In Kazakhstan lives an antelope that wouldn’t look out of place on the set of Star Wars. Saiga and their gloriously wibbly noses are one of the planet’s most remarkable species, but poaching and mass die off events saw their numbers crash. In 2024, however, the Earthshot Prize awarded an ecosystem restoration effort that’s enabled […]
Not All Trees Are Equal When It Comes To Beating The City Heat
Planting trees has been a staple in urban landscaping for decades, valued for its aesthetic appeal and ability to improve air quality. However, recent research highlights that the location and species of trees are crucial in mitigating urban heat stress. Over the last few decades, temperatures have been rising in cities around the world. Each […]
Which Animal Has The Most Teeth At Any One Time?
Say cheese and flash us those pearly whites! While most adult humans have 32 permanent teeth, or 28 if your wisdom teeth don’t behave, you might be surprised to learn that the animal world has us well and truly beat when it comes to the highest amount of teeth found in one mouth – and […]
Super Foggy Outside? Could Be The Perfect Time To Spot “Dark Watchers”
Allow us to set the scene: you’re out walking on a misty mountain. It was clear as day when you set off this morning, but as you’re reaching the peak a thick fog comes rolling in behind you. The Sun is just about still breaking through when you spot it, a great looming “dark watcher” […]
Once-In-A-Lifetime T Coronae Borealis Nova Event Expected Soon
Around every 80 years, the system we call T Coronae Borealis experiences a sudden increase in brightness. It becomes up to 1,585 times brighter, something that earned it the nickname of “The Blaze Star”. But it has a more accurate name: it is a recurring nova, and it is going to get brighter again very […]
Tentacle-Covered Marine “Flowers” Discovered Across Japan’s Underwater Mountains
In the depths of the northwestern Pacific Ocean, researchers have uncovered a tiny yet fascinating new species of marine life, and it’s been awarded a name fitting its appearance – “little flower”. Vitrumanthus flosculus, with “flosculus” meaning “small flower” or “floweret” in Latin, was discovered on underwater mountain ranges called seamounts, south of Japan’s coast. […]
If A Heavy Cargo Container Falls Off A Ship, What Happens To The Level Of The Water?
It’s easy for a science website to get bogged down in the weirdest mysteries of the universe, while people really want the answers to more basic (but fun!) questions like “Why can’t we power our cars with magnets?” and “What would happen if you tried to swim in a pool on the Moon?”. One such […]
The Minor Planet Chiron Is Strange – And So Is Its Ice
The JWST has examined Chiron, a minor planet that orbits between Jupiter and Neptune, and found unexpectedly different ices from the other objects located in that region of the Solar System. The composition is not yet understood, but once explained, it may reveal something important about the origins of the Solar System beyond the “snow […]
The Most Distant Fully-Formed Spiral Galaxy Known Has Been Spotted By JWST
It has been just over three years since JWST was launched into space and in that time, the telescope has dramatically expanded our understanding of the distant universe. Among the important findings is the discovery of very young galaxies that already looked like their more senior counterparts in the local universe, and a recent study […]
China Building “Solar Great Wall” That Could Power Beijing And Beyond
A desert might not be the first place you’d expect to be a hive of activity, but northwestern China’s Kubuqi Desert is currently bucking the trend, as an ambitious project to build a “Solar Great Wall” continues to transform the desolate landscape. Once completed – expected to be sometime in 2030 – the solar farm […]
The Time Jimmy Carter Probably Saved The World And Almost Nobody Noticed
The death of former president Jimmy Carter has unleashed a wave of tributes far beyond those given to most former leaders. Many are focused on his unique post-presidential career, but his four years as president, judged a failure at the time, have undergone a considerable reassessment. Yet missing from almost all this commentary is the […]
Why Are Antlers Fuzzy?
Every year, animals in the deer family go through a cycle of growing and shedding their antlers, those badass branched bones that come in handy for finding mates and finding. They don’t always look so bony though; for at least some of the year, antlers are covered in a fuzzy layer called velvet. This so-called […]
Why You Might Not Want To Pluck Or Wax Your Nose Hair
Over our long and meandering evolution, the human species has lost a lot of body hair. For some reason, we have been left with forests of the stuff growing out of our noses and, especially as we age, the ears. A lot of people are tempted to pluck, wax, or otherwise remove this hair, shunning […]
Why Do You Always Need To Pee When You Go Outside In Cold Weather?
It’s something that many of us have experienced at one time or another. You head out on a winter’s day, ready to face the world… and then, seemingly out of nowhere, you need to pee. There has to be a scientific explanation for this irritating phenomenon, and we wouldn’t be IFLScience if we weren’t prepared […]
Why Don’t Animals Have To Brush Their Teeth?
Wake up? Brush your teeth. Going to bed? Brush your teeth. The dental routine of being a human can be a bit monotonous, but it’s an important step towards maintaining a happy mouth. It can be slightly baffling, then, to spot a photo of a bonobo with a seemingly perfect grin. How are wild animals […]
Do Animals Think?
The debate about whether (and, if so, how) animals think is an ancient one. Aristotle considered it important enough to write on the question extensively, and it’s a safe bet people were debating it long before we have written records. Unsurprisingly, it’s a major topic of research today, but one that tends to defy easy […]
Why Do Humans Love Watching Fire? Find Out More In Issue 30 Of CURIOUS – Out Now
Issue 30 (January 2024) of CURIOUS is out now, bringing you science highlights for the month plus deep dives into intriguing topics, interviews, exclusives, diary dates, and explanations for some of Earth’s most perplexing natural phenomena and landscapes. Read Issue 30 of our digital magazine now by clicking below! Use the arrows to navigate or […]
Key Gaps Discovered In Gravity Wave Simulations Over Antarctica
Current models do not measure gravity waves with sufficient accuracy, new research suggests. This is important, the study authors say, because it affects the accuracy of atmospheric modeling technologies, which are essential tools in our arsenal when it comes to predicting weather events and creating climate simulations. That means fixing these deficiencies could improve their […]
A Public Health Emergency Looming In The Coming Decades, Scientists Warn
Scientists warn that the rapid rise of antibiotic-resistant bacteria could trigger a dramatic spike in deaths, and we are not prepared. Researchers at Northern Arizona University took a hypothetical strain of E. coli resistant to all known forms of antibiotics (a state known as pan-resistance) and, using long-term data relating to sepsis cases in the […]
Why Are People Concerned About Kessler Syndrome?
As you read this, some 13,000 satellites are hurtling through space, orbiting the Earth at breakneck speeds of 6 miles (or 10 kilometers) per second – which is more than 14 times as fast as a fighter jet. While it is an incredibly impressive feat that exemplifies the scientific progress humanity has made over the last century, […]
