dense fog has descended on the state of Florida, which, according to locals, is accompanied by a strange smell. In an array of social media posts, residents of the Sunshine State have decried its unusual odor, with several claiming it is unlike any fog they have seen, or smelt, before. ADVERTISEMENT GO AD FREE […]
Kama Muta: The Powerful Emotion Everyone Has But No One Has Heard Of
The last time I experienced kama muta was – rather fittingly, as it turned out – while I was conducting an interview about kama muta. Alan Fiske, a psychological anthropologist at UCLA and researcher in the international institution-spanning Kama Muta Lab, was telling me a story about his grandson as a toddler, and I just […]
Students Break World Record By Levitating Soap Bubble For Over 80 Minutes
Students at the University of Exeter in the UK have broken a peculiar world record: levitating a soap bubble for 84 minutes, beating the previous record by over an hour. They created the bubble using an acoustic levitation device, a machine that can make small objects float in midair thanks to ultrasound. ADVERTISEMENT GO AD […]
When You Open A Band-Aid Or Unroll Tape, Why Does It Emit Light?
If you’ve ever opened a band-aid in a darkened room, you may have noticed something a little unexpected. If you have the right type of band-aid, it may emit visible blue light. ADVERTISEMENT GO AD FREE The phenomenon can also be seen if you unfurl adhesive tape, crush a sugar cube in the dark, or […]
What Do Ancient Mummies Smell Like? Pretty Good By The Sounds Of It
After thousands of years in the afterlife you might expect to stink like a moldy old scrotum, but as it turns out, ancient Egyptian mummies are still surprisingly easy on the nose. A credit to their embalmers, the shriveled bodies retain many of the pleasant odors emanating from the aromatic oils and waxes with which […]
“Molecule That Made The Universe” Has More Sources Than We Thought
Trihydrogen cations, or H3+, are not common molecules in our everyday lives – you might not have heard of them before this article, but we are probably here because of them. This peculiar type of ion is likely a crucial ingredient in the formation of stars as well as a catalyst in chemical reactions in […]
Watch As Rare Black Wolves Are Recorded In Poland For The First Time
Rare black wolves have been captured crossing a stream in Poland, marking the first time that black wolves have ever been filmed in the country. ADVERTISEMENT GO AD FREE Recorded on a camera trap that was originally set up to record beavers by the conservation charity SAVE Wildlife Conservation Fund Poland, the footage shows first […]
Two Jurassic Fossils Could Be The Earliest True Birds Ever Found
Two fossils suggest that birds were thriving and diversifying in China as the Jurassic Period closed, new research reveals. Given the contentiousness of avian origins, however, the debate may have a fair way to run. ADVERTISEMENT GO AD FREE Early bird evolution is shrouded in mystery partly because their thin bones fossilize badly, but also […]
Biofluorescence Vs Bioluminescence: What’s The Difference?
The natural world is full of things that glow, but there’s more than one way that they can do so. Some are biofluorescent and others are bioluminescent – but what’s the difference between the two? What is biofluorescence? ADVERTISEMENT GO AD FREE Biofluorescence is a phenomenon in which an organism absorbs light at a certain […]
January 2025 Was The Hottest On Record, Even With A Weaker La Niña
According to all climate metrics, 2024 was a terrifying year. It was so hot that it led to a declaration by the UN that we were witnessing climate breakdown in real-time. January 2025 has not bucked that trend – quite the opposite. January 2025 was the hottest January on record. ADVERTISEMENT GO AD FREE Data […]
This Biohybrid Robot Hand Can Win Rock, Paper, Scissors – Provided You Play Paper
A robot hand powered by lab-grown muscles is challenging you to a game of Rock, Paper, Scissors – do you accept? Here’s hoping you choose rock, because a new remarkable biohybrid has just perfected the scissors sign thanks to multiple muscle tissue actuators (MuMuTAs) that are bringing us closer to larger biohybrid limbs (and in […]
Good News, Folks! Your Flow Playlist Is Working
Listening to the right tune can get our hairs standing on end thanks to “frisson”, but can it move us to focus more on something we’re working on? Flow playlists are all over streaming platforms like Spotify, and now new research has backed up their efficacy as a study tool. ADVERTISEMENT GO AD FREE The […]
