“Snakes… why did it have to be snakes?” That would probably be Indiana Jones’ reaction to having one of these reptiles named after him – but Harrison Ford himself has welcomed the gesture, with a newly-discovered species of slender snake found in Peru being named Tachymenoides harrisonfordi. “These scientists keep naming critters after me, but […]
Almost 45 Percent Of People Are Missing This Bone In Their Body
Your pinky toe, aside from when you stub the weird little guy, doesn’t get the attention it deserves. In fact, we’re willing to bet you don’t know how many joints you have in yours, nor whether that’s the same as most other human beings. Though it may look like a contender for the most pointless […]
Let’s Talk Neurodiversity: What It Means, And Why It Matters
Whether it’s a hashtag on social media, a fraught parliamentary debate, or a workplace training session, we’re hearing terms like “neurodiversity” and “neurodivergent” being used a lot more often. For those less familiar with this language, it can be tricky to understand exactly what it means, how it’s used, and why it seems to be […]
A New Tool Can Estimate When Old Photos Were Taken Using AI
A new tool powered by artificial intelligence (AI) technology is looking to make family tree research and genealogical sleuthing a little bit easier. Simply plug in any old photograph and the AI-driven algorithm will be able to estimate the year it was captured. Dubbed the PhotoDater, the tool has recently been rolled out by MyHeritage, […]
There Are Places On The Moon That Never See Sunlight – Here’s Why
Some areas of the Moon have never seen sunlight. Within certain craters, mainly around the polar regions of the Moon, there are bits that have never seen the light of day and never will. In those regions, spacecraft have determined that deposits of water ice are present. And that’s where space agencies are planning to […]
Light Trapped Inside A Metamaterial Makes It 10 Times More Magnetic
The vast majority of modern technology is about controlling electromagnetic phenomena. You are controlling electricity or charged particles, you are controlling magnets, or you are controlling light. Researchers have now shown a way to combine magnets and light, by trapping light inside a peculiar magnetic material. The object is a layered magnetic semiconductor made of […]
Can You Spot The New Gecko Species? Its Camouflage Is Absurdly Good
A master of disguise has just been discovered in Madagascar, where eagle-eyed researchers came across a new species of leaf-tailed gecko. As their name would suggest, these animals are remarkably good at blending in with botanical species, and it took us a hot minute to find the damn thing in the photo. If you’re wondering […]
Robots Are Better At Proving They’re Humans Than Humans Are
In a terrible sign for any future human vs robot fight for the Internet, it appears that they already have us beat at certain tasks. Having already humiliated us at chess, artificial intelligence (AI) can now beat us at the one thing we were sure we were superior at: completing those “are you a robot” […]
Scientists Witnessed The Birth Of A New Accent In Antarctica
Scientists witnessed the first stages of a common accent developing in Antarctica among its ever-changing population of scientists who spend months together at research stations on the isolated continent. Antarctica has no native population or permanent residents, but it does have a transitory community of scientists and support staff who live there for part of the […]
We May Have Found Life On Mars 50 Years Ago, Then Killed It
As the search for life on Mars continues – with the Mars Sample Return program set to return samples of the planet in the early 2030s – one scientist has suggested that we may have already found life on the Red Planet, almost 50 years ago. And then, in what would not be an all-time […]
Genetically Engineered Bacteria Can Detect Cancer Cells In A World-First Experiment
As medical technology advances, many diseases could be detected, prevented and cured with cells, rather than pills. This branch of medicine is called cellular or cell therapy. It’s already used in clinical practice in some situations, such as patients receiving faecal microbial transplants (“poo transplants”) when they have a severe gastrointestinal infection, or a bone […]
Formula Calculate Any Digit Of Pi, Nobody Noticed For Centuries
What’s your favorite number? There are literally infinite options, and yet only a few which seem to stand out as more popular than others: there’s seven, obviously; 13 or 666 for the badasses among us; and √2 for anyone who just likes annoying Pythagoreans. But there’s really only one number out there that can claim to […]
What Is Most Likely Going On In Area 51?
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]. What is most likely going on in Area 51? – Griffin, age 10, South Lyon, Michigan One of the reasons people can never be entirely sure about what is going […]
The Science Of Why You Can Remember Song Lyrics From Years Ago
Why is it that many people can’t remember where they put their car keys most mornings, but can sing along to every lyric of a song they haven’t heard in years when it comes on the radio? Do song lyrics live in some sort of privileged place in our memories? Music has a long history […]
The Nibiru Cataclysm, Which Conspiracists Think Should Have Killed Us 5 Times By Now
If you lived through the apocalypse of 2012, the second apocalypse of 2012, and the apocalypse of 2017, there’s a chance the name Nibiru may ring a bell. According to doomsayers and conspiracy theorists, Nibiru is a planet within our Solar System that will one day slam into Earth, ending life as we know it. […]
What Minerals And Metals Might Humans Deplete On Earth?
We’re living on a finite planet while expecting infinite economic growth. It doesn’t require an economist to explain there are some problems with this assumption. But is it possible that we could totally exhaust some of the mineral and metal resources that are fundamental to the infrastructure and lifestyles of the 21st century, whether it […]
The Orgasm Gap And Why Women Climax Less Than Men
Imagine a steamy sex scene involving a woman and a man from your favourite television show or movie. It’s likely that both parties orgasm. But this doesn’t reflect reality. Because during heterosexual sexual encounters, women have far fewer orgasms than men. This is called the orgasm gap. And it has been documented in the scientific […]
People Are Just Now Learning What Screensavers Are For
Everyone of a certain age has a favorite screensaver, from that one where the blobs bounce against the screen getting closer and closer to hitting the corner, to that one with slightly different blobs doing exactly the same thing. They are still used today, but unlike old blobby and the squiggly line that wriggles around, […]
Trying To Live Forever Killed The Creator Of China’s “Forever Army”
The pursuit of immortality and reverse aging is hot in the press right now, so we thought it was time for a reminder that sometimes, trying to live forever can stop you from living at all. While extremes in health regimens can disrupt your dating life, there’s also the risk that your “cure” for long […]
Russia Reaches Lunar Orbit And Is Now On Track To Beat India To The Moon
We find ourselves back in a space race, with the goal once again the Moon. We’re not talking about the larger space race involving the US, Russia, and China, however, but a much more immediate one that could result in Russia beating India to the Moon’s South Pole next week by a mere two days. […]
