Lying beneath Africa and the Pacific in the lowermost part of the Earth’s mantle, surrounding the Earth’s core, there are two gigantic blobs that occupy around 3 to 9 percent of the volume of the Earth. There are of course no direct ways of seeing the Earth’s core, at least without being burned to a […]
What Is The Boötes Void? The Mysterious Hole In The Universe
Meet Barnard 68, which – if the Internet is to be believed (which it’s not) – is “an empty void in space so big that if you traveled across it you wouldn’t bump into anything for 752,536,988 years”. While it’s smart not to specify a speed (hey, it’s technically true that if you traveled at […]
Centenarian Blood Tests Give Hints Of The Secrets To Longevity
Centenarians, once considered rare, have become commonplace. Indeed, they are the fastest-growing demographic group of the world’s population, with numbers roughly doubling every ten years since the 1970s. How long humans can live, and what determines a long and healthy life, have been of interest for as long as we know. Plato and Aristotle discussed […]
People Are Just Learning How Parmesan Cheese Is Made
Every now and then on the Internet, people discover something about food that they thought everyone already knew. Hey, we’re all learning, right? Recently it was the turn of paprika and all spice, but now it’s our old friend Parmesan cheese under the spotlight. Parmesan is traditionally made from cow’s milk, aged for at least 12 months in […]
Bumblebees’ Remarkable Defense Against Invasive Asian Hornets: An “Evolutionary Coincidence”
It turns out the buff-tailed bumblebee is buff by name *and* nature, with researchers discovering that it has a surprisingly effective method for fighting off Asian hornets. In the blue corner Asian hornets are the menaces of the natural world, having invaded three continents and reaching a record level of sightings across the UK and […]
The Centuries’ Old Mystery Of The Arthur’s Seat Coffins
Just outside of Edinburgh, Scotland are the slopes of Arthur’s Seat, a small mountain once created by a now-extinct volcano. Rumored to have once been the site for King Arthur’s Camelot, the location is steeped in historical lore and mystery. In 1836, a group of young boys were out on a rabbit hunt in the misty […]
Rules Of DNA Rewritten By Tiny Organism Discovered In A Pond
We might think that the rules of DNA are set in stone, but the genetic code of a microscopic organism found in a park pond in Oxford, UK, has once again proven that science is always changing. The discovery was quite unexpected – Dr Jamie McGowan and a team of researchers from the Earlham Institute […]
Polar Bears May Struggle To Produce Milk For Their Cubs As Climate Change Melts Sea Ice
When sea ice melts, polar bears must move onto land for several months without access to food. This fasting period is challenging for all bears, but particularly for polar bear mothers who are nursing cubs. Advertisement Our research, published in Marine Ecology Progress Series, found that polar bear lactation is negatively affected by increased time […]
Sneak Peek Into Neanderthal Cooking Habits Reveals They Were Just As Intelligent As Homo Sapiens
Neanderthals were just as intelligent as Homo sapiens – that’s the conclusion of research that, based on more than 20 years worth of excavations, demonstrates our ancient cousins knew how to control fire and used it to cook food. It’s perhaps not that surprising given what we already know about the extinct hominins. In the last […]
New Male Breast Cancer Organization Wants You To Join The Moobment
Breast cancer is often thought of as a “female” disease – but that’s not the case. Moobs, a new organization launched in the UK, aims to challenge these preconceptions, raising awareness of male breast cancer and providing support to those diagnosed. Breast cancer can affect anyone Although males might not have “boobs” in the typical […]
The Icky Reason Scientists Think Plane Seats Need Activated Charcoal
Weird things can happen to humans when you put them in places they aren’t supposed to be, and flying in a plane is no exception. Frequent fliers complain of everything from popping ears to dry skin, but an ailment they may be less willing to admit to is an increased rate of farting. Luckily, there’s […]
Quantum Entanglement Can Simulate Traveling Back In Time
Hindsight, as they say, is 20/20, but sometimes it would be nice to have known the outcomes before making a choice. This is as true in day-to-day life as it is in quantum mechanics. But it seems that the quantum world has something we do not have: a way to alter yesterday’s choices today, before […]
New Brain Cell Atlas Reveals Unprecedented Level Of Detail – Here’s Why It Matters
In a collection of 24 papers published across three journals, an international consortium of scientists just unveiled exceptionally detailed cell atlases for both the human and primate brains. This massive piece of work is part of a project with even more far-reaching aims, and could be the gateway to a new generation of treatments for […]
Watch As Man Discovers Bizarre Unidentified Corpse Washed Up On Australian Beach
On March 21, 2022, Alexander Tan was taking a walk along the shore on Maroochydore Beach, in Queensland, Australia when he came across something rather unusual. At first glance, Tan thought it might have been a dog lying down in the sand, but upon closer inspection, it was far more peculiar. Advertisement “It was very […]
How The Ancient Maya Were Able To Accurately Predict Eclipses
As North America prepares to be dazzled by a “ring of fire” eclipse this weekend, observers in the Yucatan Peninsula and other parts of southern Mexico will walk in the footsteps of the ancient Maya, who were famed for their astronomical expertise. Among the many celestial events tracked and celebrated by the pre-Hispanic culture were […]
What Are Redshift And Blueshift And Why Do They Matter?
In 1929, Edwin Hubble noticed that distant galaxies looked redder than those nearby. Moreover, the further away they are, the redder they tend to look. This observation, known as redshift, allowed us to measure the distances to galaxies too distant to determine by other means. It was also revealed that the universe is expanding, with […]
75-Million-Year-Old Titanosaur Named After Egyptian God Fills Gaps In Dino History
A team of palaeontologists have described a new species of titanosaur, which has been named after an ancient Egyptian god. This rather small specimen helps address a large gap in our understanding of African dinosaurs. The new titanosaur was described in a study published in July this year. It has been named Igai semkhu, which […]
Why Are Some Deserts Cold?
Picture a desert and you no doubt imagine a sandy landscape, searing hot dunes, and a baking Sun. However, this is just one side of desert climates. Beyond the Sahara and the Great Australian Desert, some desert environments are more associated with chilly temperatures. Deserts are defined as areas that receive very little precipitation and […]
3-Billion-Year-Old Okavango Diamond Has A Unique Blue Hue Thanks To Plate Tectonics
An oval-shaped blue diamond weighing 20.46 carats is one of the rarest in the world. Named the Okavango Blue Diamond, it was discovered at Orapa mine in Botswana, and it holds many secrets about our Earth in its curious azure hue. “From the first moment we saw the diamond, it was clear we had something […]
The World’s Largest Spherical Structure Is A Technical Wonder
The Sphere in Las Vegas is the largest spherical structure in the world, and building it required a lot more than engineering and architectural know-how – over 100 patents are expected to come out to the construction of this entertainment venue. Love it or hate it, the venue is certainly unique. Its exterior is 112 […]
