Around 600,000 years ago, humanity split in two. One group stayed in Africa, evolving into us. The other struck out overland, into Asia, then Europe, becoming Homo neanderthalensis – the Neanderthals. They weren’t our ancestors, but a sister species, evolving in parallel. Neanderthals fascinate us because of what they tell us about ourselves – who […]
The First Extinction Alert Issued In 70 Years For Rarest Marine Mammal On Earth
Extinction is becoming a real threat faced by countless creatures across the animal kingdom. Famously, there are an estimated just 10 vaquitas remaining in the Gulf of California, Mexico. Now, the International Whaling Commission (IWC) has issued the first-ever extinction alert in its 70-year history, to spur action to help the world’s tiniest and most endangered marine […]
Too Tipsy? Here’s How Science Could One Day Help Sober You Up When Drunk
It’s that time of year with Christmas parties abound, and also the time of year when many people will be standing in line for a club, meeting the eyes of bouncers, and suddenly realizing they may have had one free drink too many. Whilst there are folk remedies galore for sobering yourself up enough to […]
Rare Jewellery And Items Found On Mount Zion Reveal Babylonian Destruction Of Jerusalem
The fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of King Solomon’s temple, one of the Old Testament’s most significant events, has been marked by the announcement of archaeological discoveries from the site. Digging on Mount Zion has uncovered ash from the fires that burned much of the city, arrows of the invaders, and an earring left […]
What Does Winter Look Like On Other Worlds?
Without seasons, the Earth would be very different – and it’s quite likely we would not be around. If the Earth’s axis was much more tilted than it is, making seasons more extreme, civilization probably could not exist. The same might also be true if our seasons were more erratic (sorry George RR Martin), as […]
Grey Reef Sharks Caught Napping, Changing What We Know About How They Breathe
If one of us humans was found having a cheeky nap, there probably wouldn’t be a whole scientific study on it. But for sharks, getting caught snoozing is an entirely different matter, especially when some species need to keep moving in order to keep breathing, lest they end up napping for eternity. This was thought […]
Was The Christmas Star A Real Astronomical Event?
This article first appeared in Issue 17 of our free digital magazine CURIOUS. “There came wise men from the east to Jerusalem saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.” That’s how Matthew describes the “Star of Bethlehem” […]
72 Million Years Ago, A Monstrous “Blue Dragon” Roamed The Pacific Ocean
If the idea of time traveling to the oceans of the Cretaceous has ever sounded like an appealing idea to you, you might be about to change your mind. Researchers have described a brand-new, 72-million-year-old species of mosasaur, that’s thought to have terrorized the ancient Pacific Ocean. The study describing the mosasaur came as a […]
Are No Two Snowflakes Really Alike, And If Not, Why Not?
This article first appeared in Issue 17 of our free digital magazine CURIOUS. They say no two snowflakes are alike, but, when you think about it, how could anyone possibly know that? The truth is that you can’t, for reasons we’ll dive into later, but what we can know is that your chances of getting two […]
Sharing A Birth Month With Your Mom? It’s More Likely Than You’d Think
All things being equal, you’d expect there to be about a one in twelve chance of sharing your birthday month with someone else, right? Well, not quite – at least, not if that person is your mom. “Not only did we find that women’s own season of birth influenced the seasonal patterns in the births […]
Voyager 1 Sends Repeating Message From Interstellar Space, A Prehistoric “Lost World” Has Been Hiding Out On Earth, And Much More This Week
This week a tap dancing spider has been rediscovered in Portugal after 92 years, scientific evidence sees a conviction overturned for a mother jailed for killing her four children, and mysterious green “ghosts” appearing in Earth’s upper atmosphere have been explained. Finally, we investigate the gruesome history of tooth transplants. Subscribe to the IFLScience newsletter […]
The History Of An Ancient Martian Lake Has Been Revealed By Perseverance
NASA’s Perseverance has spent over 1,000 sols – Martian days – inside Jezero Crater. The location of an ancient impact, the crater was for a time a lake with a river carrying water into it. A prominent delta has been sculpted in the rocks and it is there that the rover has been exploring. And […]
Raisins Vs Sultanas Vs Currants – Do You Know The Difference?
Depending on your point of view, raisins are either a tasty lunchbox treat, or an evil catfish just waiting to lure you into taking a bite of what you thought was a lovely chocolate chip cookie. Love them or hate them, though, you’re probably fairly confident in what a raisin actually is. But what happens […]
Alien Life On Enceladus Just Got More Likely
Saturn’s moon Enceladus has a deep ocean, with hydrothermal activity, and complex chemistry. These are excellent conditions for life to emerge, and researchers have added a bit more hope to the mix. A new analysis suggests that there might be more chemical energy within this distant moon than previously thought. Enceladus releases plumes which were […]
Early Primates’ Favorite Snacks Were Probably Soft And Sweet
What did early primates munch on to keep themselves nourished? It’s likely that their foods of choice were soft, probably including sweet fruits, says a new study on their teeth from researchers at the University of Otago, New Zealand, and Duke University, USA. The researchers looked at fossil teeth of anthropoids – an infraorder of […]
Some “Gifted” Dogs Learn The Names Of Their Favorite Toys – Is Your Dog Among Them?
Does your dog know the names of its toys? Lots of dog owners may think their precious pooch can identify their favorite toys by name, but the phenomenon is actually pretty rare. In fact, many dogs who are believed to have this ability have usually had it trained into them and they can only identify […]
2-Million-Year-Old Jawbone Shows Homo Erectus Migrated High Into The Mountains
Remains of extinct human relatives are annoyingly rare, leaving many chapters of our own evolution a mystery. However, a review of an old fossil discovered over 40 years ago has busted open an important part of the story we didn’t previously know. Paleoanthropologists have taken a second look at some ancient human remains discovered in […]
Could People Breathe The Air On Mars?
Curious Kids is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to [email protected]. Could people breathe on Mars? – Jack J., age 7, Alexandria, Virginia Let’s suppose you were an astronaut who just landed on the planet Mars. What would you need to […]
Record-Breaking Laser Beam Message Reaches Earth From 16 Million Kilometers Away
Earth has received a record-breaking laser-beamed message from far beyond the Moon for the first time, an achievement that could transform how spacecraft communicate. If NASA can get a message from its spacecraft from 16 million kilometers (10 million miles) away, your beau has no excuse for leaving you on read. In the farthest-ever demonstration […]
This Is The Only Sea In The World That Doesn’t Touch Any Coastlines
There is a region of the North Atlantic Ocean that is unusual – it’s a sea that has no coastlines. The Sargasso Sea is characterized by its unique boundaries defined by ocean currents rather than land. It’s also a sea characterized by its natural, and unfortunately unnatural, accumulations of algae and detritus. The Sargasso Sea: […]
