An astronomer based in Japan has captured the moment when an unknown object – believed to be a meteor, and possibly one of the Geminids – struck part of the Moon. The Geminids – first observed lighting up our skies annually in the mid-1800s – are an unusual meteor shower, coming from an asteroid that […]
Tail-Breathing Killifish Can Travel 6,000 Times Their Body Length On Land
In Trinidad, there’s a fish that can breathe through its tail. It’s a nifty trick, and one that comes in handy when it starts leaping around on land, marking one of nature’s most epic adventures that features in the new Apple TV+ series, The Secret Lives Of Animals. Most killifish will hatch, live, and die […]
In 1961, A Computer Sang A Song For The First Time – And It’s Nightmare Fuel
Computers found their voice in the early 1960s with the IBM 7094, the first computer that was used to program and produce a computer-synthesized voice. The pioneering ditty has recently gained a reputation for being oddly ominous, although many forget it did manage to capture the attention of the esteemed sci-fi writer Arthur C. Clarke […]
Slingshot Spiders Hurl Webs At Nearly 1 Meter Per Second To Catch Buzzing Prey
Hate the whine of buzzing mosquitos? Well, the slingshot spider (Theridiosoma gemmosum) has found a way to make it useful by listening out for the sound to cue its attack. These spiders pull the center of their webs back so that it’s primed to fire like a slingshot when a mosquito is in range, and […]
Snowflake Obsidian: An Aptly Festive Rock Forged By Earth’s Volcanic Eruptions
Snowflake obsidian is a form of volcanic glass that features white or grayish “snowflake” shapes made of embedded cristobalite. These pretty patterns are not artificially added as a cheap holiday gimmick – they’re a natural consequence of the unique geological forces that create the material. Like other igneous rocks, the glossy glass originates from molten […]
The US Has The World’s Largest Gap Between Lifespan And Healthspan
New research has found that the gap between lifespan and “healthspan” – the years of life lived in good health – in the USA is the widest in the world. Using data from the World Health Organization (WHO), the study authors found that the average American will live 12.4 years with disability and/or illness, up […]
Brand New Magic Mushroom Species Suggests Shrooms Reached America On Bison Poop
Mycologists in southern Africa have discovered the closest wild relative of domesticated magic mushrooms, revealing new insights into the genetic history of psychedelic fungi. Describing the new species in an as-yet un-peer-reviewed study, the researchers say their discovery challenges the assumption that shrooms spread around the world alongside domestic cattle, suggesting that the mind-altering specimens […]
Why Are Christmas And New Year Not On The Same Day?
If you were raised in a Christian country or have learned anything about Christianity, you will know that on December 25 Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. You will also know that our calendar system separates the years into two eras – before Christ (BC) and Anno Domini (AD), or “in the year of […]
The Harrowing History Of Why There Were Once Only 456 Bison Left In The US
The above image was taken at the Michigan Carbon Works refinery in the United States back in 1892, a time when the number of bison in the country had plummeted to just 456 individuals. A shocking statistic in itself, and even more so in the context that at the close of the 18th century, there […]
Saturn’s Rings May Be 4.1 Billion Years Older Than They Look
Saturn’s spectacular rings may be far older than we thought – according to a new study, they may have been there from the gas giant’s birth. Saturn is thought to be amongst the oldest bodies in the Solar System, clumping together within 10 million years of the Sun’s formation, shortly behind Jupiter. For a time, […]
These Ferns Can “Evolve Backward”, Challenging Our Assumptions About Plant Evolution
We tend to think of evolution as a one-way process: simpler beings gradually advancing to become more sophisticated lifeforms with no room for a backward step. However, as new research has demonstrated, this isn’t necessarily the case. “Evolution has no finish line. There is no end goal, no final state,” writes Jacob Suissa, Assistant Professor […]
Sperm-Blocking Hydrogel Is Another Promising Step Towards Reversible Male Birth Control
The world has taken another tentative step closer to reversible male birth control thanks to a recent Master’s graduate from South Africa. During her studies at Stellenbosch University, Kyla Raoult demonstrated the potential of using a non-hormonal hydrogel technology to reversibly block the passage of sperm through the vas deferens. “The hydrogel is designed to […]
No, Dice Rolls Aren’t Technically Random – Here’s Why
Short of flipping a coin, it’s hard to think of a more classic representation of “random chance” than rolling dice. But does that hold up? In practice, sure – but technically speaking? Being really nit-picky about things? Nope! Lucky for you, being unnecessarily nit-picky in a way designed to get you out of family Monopoly […]
First Dissection Of The World’s Rarest Whale Reveals They Have 9 Stomach Chambers
The first-ever dissection of the world’s rarest whale has enabled Indigenous people and conservation scientists in New Zealand to learn more about one of their taoka, which means treasure in the language of South Island Māori culture. The marine mammal was a spade-toothed whale, Mesoplodon traversii, the rarest species of beaked whale with only six […]
“Avian Influenza Prevention Zone” Declared In Four UK Counties After Bird Flu Detected
An Avian Influenza Prevention Zone, or AIPZ, has been declared across four counties in England after bird flu was detected in a number of wild and captive birds in the region. The counties affected are the East Riding of Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, Norfolk and Suffolk. These areas are home to a huge number of the UK’s […]
A23a, World’s Largest And Oldest Iceberg, Is On The Move In Antarctica’s Southern Ocean
The world’s largest and oldest iceberg has “set sail” upon a new voyage across Antarctica’s Southern Ocean. Known as A23a, the megaberg weighs almost one trillion tonnes and measures 3,900 square kilometers (1,500 square miles) in size – that’s twice as big as Greater London. From top to bottom, it’s around 400 meters (1,312 feet) […]
First Comet Seen Slamming Into Jupiter May Have Left It With A New Ring, Unknown Written Language Found On Ancient Tablet, And Much More This Week
This week, Jupiter may have gained a brand new ring when it was struck by a comet in the ’90s, an ancient tablet found by fishers in Iran is written in an unknown language, a new-to-science predator is discovered in the Atacama Trench, human genomes reveal when inter-hominid hook-ups between us and Neanderthals took place, we may finally know how to play […]
Is “Planet 9” Out There? Astronomers Find Evidence Of Massive Object Beyond Neptune’s Orbit
We have discovered thousands of exoplanets in the last few decades, while the number of planets in the Solar System has remained at eight – but our discovery of more might not yet be over. A team of researchers say they have found the “strongest statistical evidence yet that Planet 9 is really out there”, […]
The Oldest Story On Earth Could Be 100,000 Years Old
If you happen to be in the northern hemisphere between October and March, take a look up at the stars – you might just see the inspiration for what could be the oldest story in the world. What do you need to look for? The Pleiades, also known as the Seven Sisters, one of the […]
Exosomes: Are They Really The Cure-All Some Claim Them To Be?
If we were to zoom right into some biological tissue, be it plant or animal, then we might just see some cells that look as though they’re sending out or receiving tiny bubbles. These are exosomes, and according to some, they’re the cure for pretty much everything – from hair and skin issues to problems […]
