The brain is wired to recognize when a noise we’re expecting to hear doesn’t sound quite right. You go to close your car door, but don’t push it hard enough – you know you’ve made a mistake when you don’t hear the characteristic thump and click. Until now, scientists weren’t sure exactly how the brain […]
Sunken Nuclear Submarine May Be Leaking Radiation Into The Ocean
On April 7, 1989, a Russian nuclear submarine sank off the coast of Norway after a fire broke out on board as a result of a short circuit. At the time, the sub was carrying two nuclear torpedoes which it took with it to the cold depths of the Arctic Ocean. To this day, neither […]
The Grim Reason Buses And Trains Use Such Weird Fabrics On Seats
The garish prints of public transport seats are pretty hard to miss. Zany, vibrant, often with asymmetric and chaotic patterns, you’ve got to wonder what inspired such eccentric designs. As it turns out, it has a lot to do with grime. The patterns of fabric used on the seats of trains and buses vary across […]
Why Do Stars In JWST Images Have 8 Spikes?
JWST images are nothing if not stunning, bringing incredible resolution to the infrared universe. Showcasing faint nebulae or distant galaxies has a curious side effect: usually, closer and definitely brighter stars appear to gain spikes, six big ones and two small ones. The effect is so iconic that you can use it to confirm at […]
Giant Ancient Underwater Water Reservoir Found Beneath Pacific Ocean
Researchers have discovered a giant reservoir of water, hidden beneath the Pacific Ocean. The find may explain why nearby New Zealand experiences “slow-motion” earthquakes, which can last up to months, while causing relatively little or no damage to the surrounding area. New Zealand’s Hikurangi Subduction Zone, where the Pacific tectonic plate falls underneath the Australian […]
This Little Beauty Is The Margarita Snail, One Of Two Dazzling New Species
Two dazzling new snail species have been discovered by scientists diving in the Florida Keys and Belize. The two snails looked very similar, leading scientists to suspect they were the same species, but sequencing their DNA revealed big differences. The Florida Keys are made up of a string of tropical islands that are home to […]
Ancient Tree Rings Reveal The Most Powerful Solar Storm We’ve Ever Found
Towards the end of the last Ice Age, the Sun experienced a solar storm of staggering power, bombarding the Earth with charged particles that produced a surge in radioactive carbon. Subfossil trees in the French Alps carry the legacy of this event, revealing it as the most powerful of which we can find a record. […]
1,900-Year-Old Child’s Nightgown Discovered In Ancient Cave of Letters
Archaeologists have recently discovered a remarkably well-preserved child’s nightgown complete with unusual “knots” that is estimated to be about 1,900 years old. The garment was found in the famous Cave of Letters in Israel, which has previously yielded other important archaeological finds that provide insights into Jewish history. The Cave of Letters was first discovered […]
Surging Methane Suggests Earth Is Brewing An Ice Age Termination Event
The past 17 years have seen some unusual rises in levels of methane gas in Earth’s atmosphere – and this surge might be a messenger for something bigger, according to new research. It’s not certain what this methane increase means exactly, but scientists argue it’s reminiscent of past “termination events” in Earth’s climate system that […]
Jerusalem Syndrome: The Unusual Psychiatric Condition Affecting Visitors To The “Holy City”
A man accused of smashing two second-century Roman statues at the Israel Museum was experiencing “Jerusalem Syndrome”, according to his lawyers. The 40-year-old tourist from the US was arrested following the alleged destruction of two statues, including one of the goddess Athena. After questioning, the Israeli police say that the man broke the statues as […]
Is It True That Walt Disney’s Body Was Frozen?
At some point in your life, whether on the Internet or watching Family Guy, you have probably come across the rumor that Walt Disney had himself cryonically frozen after his death, in the hopes of one day being thawed out and revived. You may also have come across a secondary conspiracy theory that Disney released […]
Our Sense Of Smell Changes How We See Color
If someone were to invent “smellovision”, it seems we might all end up watching the same show slightly differently – researchers have discovered that our sense of smell can affect how we perceive color. Humans are constantly bombarded with sensory information: the whirr of the computer fan as you work; the bright white of that […]
Octopuses Could Soon Get Same Legal Protections As Monkeys In US Research
Octopuses, squids, and other super-smart cephalopods may soon receive the same legal protection in the US as other animals used in scientific research, such as monkeys and rodents. Last month, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) put out a call for information to help shape their proposed guidelines for the protection of cephalopods used in […]
The Icy Odyssey Of Ancient Earth’s Frozen Era Is Explored In A New Series
Earth’s worst day at the start of the Permian extinction saw the planet’s surface transformed into a fiery hellscape. However, at other times in its history, Earth has become a ball of ice and snow. “700 million years ago, Earth was a giant snowball cloaked in ice from pole to pole – a global deep […]
The First Dog-Fox Hybrid Points To The Growing Risk To Wild Animals Of Domestic Species
Next time you see a fox when out walking with your dog, pause for a moment and ponder their relatedness. Dogs and foxes are distinct but distantly related canine species. Until recently, scientists thought it was impossible for them to breed. However, the discovery of a dog-fox hybrid in Brazil suggests that The Fox and […]
What Are “Time Reflections” And Why Are They So Promising In Tech?
Ordinary wave reflection off a suitable boundary is a familiar part of life. We witness it every day when we look in the mirror, hear it in echoes, and can watch ocean waves bounce off a breakwater if we want to see the process on a more graspable scale. Time reflections, also known as temporal […]
Want To See A Giant Squid In An Aquarium? Here’s Why You Never Will
One of the greatest battles an animal lover faces is wanting to see living things up close but needing to accept that in many situations this is neither practical, possible, or ethical. While zoos and aquariums can play a vital role in safeguarding populations that are vulnerable in the wild, there are many species that […]
Humans Got To America 7,000 Years Earlier Than Thought, New Research Confirms
When and how humans first settled in the Americas is a subject of considerable controversy. In the 20th century, archaeologists believed that humans reached the North American interior no earlier than around 14,000 years ago. But our new research found something different. Our latest study supports the view that people were in America about 23,000 […]
Over 500 Fish Have Rapidly Evolved In A Single Lake Thanks To Hybridization
The Lake Victoria of today is relatively young at just 16,000 years old, but within this tiny timeframe, some 500 different species of cichlid fish have managed to evolve here. Remarkably, this explosion of diversity is primarily thanks to hybrids born as a result of inter-species breeding. In a new study, scientists at the University […]
Same-Sex Behavior May Have An Evolutionary Benefit, Astrophysicists Find Potential Evidence Of Cracks In The Universe, And Much More This Week
This week we investigate the curious case of a killer whale that swallowed seven sea otters whole, 23,000-year-old human footprints are the earliest known in North America, and a surprising number of animals glow under UV light. Finally, we learn about the scholar who claimed Jesus was actually a hallucinogenic mushroom. Subscribe to the IFLScience […]
