Why did humans take over the world while our closest relatives, the Neanderthals, became extinct? It’s possible we were just smarter, but there’s surprisingly little evidence that’s true. Neanderthals had big brains, language and sophisticated tools. They made art and jewellery. They were smart, suggesting a curious possibility. Maybe the crucial differences weren’t at the […]
How An Eclipse Saved Christopher Columbus And His Crew From Doom
Sometimes it really is your lucky day, and for Christopher Columbus that day came on February 29, 1504. As well as being a leap day, this peculiar date also saw a total lunar eclipse occur in the Caribbean night sky, allegedly allowing the famous navigator to trick his native hosts into treating him and his […]
The First Rainbow-Like Effect On A Planet Outside Our Solar System, A 130,000-Year-Old “Stingray” Sand Sculpture May Be World’s Oldest Animal Art, And Much More This Week
This week astronomers have spotted evidence of the rare rainbow-like effect known as a glory on another planet, a prehistoric sand sculpture of a stingray might be the world’s oldest animal art, and a series of ancient engravings found on volcanic boulders in southern Peru might represent music that was performed during shamanic rituals involving […]
Quantum Computing Just Got Hotter: 1 Degree Above Absolute Zero
For decades, the pursuit of quantum computing has struggled with the need for extremely low temperatures, mere fractions of a degree above absolute zero (0 Kelvin or –273.15°C). That’s because the quantum phenomena that grant quantum computers their unique computational abilities can only be harnessed by isolating them from the warmth of the familiar classical […]
Announcement: Stock Up On Food, Water, And Fuel Ahead Of The Full Solar Eclipse
Lorain County Emergency Management (EMA) in Ohio has issued a warning to eclipse watchers and locals to the path of totality to stock up on food, water, and fuel ahead of the total eclipse on April 8, with an influx of visitors to the area expected. The last total solar eclipse over the US was […]
Ligers V Tigons: What’s The Difference?
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Do You Have Knismolagnia? First-Of-Its-Kind Study Dives Deep Into The Tickle Fetish
This might be a bit forward of us, but we’re asking anyway: how do you feel about tickling? Is it just something you used to torture your siblings as a kid, or is it still something you like to incorporate into more grown-up playtime? If so, you might well have knismolagnia, otherwise known as a […]
Frogs Are Screaming But We Can’t Hear Them
The rainforest can be a noisy place to be, so how do you make yourself heard if you end up in trouble? For the clay robber frog, the answer is to give off an almighty scream – but it’s one that we humans can’t naturally hear. However, a team of scientists have now successfully recorded […]
The World’s Most Powerful MRI Machine Just Took Some Stunning Images
Feast your eyes on this stunning picture from the world’s most powerful magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machine. In just four minutes, this incredible piece of kit can acquire images at a resolution that would take hours for your average hospital scanner, giving scientists an unprecedented window into the human brain. MRI scanners work by surrounding […]
How Did Ancient Cultures React To Solar Eclipses?
As North America prepares to marvel at a total solar eclipse this coming Monday, the only thing that viewers need to worry about is how to protect their eyes while observing the event. Yet things weren’t quite so chilled in ancient times, when eclipses often provoked panic and bloodshed among those watching from the ground. […]
Overdosing On Watermelon Is A Real Possibility For People With Chronic Kidney Disease
Chomping into a big ol’ hunk of watermelon is a rite of passage into the summer months for some of us, but for people with chronic kidney disease (CKD), too much can actually end up being dangerous. That was the case for three patients with CKD featured in a new case study, who ended up […]
What Does The Universe Smell Like?
This article first appeared in Issue 18 of our digital magazine CURIOUS. When it comes to astronomy, sight is the sense that we as a species mostly rely on. Contrary to popular belief there is some sound in space – the sonification of many cosmic events can deliver intriguing insights – and a lucky few can […]
An Extremely Rare Magnitude 4.8 Earthquake Just Hit New York City
Earlier this morning, residents of New York City and the surrounding areas experienced an earthquake that officials are so far measuring as 4.8 on the Richter scale. Though this is thankfully on the milder side of things, as earthquakes go, it’s a rarity in this part of the world. The US Geological Survey (USGS) puts […]
Camel Spider: The World’s Most Misunderstood Arachnid?
The camel spider might just be the most misunderstood arachnid on the planet. Also known as a wind scorpion, it’s neither a spider nor a scorpion. What is a camel spider? The camel spider is an eight-legged arachnid, but it’s not a true spider. Belonging to the order Solifugae, it sits between spiders and scorpions […]
Coronium: The Strange Story Of The Eclipse Element That Didn’t Exist
During the 1869 solar eclipse, two astronomers identified an emission line in the spectrum from the Sun’s corona that didn’t match any known substance. Some decided it must be a new element, and it was named coronium, although others favored newtonium. Eventually it became clear no such element exists, and that the emission line at […]
Platypus Sweat And Pigeon Puke: Five Of The Most Bizarre Milks In The Animal Kingdom
As natural as it is, it’s kind of amazing that the human body can create and excrete a special kind of food to keep a baby alive and healthy without any other input. And we’re hardly alone: mammals as a class are literally named after the fact that they have boobs with which to feed […]
Conspiracy Theorists Think CERN Has Wild Plans For 2024’s Solar Eclipse
The Great American Eclipse will grace the skies of North America on April 8 – and it has inevitably attracted a foul-smelling cloud of ludicrous conspiracy theories. Among the most ridiculous involves a favorite target of easily debunkable delusions: the European Organization for Nuclear Research, better known as CERN. The story goes that CERN […]
We May Have Just Seen The First Rainbow-Like Glory On A World Outside Our Solar System
Astronomers have spotted evidence of the meteorological phenomenon known as a glory on another planet. If this were Mars or Jupiter it would be remarkable enough, but the planet in question is WASP-76b, which is millions of times further away than either of them, outside the Solar System. A glory consists of one or more […]
The Next US Census In 2030 Will Change How It Categorizes Race And Ethnicity
For the first time since 1997, the US Census is changing the way it categorizes people by race and ethnicity. The next national census in 2030 will include a category for people who identify as “Middle Eastern or North African”. The move, announced by the White House last week, was made in light of a […]
Dolphin Recorded Speaking “Porpoise” In Incredible World First
Kylie, a wild dolphin in Scotland, was seen chatting with her adopted family of harbor porpoises in their “language” back in 2022, representing a remarkable world first in cross-species communication. After 14 years away from her species (the common dolphin, Delphinus delphis), Kylie had spent so much time around porpoises that she even started to […]
