Germany and Botswana have had something of an international argument this week, after Germany suggested it might seek a ban on the import of hunting trophies due to issues related to poaching. Botswana’s response? We’ll send you 20,000 elephants to “have a taste of living alongside them”. Botswana’s President Mokgweetsi Masisi said that the suggested […]
The Cosmic Coincidence That Gives Us The Total Solar Eclipse
This is a pretty great year for gawping at celestial events. As well as a possible once-in-a-lifetime chance to see a nova, there is a total solar eclipse taking place across North America on Monday, April 8. While emergency officials warn that you should stock up on food, water, and fuel ahead of the eclipse, […]
The “Prehistoric Pandemic” That Ran For 15 Million Years – And Still Echoes On Today
Between 33 million and 15 million years ago, an ancient group of viruses ran riot through countless ancient mammals, including the relatives of everything from humans and chimpanzees to aardvarks and pandas. This band of prehistoric viruses eventually died out around 15 million years ago – perhaps it had infected all the hosts it could […]
Conspiracy Theorists Think The Eclipse Will Begin A “Massive Human Sacrifice Event”
Some conspiracy theorists appear to believe that a “massive human sacrifice” event will take place during the total solar eclipse on April 8. Without anything even approaching evidence, a fairly popular post to the r/conspiracy subreddit “explains” that they are concerned that overlaying the path of totality of the 2017 total eclipse with the 2024 […]
Alaskapox: Disease Gets New Name To Avoid Stigmatizing US State
Alaskapox, a relative newcomer to the microbiological scene, has been renamed “borealpox”. The decision follows the first human death from the infection, a man from the Kenai Peninsula who succumbed earlier this year, with officials keen to avoid unnecessary stigma against the state where the virus was first identified. What goes into naming a disease? […]
The Red Sea Is Facing “An Uncertain Future”
The Red Sea is steeped in thousands of years of human history and Biblical myths, but its origins are much older, beginning roughly 30 million years ago when a chasm split between Africa and Arabia. In the 21st century, scientists say this unique sea is facing radical new changes and a precarious future. Much of […]
This Zombie Fungus Is One Of The World’s Most Expensive Natural Resources
You could do worse than to end up with a wedding ring made of the zombie fungus Cordyceps sinensis, a parasite that’s touted to be worth more than its weight in gold to the right buyer. Coveted for medicinal use, it’s a crucial form of income for some people, but one that’s under threat due […]
The Fascinating History Of The Yellow Iguanas Of The Galápagos
Out in the islands of the Galápagos Archipelago live 1.5-meter (5-foot) long yellow lizards who have a history – and a future – linked to the islands of Baltra, North Seymour, Fernandina, Isabela, South Plaza, Santa Cruz, and Santiago. Meet the yellow iguanas. Also known as Galápagos land iguanas (Conolophus subcristatus), these impressively yellow lizards […]
Vikings May Have Modified Their Teeth As A Kind Of Initiation
In the age of the Vikings, there may have been one surefire way to tell if a man was part of a merchant guild: by looking at his teeth. According to a new analysis of intentional body modifications among Viking skeletons, males who entered into the trading profession may have undergone a curious rite of […]
New Solar-Powered System Transforms Saltwater Into Clean, Affordable Drinking Water
Scientists have developed a solar-powered technology that converts saltwater into clean drinking water free of dangerous waterborne diseases. If their claims are true, then this may represent a massive step towards providing reliable and safe water to developing countries and others. Access to clean water is something we take for granted in the developed world. […]
Dark Matter Could Support Life On Rogue Planets With No Sun
In the hit Netflix sci-fi series 3 Body Problem, several of the main characters are sent a mysterious virtual reality (VR) videogame, in which the protagonist is asked to help an alien species solve a problem: how to predict the movement of their planet’s three suns. The three-body problem is an interesting and real one, […]
Watch The First Footage Of A Turbulent Coronal Mass Ejection From Parker Solar Probe
The Parker Solar Probe has been traveling as close to the Sun as it possibly can, and this gives it an incredible vantage point to witness the behavior of the Sun up close – sometimes directly into the events of the solar atmosphere, like this first incredible footage capturing the interaction between a coronal mass […]
Tennessee “Chemtrail” Bill Prohibits A Phenomenon Which Doesn’t Exist
Tennessee has passed a bill banning the release of chemicals into the atmosphere, in a move thought by critics to be motivated by debunked “chemtrail” conspiracy theories. The bill, which passed Monday, seeks to prohibit “the intentional injection, release, or dispersion, by any means, of chemicals, chemical compounds, substances, or apparatus within the borders of […]
What’s The Longest A Bird Can Fly Without Flapping Its Wings?
Birds might not be able to get a driving license (boo), but as it happens, some of them have found another way to get about whilst doing minimal exercise: soaring. At one point or another, they do have to flap their wings – but which one can go the longest without doing so? To find […]
International Space Station Battery Piece May Have Crashed Through Florida Home
A lot of space debris is simply dropped down towards Earth, where the friction of the atmosphere should burn it up and destroy it before it can reach us. However, that is not always the case, and NASA is now investigating whether a piece of a battery pallet released in 2021 came crashing down through […]
Simulation Suggests Everyone In Japan Will Have The Same Surname By 2531
Everyone in Japan will have the same surname by 2531, according to a simulation run at the Tohoku University research center. Japan, where same-sex marriage is still illegal, currently requires couples to choose between their surnames when they get married. Ninety-six percent choose to go with the man’s name. According to Professor Hiroshi Yoshida at […]
World’s Largest Ever Digital Camera Is Completed
The Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) Camera is now complete. It will soon travel to the Vera C. Rubin Observatory where it will provide an incredible new eye on the southern sky and help us better answer fundamental questions about the nature of dark matter and dark energy. The LSST camera is a […]
Uranium Mining Ramps Up In The Grand Canyon National Monument
The Grand Canyon region has been hit with a fresh wave of mining for uranium, the heavy metal used in the production of nuclear fuel and atomic bombs. Plundering this land for radioactive resources has proved particularly controversial since some of the activity will occur within protected Native American homelands – despite recent reassurance it […]
How Did People Clean Their Teeth Before Toothpaste Was Invented?
Dental hygiene has come a long way over the past few hundred millennia. While most of us now automatically brush our teeth twice a day, ancient humans had a much harder time looking after their pearly whites. Sadly for our long-in-the-tooth ancestors, many of their archaic dental practices appear to have been ineffective, leading to […]
World-First Human Trial Could See Lymph Nodes Turned Into Livers
After more than a decade of development, the first human trial for a treatment that attempts to tackle end-stage liver disease (ESLD) by turning lymph nodes into livers has begun. “In a medical first, we have now dosed our first patient in a clinical trial using their own lymph nodes as living bioreactors to regenerate […]
