The Lake Victoria of today is relatively young at just 16,000 years old, but within this tiny timeframe, some 500 different species of cichlid fish have managed to evolve here. Remarkably, this explosion of diversity is primarily thanks to hybrids born as a result of inter-species breeding. In a study, scientists at the University of Bern, […]
Zealandia Is Earth’s First Continent To Be Completely Mapped, Revealing Ancient Secrets
Zealandia has been kicking about for a good 60 million years, having separated from the supercontinent Gondwana around that time. It’s also almost entirely submerged underwater and wasn’t even formally recognized as a continent until 2017. But now, it’s experiencing something of a resurgence – at least in a research sense – becoming the first […]
The “Dolomite Problem” Involving Mysterious Crystal Formation Has Been Solved After Two Centuries
A mystery that has dogged materials science for 200 years has finally been solved. A mineral found in many ancient rock formations had stubbornly resisted the efforts of scientists to grow it in the lab, even though they could recreate the conditions they thought formed it in nature. Now, a team has cracked the problem, […]
World-First Footage: Watch A Labord’s Chameleon’s Final Colorful Display Before Her Death
Animals that can change color are observed more often than you might think across different species, habitats, and even body parts. While reindeer have eyes that change color in winter and fish can turn black with anger, documentary makers have witnessed the Labord’s chameleon (Furcifer labordi) putting on a spectacular display at the end of […]
Hermit Crabs Around The World Turn To Plastic Trash To Use As Shells
Plastic shells have become a fashion trend for hermit crabs across the world. In a new study, scientists have looked into how often hermit crabs are using plastic and other human-made materials as their shells, concluding that it is likely to be a global problem across many different species. Researchers at the University of Warsaw […]
Goodbye Ingenuity, Humanity’s First Flying Vehicle On Another Planet
NASA’s Ingenuity Mars helicopter has taken its final flight across the dusty plains of Jezero Crater. The first flying vehicle on another world, Ingenuity spent almost 1,000 days on the Red Planet carrying out test flights and helping its rover companion Perseverance navigate the Martian terrain, 33 times longer than NASA had initially planned. It […]
AI Discovers New Material That Could Slash Lithium Use In Batteries
A new material that could dramatically reduce the amount of lithium used in batteries has been identified by artificial intelligence (AI). Discoveries like this would have taken years in times gone by, but sky-rocketing computer power now means they can be found in days. The new material was recently sniffed out during a joint venture […]
Netherlands Rules It’s Okay To Shoot Wolves With Paintball Guns
It’s now legal for authorities in the Netherlands to shoot wolves with paintball guns, after a court ruling on Wednesday deemed it an appropriate measure to deal with “a serious threat to public safety”. The move comes after wolves in Hoge Veluwe National Park, in the Gelderland province of the country, became increasingly less fearful […]
JN.1 Is Now The Most Prevalent COVID Variant Worldwide
A new COVID-19 variant, JN.1, has taken the title of the most prevalent variant of the virus in the US, and also worldwide, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). “JN.1 remains the most widely circulating variant of SARS-CoV-2 in the United States and globally,” states their latest report. In fact, as […]
The Moon Is Shrinking, Potentially Causing Landslides In The South Pole
The Moon used to be hotter, but it has cooled down with time. This has a major consequence: The Moon is shrinking. It won’t collapse on itself like a soufflé – it is still made of rocks after all. But just like a grape dehydrating into a raisin, the shrinking moon is getting more wrinkles. […]
Rare Walnut-Sized Chunks Of Meteorite That Exploded Over Germany Have Been Found
Earlier this week, for only the eighth time ever, an asteroid that actually came with a rare 95-minute warning exploded in the sky over Germany and the hunt began for any potential pieces of meteorite that survived burning up in the atmosphere and fell to Earth. Now, researchers think they have found them. Fragments of […]
Color Changing Cars: What To Know About This Dazzling Tech
Color-changing cars have suddenly sped into reality and could soon be making their way to a highway near you. So, who’s developing this dazzling technology? How does it work? And what hurdles are there to overcome? How do color changing cars work? The first color-changing car to be revealed to the public was BMW’s iX […]
Six Reasons To Believe In Aliens That Match The Science
A sample of reports related to extraterrestrial intelligence will give you two things: pseudoscientific accounts that aliens have visited Earth based on little to no evidence, and scientific searches with no sign of progress. It’s easy therefore to consign the idea of aliens to, if not quite the same folder as fairies, at least “hobbits” […]
Pathogenic Fungus That Kills Bats Found In Ötzi The Iceman’s Gut
A species of fungus that has decimated bat populations around the world has been detected in the intestines of the famous mummy known as Ötzi. Discovered in 1991 in the mountains bordering Italy and Austria, the so-called Iceman is believed to have lived around 5,200 years ago and is the oldest natural mummy ever found […]
Human Bog Body Found By Police In Ireland Could Date Back To 500 BCE
Human remains that are over 2,000 to 2,500 years old have been recovered by archaeologists within the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI). The discovery, what is essentially a new “bog body”, was made in peatland at an excavation site in Bellaghy in October 2023. At the time, police were made aware that human bones […]
Room Temperature Superconductor Properties Found In Graphite, World’s First IVF Rhino Pregnancy, And Much More This Week
This week NASA’s Ingenuity Mars helicopter took its final flight, a newly discovered astronomical object is either the heaviest known neutron star or the lightest black hole, and a new gene therapy enables an 11-year-old boy to hear for the first time. Finally, we investigate the history behind BMI, and why it is not a […]
Can COVID Lateral Flow Tests Still Detect The New Variant JN.1?
Swab, swirl, drop – then pray there’s only one line. Nearly four long years after COVID-19 was officially declared a pandemic, many of us are familiar with the routine of lateral flow tests (LFTs) for the virus. But that time has also seen new variants pop up, including JN.1, which is now the most prevalent […]
World’s Only Known Cold-Blooded Mammal Lived On An Island And Aged Similar To A Crocodile
One of the things we first learn about the animal kingdom is the difference between warm and cold-blooded animals. While reptiles bask in the sun to get warm, mammals – including those in the sea – must eat regularly to gain the energy needed to sustain a constant internal temperature. However, one mammal, trapped on a resource-poor Mediterranean […]
Drone-Zapping Laser Weapons Now Effective (And Cheap) Reality
A single burst of light is precisely aimed at a tiny drone flying at breakneck speed far in the distance. Instants later, the deactivated drone crashes into the sea. Not a sound made, no human casualties, no messy explosions. A lethal, multimillion-dollar drone cleanly taken out by a shot that cost less than a good […]
This Simple Trick Could Help You Succeed In Your Next Job Interview
Job-hunting is never fun, and even just the thought of updating your resume can fill you with dread. But what if we told you there’s a way to hack your next interview, to strike that delicate balance of showing off your skills without sounding like an arrogant jerk? Well, luckily for you, psychologists might just […]
