UNESCO has added 24 new and two expanded sites to its World Heritage List, ranging from areas with some of the earliest evidence of modern human behavior to regions rich in natural beauty and biodiversity. Keep reading to find out more about some of our favorites… Badain Jaran Desert – Towers of Sand and Lakes […]
The Hottest Place On Earth Just Recorded Its Hottest Month In History
Death Valley National Park, the hottest place on the planet, experienced its warmest month ever on record in July, reaching a sweltering 42.5°C (108.5°F) average 24-hour temperature. This beats the previous record of 42.3°C (108.1°F), set in 2018, the National Park Service (NPS) announced last week. Advertisement The record-breaking month also saw an average high […]
Think Challenging Tasks “Hurt” Your Brain? You’re About To Be Vindicated
Do you enjoy tasks that make you think really hard? Be honest – you probably don’t. You might do them anyway, but we’d bet it’s not always a pleasant experience. A new meta-analysis has looked at many published studies and found that these feelings are not all in your head: exerting mental effort really can […]
Can So-Called “Crystal Clocks” Help Predict Volcanic Eruptions?
Few natural phenomena catch our attention like volcanic eruptions. There is something staggeringly awe-inspiring about this primordial geological event. However, there is still much we do not know about them, especially when it comes to the behavior of magma before it emerges from the Earth. Advertisement In recent years, scientists have turned to so-called “crystal […]
Streetlights Are Making Nearby Trees’ Leaves Harder To Eat
Leaving streetlights on all night has an unexpected effect on the trees around them, causing them to sacrifice growth for better defense against insects. Advertisement Street lighting has many benefits, but there is a price to pay for the loss of darkness. It certainly interferes with our view of the stars, and animals are suffering. […]
Gold Mines Threaten Some Of World’s Last Wild Salmon Rivers, Says Tribal Group
An incoming rush of gold and copper mines in British Columbia could threaten to undermine some of the last wild salmon rivers left in the world, as well as the Indigenous peoples who have used the waterways for centuries. Advertisement Dozens of mining companies are seeking permission from the government of British Columbia to develop […]
Will The Ocean Kill You If You’re Allergic To Seafood?
When thinking about the multitude of ways in which you could get murked by the creatures of the ocean, the first things that come to mind might be a shark attack, a jellyfish sting, or maybe even a blue-ringed octopus bite. But can you be betrayed by your own immune system instead? Advertisement “If I’m […]
Ever Wondered Why Cheese Tastes Better When It’s Melted? Here’s The Science
There are 294,000 tags for #cheesepull on Instagram. Suffice to say, we as a species are hooked. Since we first started curdling cheese from animal milk, our methodology has come a long way from hard lumps of chalky cheddar to the oozy, gooey goodness that populates our explore feeds. So, why does melted cheese taste […]
Incredibly Rare “Cotton Candy” Lobster Is A 1-In-100-Million Discovery
Nothing makes the IFLScience team happier than an unusually colored lobster. From Banana to Bowie, these colorful rare crustaceans give us an extraordinary insight into both the colors its possible for a lobster to be, and the genetic mutations that cause these rare color morphs to happen. The latest lobster to join the gang is […]
A Deadly Skin Infection That Can Kill In Days May Have Met Its Match
One of the deadliest skin infections may have met its match as an exciting new family of compounds have shown unprecedented efficacy in clearing a fatal infection in mice. They target the gram-positive bacteria behind a flesh-eating disease known as necrotizing fasciitis that can be fatal in a matter of days. Advertisement Gram-positive bacteria are […]
So, What Are The Four Guys Humping The Front Of These Boats For?
With the Paris 2024 Olympics in full swing, people have a number of questions about sports you only really see every four years or so. Advertisement While fencing has people asking why on Earth the competitors are attached to metal cables, people have been sharing old footage of an unusual boat race. While the racers […]
Japan Kills First Protected Fin Whale After Controversial New Quota
Japan has confirmed it has killed its first fin whale in over a decade. A male fin whale, measuring 19.6 meters (64 feet) long and weighing 55 tonnes, was recently caught off the coast of Iwate Prefecture by the whaling company Kyodo Senpaku, according to OceanCare. Advertisement The catch comes after a controversial decision in […]
Giant Structures Found Underneath Antarctic Ice By Now-Missing Underwater Drone
The world’s climate is in crisis, and it is important to monitor potential tipping points: critical thresholds that, when breached, can lead to snowballing and potentially irreversible changes. As part of an attempt to understand how the ocean melts Antarctica’s ice shelves, researchers sent a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) called Ran underneath the Dotson ice […]
Do Dead Bodies Sink Or Float?
The infamous case of Melissa Caddick highlighted the complexity of marine forensics, and how hard it is to piece together the sequence of events that led to human remains winding up in water. The grim discovery of a foot in a shoe indicated her body may have been submerged at depth before it broke loose […]
This Volcano Spews Out Black Watery Lava, The Weirdest Magma On Earth
When you think of a volcanic eruption, you probably imagine a glowing red parade of thick lava marching down the slopes of a fiery mountain. Yet that’s not the case at Ol Doinyo Lengai, the only volcano on Earth that spews black, watery lava that behaves in ways that scientists still don’t fully understand. Advertisement […]
What Is A K-Type Star? And Why Do They Matter?
K-type stars are the overlooked siblings of the stellar world, but they could offer the best chances to find life, so here’s a little about them. Advertisement How Are Stars Categorized? Ancient astronomers noticed that not all stars are the same color. It even influenced what they called some – Antares‘ name is a reference […]
Why Does ‘X’ Mean ‘Kiss’?
Despite being associated with a famous wrestler, a Vin Diesel movie and hardcore pornography, the sign-off ‘xxx’ at the end of a message is ubiquitously and unambiguously used to symbolize a wholesome trio of kisses. In Spanish, however, the letter X is shorthand for ‘por’, meaning ‘for’ or ‘by’, so the link between this versatile […]
Why Do Doctors In The US Wear White Coats?
Everyone knows the bottom half of a doctor is meaningless. They can be naked from the waist down, but if they’ve got a white coat and a stethoscope draped around their neck, you’d probably trust them to operate on you. (Joke intended) Advertisement It’s almost as if wearing a snowy overcoat gives a person medical […]
Pompeii’s Suburban Bath Frescoes Reveal Insights Into Roman Sexuality
Ancient Romans had ideas about sex and sexuality that were very different from ours today, and many representations of these attitudes have been preserved on the walls of buildings at Pompeii. In particular, the Suburban Baths have images that really show off the Roman’s sexual exploits in their many forms. Advertisement The bath house beyond […]
World’s Most Durable And Efficient Solar Cell Smashes Existing Records
Researchers have developed a method to enhance the lifespan and working efficiency of perovskite solar cells, achieving record outputs following grueling, long-term tests. With a superb power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 20.1 percent after more than 1,500 hours of use, the high-performing cells created during the study may open the door to more widespread use of […]
