The holiday season is here, and streets are filled with festive sparkles, twinkling lights and cheerful Christmas songs. While many of us are looking forward to spending the holiday period with family and friends, Christmas is anything but jolly for others. Some people are dreading to spend the period without loved ones. Others are fearful […]
Which Infectious Disease Is Likely To Be The Biggest Emerging Problem In 2025?
COVID emerged suddenly, spread rapidly and killed millions of people around the world. Since then, I think it’s fair to say that most people have been nervous about the emergence of the next big infectious disease – be that a virus, bacterium, fungus or parasite. With COVID in retreat (thanks to highly effective vaccines), the […]
What Is The Earth’s Magnetic Field?
The magnetic field – or magnetosphere – is a giant invisible shield that protects the planet, repelling solar wind and other forms of space weather that could threaten life on Earth. It is essential for the running of our global navigation systems (and those of ants, sharks and other animals), not to mention our ability […]
Brunhes–Matuyama Reversal: When Earth’s Magnetic Field Flips
Though you might think that compasses will always point towards the geographic north pole, the magnetic and geographic poles do not always align. As well as a few temporary reversals, the Earth’s magnetic field – just like the Sun – can flip over long timescales. During the Brunhes–Matuyama reversal, the magnetic north could have been […]
Are There Any Perfectly Straight Lines In Nature?
The shortest distance between any two points is a perfectly straight line, and given the brilliant efficiency of the natural universe, it figures that linear flawlessness must be a feature of our reality. Look closely enough, however, and you’ll find that things aren’t that simple, as we are in fact surrounded by glorious imperfection. Of […]
Was Lucy The First Long Distance Runner?
Lucy, our 3.2 million-year-old ancestor of the species Australopithecus afarensis, may not have won gold in the Olympics – but new evidence suggests she was able to run upright. According to digital simulations developed by researchers in the UK and the Netherlands, Lucy would have been able to reach top speeds of 4.97 meters per […]
Tahlequah The Killer Whale Carried Her Dead Calf For 17 Days. Now She Has Given Birth Again
In 2018, Tahlequah the killer whale made headlines and broke hearts after she was spotted carrying the body of her dead calf for 17 days. This month, sightings of the orca show she has recently given birth again . According to a Facebook post by the Center for Whale Research (CWR), the new calf has […]
Researchers Develop Groundbreaking Technology To Revert Cancer Cells Into Normal Cells
Researchers have developed a new groundbreaking technology that can convert some cancer cells into a state that resembles normal cells without killing them. This approach not only represents a new way to potentially treat cancer, but also one that avoids side effects produced by other treatments and the risk of resistance. Cancer reversion, which regresses […]
Watch Ants Outsmart Humans In The Piano Movers Puzzle Using “Emergent Cognitive Skills”
A team studying the group behavior of ants has found that, in the right circumstances, ants can outsmart humans in collective problem-solving tasks. Researchers from the Weizmann Institute of Science wanted to take a closer look at “collective cognition”, and whether groups can sometimes tackle problems with more ease than when performing the tasks individually, […]
Scientific Laws Rule Constrain Potential Forms Of Extraterrestrial And Artificial Life
Life has limits that mean that not everything we can imagine is possible, a multidisciplinary team of scientists has argued. The capacity to rule out some forms of life, based on scientific laws, allows us to focus our energies both when it comes to searching for life on other worlds and making it in laboratories. […]
Melvyn Read: How Pollen Spores Were Used To Track Down A Killer
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The Pyramids of Euseigne Are An Alpine Spectacle Carved By Erosion
The Pyramids of Euseigne are far, far older than the Pyramids of Giza – although, perhaps comparisons are a little unfair since they were crafted by natural forces, not human ingenuity. They are found in an alpine valley called Val d’Hérens in the Swiss Alps, not far from the village of Euseigne. Back in 1983, […]
Arial View Of Arizona National Monument Will No Longer Be Available After New Conservation Rules
A particular view of the Canyon de Chelly National Monument will soon become off-limits to tourists, after a decision to prohibit commercial air tours of the area, believed to be one of the longest, continuously-inhabited areas in North America. The National Park Service (NPS) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced on Friday, December 20 […]
The UK’s First Double Lung Transplant Using “Lungs In A Box” Was A Success
The first patient in the UK has successfully received a double-lung transplant using a machine that is being nicknamed “lungs in a box”. The XPSTM system from XVIVO could improve the number of available lungs for donation, helping those currently waiting for the life-saving procedure. The patient, 49-year-old Daniel Evans-Smith, underwent this procedure at the Royal […]
What Was The Earliest Human Use Of Color?
For as long as humans have set eyes on Earth, we’ve been besotted with red – the color of blood, lust, luck, pain, and passion. It’s the first primary color we’re able to see as babies and the early introduction leaves a lasting impression on us. Forget soothing blues and luscious greens, it’s red that […]
Sunlight Can Split Water Directly Into Hydrogen For The Fuel Of The Future
Using nothing but sunlight and photocatalysts, a 100 square meter (1,076 square foot) reactor produced carbon-free hydrogen for three years, demonstrating the potential of the concept. The approach is still considerably less efficient than the more common method, where photovoltaic panels turn the sunlight to electricity first, but in theory the direct approach could bring […]
Do We Still Live In An Age Of Dinosaurs?
Were you to visit a wealthy philanthropist’s dinosaur island, you’d no doubt feel cheated to find yourself faced with an ostrich. It might not be as fearsome as Tyrannosaurus rex, but John Hammond wouldn’t technically be conning you out of your price of entry. After all, birds are dinosaurs. The “wonderchicken” was among the first […]
Why Do Humans Play Games?
Stick two humans in an enclosed space with nothing to do, and before long, someone is likely to suggest a game of I Spy. Kids are so hot for smartphone games that it inspired its own meme format, and while certain generations might like to tell you this compulsion is a new thing – the […]
IFLScience The Big Questions: Investigating Some Of The Biggest Scientific Mysteries Of 2024
In Season 4 of IFLScience’s podcast The Big Questions, we’ve delved into some of the most intriguing (and biggest) scientific puzzles of 2024, from whether or not octopuses are sentient to the reasons why we’re the only surviving human species. We’ve even taken on the supernatural. Hosts Dr Alfredo Carpineti, Rachael Funnell, Katy Evans, Tom […]
How Do You Begin Searching For Alien Life?
From the brain-exploding Martians of Mars Attacks! to the wonderful diversity of Men In Black’s extraterrestrial entourage, the possibility of alien life is a concept that has captured the imagination of our entire planet. Most of us only get to explore it at the movies – but for some scientists, the search for alien earths […]
