When it comes to venom’s toxicity, scientists work out quite how powerful it is by predicting the median lethal dose, or LD50. According to the University of Florida’s Book Of Insect Records, harvester ants take the crown for insect venom toxicity in mice – and hoo boy does it pack a punch. Harvester ants: the […]
Man Fined $1,000 For Driving Boat Through Pod Of Orcas
A boat trip near Roche Harbor in Washington ended up leading one man to a $1,000 civil penalty, after he violated regulations by driving his boat straight through a pod of orcas. Advertisement The incident occurred back in September 2022, when the man, who’s been named as Matt Ryan, was taking his boat Cypress Point […]
FDA Snubs MDMA Following Flawed Trials And Sexual Abuse Scandal
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has rejected an application to allow the use of MDMA for the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), bringing an end to several years of excitement about the prospect of the party drug becoming medicalized. After analyzing research submitted by drugmaker Lykos Therapeutics, the agency ruled that the […]
NASA Analyst Explains The Obvious: Why Aren’t Photos Of The Milky Way Real?
A former NASA analyst on TikTok has explained the (hopefully obvious) reason why photographs of our galaxy – the Milky Way – are not real. Advertisement Responding to the question “How do we take pictures of the Milky Way if we are in it?”, science communicator and former NASA space analyst Alexandra Doten explained that […]
Astronomers Place 50/50 Odds On Andromeda Colliding With Us
Humans confirmed the existence of other galaxies surprisingly late. Only 100 years ago, in fact, when Edwin Hubble found a type of star known as Cepheid variables within Andromeda, and used them to measure the galaxy’s distance. Advertisement Since then, astronomy equipment and techniques have advanced, and more and more data has been collected on […]
China’s Hyperloop, Set To Reach 100 Kilometers Per Hour, Passes New Test With Flying Colors
China has carried out another successful test of their answer to Hyperloop, an ultra-high-speed maglev train that they plan to travel at speeds of 1,000 kilometers (621 miles) per hour. While it hasn’t yet achieved this blazing speed – despite some misleading news reports – the latest tests suggest their pipe dream is going to […]
NASA’s InSight Lander Found An Ocean Of Liquid Water Within Mars
A new study looking at data from NASA’s Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations (InSight) Lander has found evidence of oceans of liquid water existing below the surface. Advertisement Mars is currently a cold, desert planet, but that hasn’t always been the case. From looking at the formations and features on the planet, we can tell […]
Stars, Dead Stars, Galaxies? What Are You Actually Looking At In The Night Sky?
It’s been a pretty good decade so far for witnessing cosmic events. As well as the total solar eclipse and the Sun approaching its peak in activity, creating stunning auroras on Earth, we will soon see an event first recorded in a medieval manuscript, when T Coronae Borealis goes nova. Advertisement But look up at […]
Polar Bears Kill Person Working At Remote Radar Site In Canadian Arctic
Two polar bears have attacked and killed a person working at a remote radar site in the Canadian Arctic. The fatal attack took place on Thursday, August 8, at the outpost on Brevoort Island in Canada’s far northeastern Nunavut territory, according to Nasittuq Corporation, which runs the facility. Advertisement “Nasittuq employees responded to the scene […]
Catch Mars And Jupiter Appearing Closest In The Sky Until 2033 This Week
On Wednesday, August 14, Mars and Jupiter will appear just 0.3 degrees apart in the sky. This is an exceptionally close passage from our perspective, and if you miss it you will have to wait until 2033 to see a closer one. Advertisement Astronomical events when two objects pass each other in the sky from […]
World First Map Of Antarctica’s Plant Life Shows Rapidly Sprouting Continent Under Climate Change
To study the rapidly changing ecosystems of Antarctica, researchers have recently created the first continent-wide map of its plant life. Advertisement You might expect the color palette of Antarctica to be bright white with the odd icy blue and cold grey, but a surprising amount of green can also be found thanks to mini pockets […]
What Does O’Clock Actually Mean? And Why Do We Divide Days Into 24 Hours?
Time is a pretty interesting concept to get your head around. For instance, thanks to Einstein, we know that time runs faster the further you are from a gravitational field. Advertisement The difference, for observers like us standing on a rocky planet, is generally pretty small, but it is something we have to take into […]
Scientists Have Reared These Colorful Sea Slugs From Egg To Adult For First Time
The mysteries of the animal world are plentiful with much about the inner workings of the lives of Earth’s animals still to be uncovered. In the sea slug department, however, there has been something of a breakthrough, as scientists have successfully reared a chromodorid sea slug from egg to adult in a lab for the […]
Horses May Be Capable Of Cost-Benefit Analysis
Horses might be smarter than we give them credit for, a new study has indicated. In the study, horses were rewarded for tapping a target – but their reaction when a time-out penalty was introduced for tapping at the wrong time indicates that horses might have more of an eye for strategy and cost-benefit analysis […]
The World’s Biggest Iceberg Has Been Stuck Spinning For Nearly 8 Months
Imagine spending over 30 years grounded in the Weddell Sea, finally breaking free, only to get stuck again less than four years later – and this time, you can’t stop spinning. That’s the unfortunate reality for the world’s largest iceberg, A23a. Advertisement It was first declared in its “spinning era” by the British Antarctic Survey […]
Two New Pompeii Victims Found Clutching Coins And Jewelry As They Met Their Doom
The discovery of two skeletons at the doomed ancient site of Pompeii has enabled researchers to reconstruct the panicked final moments of those who perished during the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 CE. Identified as a young man and a middle-aged woman, the cursed pair appear to have become trapped in a room in which […]
US Space Force Monitoring Situation After Chinese Rocket Explodes In Low-Earth Orbit
China has had a bit of a mixed bag in terms of space exploration over the last few years. Following on from several successful missions to recover samples from the Moon, in June the space-faring nation saw one rocket explode after accidentally launching it during a static test. Advertisement Now it appears that a rocket […]
Same-Sex Flamingos Curtis And Arthur Successfully Hatch Chick At UK Zoo
Paignton Zoo in the United Kingdom has welcomed its first Chilean flamingo chicks since 2018, and among the clutch was an egg tended to by a same-sex couple: Curtis and Arthur. The new dads have captured the hearts of many, but it’s by no means the first time this kind of behavior has been seen […]
Olympic Boxing Controversy: A Leading Geneticist And A Sports Researcher Have Their Say
Even people with little interest in boxing are likely aware of the explosion of anger released when Italian Angela Carini withdrew early from a fight with Algerian Imane Khelif early in the Olympic women’s boxing. The issues raised are not purely scientific, but a great many of the comments about Khelif’s eligibility to compete in […]
What Are The White Trails Planes Leave Behind? The Damning Science Of Contrails
Many of us like to jet off on holiday around this time of year, leaving in our plane’s wake a curious white trail. We’ve all seen them, but what are they? The white trails planes leave behind are called contrails, and they’re effectively artificial clouds produced by the water vapor released by aircraft engines. One […]
