As a science website, it is easy to get caught up in the mysteries of vanishing stars and the crisis in cosmology, while people out there on the Internet are struggling with why flying against the planet’s rotation doesn’t decrease flight times, and why we can’t power our trucks with magnets. This week, it appears […]
Prehistoric Babies Buried Beneath “Dragon Stone” May Have Had Exceptional Birth
During the 16th century BCE, prehistoric people in what is now Armenia placed a 3.5-meter (9.8-foot) tall basalt stone over a barrow. Buried below the stone were the remains of an adult woman and two newborn children. At first, researchers believed the babies were twins, but new analysis suggests a more complicated and remarkable relationship. […]
Aquarium Solves Mystery After Stingray Alone In Tank Of Sharks Appeared Pregnant
Earlier this year, there was a bit of a mystery at the Aquarium and Shark Lab in Hendersonville, North Carolina, after a stingray appeared to become pregnant despite no male stingrays being present. While an interesting mystery in its own right, the case drew extra attention after suggestions by the head of the aquarium that […]
Mystery As Doctor Finds A Live Goldfish On The Lawn (And Revives It In Water)
A small mystery has rocked X (Twitter) over the weekend, after a junior doctor in the UK found a living goldfish on his lawn. On Saturday, junior doctor Ben Beska heard a group of birds outside, and went to investigate. Instead of the usual objects you tend to find on the grass (more grass and […]
The Cybertruck Is Not Off To A Great Start
It was back in 2019 when Elon Musk unveiled the Cybertuck, and it was an event that did not go as Musk probably envisioned. Since then, there has been disaster after disaster, and here are some hilarious and embarrassing examples. Advertisement The original d’oh moment On a brightly lit stage, the Cybertruck was unveiled: a […]
Can Information Escape A Black Hole?
The black hole information paradox is one of those physics problems that can keep scientists up at night. It strikes at the heart of one of the crucial problems in modern physics: the fact that we can’t reconcile general relativity and quantum mechanics. And it is all black holes’ fault. Deborah BloomfieldSource Link: Can Information […]
Palace Made Of Human Blood Confirmed As Site Of Voodoo Sacrifices
Blood and baguettes don’t usually go together in any context, let alone as building materials, yet there’s a palace in West Africa that’s cemented with these bizarre ingredients. Located in the city of Abomey in Benin, the structure is said to have been built using the blood of 41 voodoo sacrifice victims, and a new […]
Can You Think Yourself Well? Find Out More In Issue 23 Of CURIOUS – Out Now
Issue 23 (June 2024) of CURIOUS is out now, bringing you science highlights for the month plus deep dives into intriguing topics, interviews, exclusives, diary dates, and explanations for some of Earth’s most perplexing natural phenomena and landscapes. Read Issue 23 of our digital magazine now by clicking below! Use the arrows to navigate or […]
Why So Many Animals Have A Third Eyelid, Including Our Pets – Yet Humans Don’t
Our family dog used to have a rather noticeable extra eyelid that became especially apparent when he dozed off, usually upturned on the rug. This is the fleshy curtain seen at the corner of each eye, closest to the nose. It’s also commonly called the nictitating (literally “blinking”) membrane. You may have noticed these “third” […]
How Neanderthal Language Differed From Modern Human – They Probably Didn’t Use Metaphors
The Neanderthals (Homo neanderthalensis) fascinate researchers and the general public alike. They remain central to debates about the nature of the genus Homo (the broad biological classification that humans and their relatives fall into). Neanderthals are also vital for understanding the uniqueness or otherwise of our species, Homo sapiens. We shared an ancestor with the […]
Largest Analysis Of Ancient African DNA Reveals Origin Myth Was True All Along
“Medieval history” often brings up images of knights in shining armor, rampaging crusaders, and dying horribly from common and preventable causes. Far away from all those peculiarly disgusting Europeans, though, on what we now know as the Swahili Coast of Eastern Africa, there was something pretty amazing going on – as a study revealed back in 2023. Advertisement “The findings were very eye-opening,” said […]
Why Do We Feel Acceleration, But Not Constant Speed?
As a science website, it’s easy to get bogged down in questions like “Is there life on Enceladus?” and “Where are all the aliens?”, when people are struggling with more basic (but fun!) questions like “Why can’t we power our cars with magnets?” and “If you fell from a skyscraper on the Moon, would you die or otherwise […]
Abandoned Mine In Finland To Be Turned Into A Huge Gravity Battery
One of the deepest metal mines in Europe – the Pyhäsalmi Mine in central Finland – is to be turned into an enormous gravity battery capable of storing 2 megawatts of energy. Advertisement As the planet moves towards renewable energy, we are faced with the problem of storage. The problem is that the wind doesn’t […]
Probiotics Vs Prebiotics: What’s The Difference?
Our bodies are absolutely chock-full of microorganisms, collectively known as the human microbiome. Science suggests that it could impact our health and some people believe they have a simple solution for that: probiotics and prebiotics. Advertisement But do these claims have any substance to them? And what exactly is the difference between the two anyway? […]
New Footage Could Be First-Ever Captured Of Colossal Squid Baby, Your Star Sign Has No Impact On Your Well-Being, And Much More This Week
This week, a report by whale scientists may finally explain why orcas have been attacking boats, a billionaire has plans for a new submersible trip to the Titanic wreckage, and a tiny fern has broken the world record for the largest genome of any organism. Finally, we explore how humans and chimpanzees are able to […]
Woman Goes For A Walk And Accidentally Discovers Huge 900-Year-Old Treasure Trove
If you’ve been trying to convince yourself to exercise more lately, consider the recent case of a woman in the Czech Republic who went out for a walk one day and accidentally found a treasure trove of more than 2,150 silver coins dating from more than 900 years ago. Advertisement It’s a discovery that “can […]
Should You Really Be Feeding Your Dog Raw Meat?
There seems to be a growing debate about whether you should feed your dog raw meat or not. It is a popular trend that is all over TikTok with pet influencers and is encouraged by some holistic veterinarians, but is it all it’s cracked up to be? What is the “Bones And Raw Food” diet? […]
What Is Manganese? All You Need To Know About The Mineral Behind The Fiji Water Recall
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently announced a recall of nearly 79,000 cases of Fiji bottled water, after bacterial contamination and high levels of manganese were discovered. Bacteria in your water is clearly something best avoided – but what’s all this about manganese? What is this vital mineral, and what can happen to […]
Tiny Fern Breaks The World Record For The Largest Genome Of Any Organism
The saying goes that good things come in small packages, and while the discovery of the world’s largest genome in any organism is an incredible find, the reality is a little bit more complicated than that. The New Caledonian fork fern species Tmesipteris oblanceolata has a genome that when stretched out would be taller than […]
What Was The Largest Ape To Ever Live?
The largest species of great ape to ever walk the Earth was Gigantopithecus blacki. Standing over 3 meters (nearly 10 feet) tall and weighing up to 300 kilograms (661 pounds), the extinct species would have easily dwarfed the gorillas, orangutans, chimps, and bonobos of today. Advertisement What is a Gigantopithecus? G. blacki is sometimes called the […]
