A tender moment between two whitetip sharks has been filmed off Cat Island in the Bahamas, marking the first time their mating ritual behaviors have been caught on camera. As a critically endangered species, insights like this are invaluable into the species’ ecology and to improving our understanding of how to conserve them in the […]
Italy Has Just Banned ChatGPT
Italy has taken action to ban ChatGPT over alleged privacy violations. On March 31, the Italian Data Protection Authority said the AI chatbot would be temporarily blocked in the country “with immediate effect” and they will be investigating the company behind the technology, OpenAI. In a press release, the agency alleges that OpenAI is violating […]
“Rock” Containing Stunning Agate Turns Out To Be 60-Million-Year-Old Dinosaur Egg
Back in 1883, a pretty agate mineral was registered to the Natural History Museum’s Mineralogy Collection. Around 15 centimeters (6 inches) across, almost completely spherical but otherwise unassuming, the specimen has remained in the collection for the last 175 years, until a chance finding revealed it to be a dinosaur egg. The specimen’s pretty colors […]
Toddler Develops Strange Illness After A Cake-Stealing Iguana Bit Her Finger
Never get between an iguana and a cake are wise words to live by according to an infectious diseases conference in Copenhagen. There, researchers warned of a cautionary tale in which a girl who was bitten by a cake-stealing iguana developed a strange bacterial infection months after it happened. The Great Cake Heist occurred when […]
Stressed Out Plants Are Screaming, We Just Can’t Hear Them
Got a plant nearby? Is it screaming? The truth is that if you’re behind on your botanical care, it might be, it’s just that the human ear can’t hear it. New research has shown that plants are capable of producing ultrasonic sounds that are beyond the range of the human ear, and these distress signals […]
Frozen Fur Ball Turns Out To Be 30,000-Year-Old Ice Age Squirrel
Don’t be mistaken by this unassuming fur ball – it’s actually the curled-up mummified remains of a 30,000-year-old Arctic ground squirrel. Look closely and you’ll see it’s in such remarkable condition that it’s possible to make out its tiny claws. The discovery was recently revealed by the Yukon Beringia Interpretive Centre. They explained that it […]
Glow-In-The-Dark Demons: Three Newly Discovered Worms Are The Stuff Of Nightmares
Scientists in central Japan have discovered three new species of bioluminescent worms that are eerily reminiscent of creatures from Japanese folklore. These new Polycirrus worms, found in various locations across Japan, have been named after these preternatural beings, as well as a famous Japanese marine biologist. Bioluminescence is produced by organisms through a chemical reaction […]
Captive For 50 Years, Lolita The Orca To Finally Be Released
Lolita, the oldest orca in captivity, was taken from her home in the Pacific Northwest when she was just 4 years old – now, over 50 years on, she’s preparing to finally be released back into her native waters. After growing concerns from animal rights groups, Miami Seaquarium (where Lolita, previously known as Tokitae, is […]
“Exquisite” Sabertooth Cat Skull In Iowa Is A Stunningly Rare Discovery
The complete skull of a sabertooth cat has been unearthed in a “near perfect condition” in southwest Iowa. Not only is this incredible specimen providing insights into this extinct beast’s lifestyle, but it’s also the first evidence the prehistoric predator once inhabited this central part of North America. The incredible skull was discovered in Page […]
Fast Radio Bursts Reveal The Milky Way’s Halo Is Surprisingly Light
The halo surrounding the Milky Way contains gas as well as rare stars, but measuring that gas has proven difficult. The interference with short bursts of radio signals from distant galaxies offers astronomers a new solution. The gas in the Milky Way’s halo is too sparse and hot to measure directly. However, it interferes with […]
US Children Are Now Significantly More Likely To Be Diagnosed With Autism
Recorded cases of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are higher than ever before and, for the first time, data shows it could be more prevalent in minority groups, according to a new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report. The new information states that around one in 36 eight-year-olds in the US likely has autism, […]
What Is “Vabbing” And Does It Really Work?
There’s a new pseudoscience craze sweeping the internet, and it involves inserting your fingers into your vagina and then wiping them on your skin – all in the name of seduction. Known as “vabbing”, the trend has been touted as a cheaper and more alluring alternative to perfume, but can smelling like a vagina really […]
Is Love Really Just A Neurochemical Construct Of The Mind?
In 1993, Haddaway released the seminal dance classic What Is Love – a sparkling debut, by any musical metric, which also succinctly encapsulates a question that humanity has been wrestling with since time immemorial. Love has been the muse of playwrights, poets, artists, and composers through the ages; many have tried to quantify, describe, and […]
TWIS: Humanity’s Brightest Cosmic Explosion Smashed Previous Record, Earth’s Rainy Season That Lasted 2 Million Years, And Much More This Week
This week, new research finds exposure to cats and dogs in fetal development reduces chances of food allergies, a brand new “Einstein” tile can cover an infinite surface without ever repeating, and we get an exclusive behind the scenes look at the Natural History Museum London’s brand new Titanosaur exhibit. Brightest Cosmic Explosion Humanity Has […]
“QBism”: quantum mechanics is not a description of objective reality – it reveals a world of genuine free will
What does quantum mechanics, the most successful theory ever proposed by physics, teach us about reality? The starting point for most philosophers of physics is that quantum mechanics must somehow provide a description of the world as it is independently of us, the users of the theory. This has led to a large number of […]
Largest Ever 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 new study reveals. “The […]
These Saudi Camel Carvings Are Older Than Stonehenge
The province of Al-Jouf in the northwestern Saudi Arabian desert is home to 21 enormous 3D carvings into the rockface. These depictions of camels and horses were found in 2018 and first believed to be around 2,000 years old. Subsequent testing, however, revealed they likely predate Egypt’s pyramids and even Stonehenge. Despite extreme weathering as […]
Thin-Lipped Tyrannosaurs Hid Their Most Fearsome Weapon
We’ve been getting the mouthparts of theropod dinosaurs like T. Rex wrong for over a century, a new study claims. If any of their victims had been foolish enough to look back while being chased, they would not have seen some of the most fearsome teeth ever formed coming for them, at least while the […]
New World Happiness Report: Where Does Your Country Rank?
The World Happiness Report 2023 has been released, once again showing that the Nordic countries are certainly doing something right when it comes to their populations’ well-being. That’s especially true for Finland, which secured the title of the world’s happiest country for the sixth time in a row. It has been over 10 years since […]
Persian Princes Fleeing To Africa May Have Helped Found Ancient Trading Empire
Legend has it that seven Persian princes fleeing persecution once escaped across the Arabian Sea before landing in East Africa and establishing a trading dynasty that dominated the Swahili coast for centuries. Known as the Kilwa Chronicle, this ancient oral tradition had until now been dismissed as fiction, yet a new genetic study suggests that […]