Mixed-species hunting packs comprised of octopuses and fish have been observed working together in the wild to improve predation success. It’s been thought that the brainy octopuses would naturally lead the pack, but new research suggests that the chain of command may be more complicated than that. Advertisement Hunting with fish is a particularly curious […]
Are Black Holes Really “Frozen Stars”? New Paper Suggests They Might Be
New research has looked at an alternative idea for what black holes are, suggesting that they might not be what we thought. Advertisement Black holes are an enormous source of gravity, “bubbles“, and headaches. Predicted as a result of Einstein’s general theory of relativity, they contain an outer region known as the event horizon – […]
The Pythagorean Theorem Is Actually 1,000 Years Older Than Pythagoras
Pythagoras was a smart guy: sure, he had some pretty rogue beliefs about beans, but the man knew his triangles, something most of us will have become acutely aware of when high school geometry drummed the Pythagorean theorem into our heads. But did the famed philosopher actually come up with the equation he’s most often […]
Why Is NASA Hoping To Shoot Bullets At The Moon And Mars?
NASA’s Langley Research Center has finally presented a plan to learn about the Moon and Mars, by shooting them with specially designed bullets. We can learn a lot about the Moon through telescope observations, and far more from going there ourselves and taking samples. But nothing, according to a proposed NASA project, quite beats going […]
5-Meter Megamouth Shark Meets Human In Video Of Rare Wildlife Encounter
On June 7 of this year, a British diver had a remarkable encounter with a rare and prehistoric shark. Megamouth sharks (Megachasma pelagios) are hardly ever seen alive, but this 5-meter (16.4-foot) behemoth emerged from the depths to star in some truly remarkable footage. Advertisement The person who can be seen swimming alongside the megamouth […]
Treatment Including Playing Tetris Helps Reduce PTSD Symptoms In Healthcare Workers
A session of treatment including playing Tetris for just 20 minutes has been shown to reduce the severity of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms for up to six months in healthcare workers. It’s unclear exactly how the iconic game produces these therapeutic effects, although researchers believe that “mental rotation” – whereby players visualize falling blocks […]
Three Mile Island – Site Of America’s Worst Nuclear Accident – Could Reopen In 2028
The Three Mile Island power plant is remembered today as the site of the worst nuclear accident in US history, but it may be reopened in the near future as Microsoft seeks ways to power their artificial intelligence (AI) operations. Advertisement On March 28, 1979, the power plant experienced a partial nuclear meltdown of its […]
Iron At 10 Billion Degrees Seen Around Supernova In New Telescope’s First Discovery
Astronomers are getting unprecedented details of supernova explosions and supermassive black holes thanks to a new space telescope. The X-Ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission (XRISM)launched a year ago and researchers have now published its first scientific results – and they are very good. Advertisement XRISM – pronounced crism – is a mission led by the […]
The Latest Idea For Deflecting Threatening Asteroids? X-Ray Pulses
A high-powered pulse of X-rays could vaporize part of an incoming asteroid and change its trajectory in the process, a new study proposes. Whether the approach would be more cost-effective than alternatives under consideration remains to be seen, but questions also need to be asked about the safety of building a suitable instrument in the […]
Hundreds Of Stars Gone Missing? This Could Be Why
The mysterious vanishing of stars might seem like the stuff of science fiction (look no further than the season four finale of Doctor Who), but it’s very much a reality; in the last 70 years, around 100 stars have disappeared from view, all without a concrete explanation. Advertisement How do we know they’ve disappeared? Their […]
Quantum Entanglement At The Highest Energy Yet Observed At CERN
Experiments at the Large Hadron Collider have shown that top quarks, the heaviest of all elementary particles, can end up being entangled. Such quantum entanglement is happening at the highest possible energy we have ever measured, 12 orders of magnitude higher than standard experiments. Advertisement The intriguing results were seen by the ATLAS experiment […]
What Are Piezoelectric Crystals And How Do They Work?
Piezoelectric crystals have recently been identified as being the cause of a natural phenomenon that has shaped the rise and fall of civilizations. There are also frequent efforts to find socially useful applications for it, although many of these have ended up as curiosities. So, what is piezoelectricity, and why do crystals that have it […]
“Fall” Or “Autumn” – Which Is Correct? And Why?
“[In the] UK – we call it Autumn, from the French word ‘autompne’, and later, the Latin ‘autumnus’,” begins a now-infamous tweet from 2013. “[In the] US – WE CALL IT FALL BECAUSE LEAF FALL DOWN”. Advertisement It’s undoubtedly funny, but is it true? Well, not quite. Why do Brits call fall “autumn”? First things […]
How Does This Shark Live 400 Years? Longevity Secrets Spilled After Huge Genome Mapped
Surviving for around 400 years, the Greenland shark is the world’s longest-living vertebrate – but little is known about its impressive longevity. Now, an international team of scientists has mapped its genome for the first time, potentially spilling some of its anti-aging secrets. Advertisement The research (posted as a preprint and yet to be peer-reviewed) […]
Scientists Win Ig Nobel Prize For Proving Coin Tosses Are NOT 50/50
A team of researchers have won a coveted Ig Nobel Prize for tossing coins hundreds of thousands of times and proving that coin flips are not 50/50 after all. Advertisement In sports, coin tosses are often used to decide who goes first, or pick who goes to bat for the first part of the game. […]
IFLScience We Have Questions: How Do Sunken Cities End Up Underwater?
Submerged settlements, also known as sunken cities, might sound mythical but they are very real, and while their migration underwater makes them harder to find, it can also preserve them far better than they would have fared surface-side. Marine archaeologist Professor Jon Henderson knows this all too well. As Head of Archaeology at the University […]
What Is The MIND Diet? And Could It Protect Our Aging Brains?
You’ve no doubt heard of the Mediterranean diet, you might even have come across its cooler cousin the Atlantic diet, but what about the MIND diet? It’s touted for its brain benefits, and now a new study has provided evidence to suggest it could help reduce the risk of cognitive problems during aging. Advertisement The […]
Vitamin A: What It Is, What It Does, And Why You Don’t Need A “Detox” From It
Let’s talk about carrots. Sweet and versatile, you can turn them into so many tasty dishes – but the humble carrot has come in for some criticism as of late, with a small yet vocal corner of the internet warning people off them and similarly bright-colored veggies due to fears about “vitamin A toxicity”. We […]
The Weird And Wild Story Behind The Mason-Dixon Line
Most of us have heard of the Mason-Dixon line, but far fewer of us – particularly outside of the US – really know the full story behind its creation. Most famous as the border between free and slave states before the US Civil War, the line – well, actually three lines, but we’re only going […]
Asteroid Set To Be A New Mini-Moon Of Earth, Scientists Discover An Entirely New Blood Group, And Much More This Week
This week, a growing body of research hints at a “third state” that lies beyond the boundaries of life and death, new research into a piece of African rock art suggests it may show an extinct animal that lived millions of years before humans, and a truly supermassive black hole has jets spanning 23 million […]
