An unexpected feature of the room students sit their exams in may have an impact on their results, new research has found: a high ceiling. Advertisement Generally in school and higher education, students are taught in small rooms or lecture halls and study alone in normal-sized rooms. But come exam day, due to the high […]
Groundwater May Be Too Hot To Drink For Millions Of People By 2100
By 2100, more than 75 million people are likely to be living in places where the groundwater is too hot to drink, according to a new study. Groundwater temperatures are forecast to rise by up to 3.5°C (6.3°F) by the end of the century, which would mean they exceed the highest threshold set for drinking water […]
Death Valley Reaches 54°C As Week-Long Near-World Record Temperatures Expected
“Scorching temperatures” and “Death Valley” are two terms that aren’t particularly surprising to see together, but a record-breaking, long-running heatwave that’s currently baking the western US has taken the notoriously hot region to near-world record extremes over the last week. Advertisement Temperatures in the aptly named Furnace Creek – which holds the (sometimes disputed) title […]
Self-Burning Fat Cells Could Revolutionize Weight Loss Treatment
Scientists have figured out a way to transform white fat cells into beige ones, effectively forcing them to burn calories rather than store them. Though the feat has so far only been achieved in mice, the researchers say their discovery could lead to the development of new weight-loss treatments for humans. Advertisement We all have […]
Stunning New Image Shows Enormous “Scar” Stretching Across Mars
A new image taken from a satellite orbiting Mars has revealed a striking canyon in unprecedented detail. Known as Aganippe Fossa, the gnarly, scar-like ravine was first spotted by astronomers almost a century ago, yet can now be seen up close for the first time. Advertisement Measuring roughly 600 kilometers (373 miles) from end to […]
What If The Earth Abruptly Stopped Spinning?
Hypothetical questions are always really fun in science because they make us think about what we know in a different light, which can make us better understand the huge scale of our planet. So let’s stop the Earth from spinning and see what happens. Advertisement First of all, let’s imagine the rotation stops in one […]
New FLuQE COVID Variant Spreading Rapidly: What Makes It Unique?
A new COVID-19 strain may be contributing to more infection this winter in Australia. The KP.3, otherwise known as “FLuQE”, is a subvariant of the FLiRT strain but contains a mutation that has made it easier to spread. Advertisement FLiRT is just one strain of the infection responsible for the global Pandemic in 2020, it’s […]
Stellar Winds Have Started Blowing From A Strange “Guest Star” Lost for 840 Years
In the year 1181, a new star appeared in the sky in the constellation of Cassiopeia. It was a “guest star”, what we now call a supernova. For 180 days it was bright enough to be seen before disappearing, lost for centuries. When it was rediscovered in 2021, astronomers were able to work out what […]
Ultra-Complex Fractal Mazes May Hold Key To Future Carbon Capture
Chessboards have inspired many brainteasers over the years. For example: given a standard chessboard and a knight, is it possible to move the piece such that it visits every square once and only once? The answer is yes – and that fact might end up helping in the struggle against climate change. Advertisement In mathematical […]
Five Forbidden Places You Are Not Allowed To Visit
Area 51 isn’t the only place that’s kept under wraps. In fact, the world is full of closely guarded sites that no one is allowed to enter, either for their own safety or to protect a secret. Here’s a look at five of the most enigmatic spots that no one is allowed to enter. North […]
Only A Few Objects Have Ever Been Recovered From Inside The Great Pyramid
Despite two centuries of excavations and archaeological investigations in Giza, only three items have ever been retrieved from within the Great Pyramid. Known collectively as the Dixon Relics, the trio of artifacts was discovered in 1872 by Waynman Dixon and James Grant, although we still don’t know what they are. Advertisement The pair came across […]
Exoplanet Astronomers Urge Others To Turn Telescopes To “Seemingly Impossible” Star HD 101065
Astronomer David Kipping, of Cool Worlds fame, has urged other astronomers to use their telescope time to observe a particularly unusual star that appears to have a very strange or “seemingly impossible” chemical abundances. Advertisement In recent years, we have observed some stars acting seriously strangely. The classic example is KIC 8462852, better known as […]
Incredible ‘Polar Rain’ Aurora Seen From Earth For The First Time
On Christmas Day 2022, a highly peculiar aurora was seen over an enormous section of the Arctic sky, the likes of which have never previously been observed from the ground. Known as a polar rain aurora, this exceptional light show was produced by a waterfall of electrons that emanated from the sun before cascading peacefully […]
Watch As A Solar Storm Messes Up NASA Mars Rover’s Camera
IFLScience needs the contact information you provide to us to contact you about our products and services. You may unsubscribe from these communications at any time. For information on how to unsubscribe, as well as our privacy practices and commitment to protecting your privacy, check out ourPrivacy Policy Deborah BloomfieldSource Link: Watch As A Solar […]
Emergency Contraception: Here’s What To Know About How It Prevents Pregnancy
As much as people might try, things don’t always go to plan when it comes to sex – the condom breaks, someone forgot to take their pill that day, or people just get a bit lost in the moment. Not everyone wants a baby to come out of such situations, and that’s where emergency contraception […]
Could Dyson Spheres Be The Universe’s Missing Mass?
The quest to find “missing matter” in the universe has been unsuccessful so many times that some exotic suggestions get taken more seriously than they once might. As Sherlock Holmes famously said, “When you have eliminated the impossible whatever remains, however, improbable, must be the truth.” In this case, there are many improbable ideas being […]
We Might Owe Wine To The Asteroid That Killed The Dinosaurs, It Turns Out Hippos Can Fly, And Much More This Week
This week, 51,200-year-old narrative rock art is the oldest of its kind, paleolithic humans may have invented underwear 40,000 years ago, and scientists built LEGO bricks out of ancient celestial material to test Moon construction possibilities. Finally, we explore the surprising animals that can mimic human speech. Advertisement Subscribe to the IFLScience newsletter for all […]
Rare Birds-Of-Paradise Hybrids Exist Among The World’s Most Flamboyant Birds
One of the world’s greatest examples of sexual selection is the elaborate performances put on by birds-of-paradise, and it’s possible the female’s choosiness may be a way of avoiding mating with males of the wrong species. However, new research has revealed that this isn’t always enough to prevent mating between species, as it has identified […]
Watch Spectacular Footage Of Mount Etna Erupting At Night
A spectacular display could be seen lighting up the night sky on Thursday near Mount Etna, as a fountain of lava burst out from a crater of Italy’s largest active volcano. Advertisement It’s not unusual for the volcano, which is on the Mediterranean island of Sicily, to erupt, but activity at some of its craters […]
Cause Of Mysterious Lunar Swirls Might Be Below The Moon’s Surface
A new study has taken a look at the weird “lunar swirls” seen on the Moon, and identified a possible cause beneath the lunar surface. Advertisement When humanity first developed telescopes and began examining the Moon in closer detail, we noticed some odd features. Using early telescopes in the 1600s, astronomers were able to see […]
