What do a sunken canoe and armadillo remains have to do with the underworld? Well, a recent discovery by archaeologists in Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula may mark a site that the Maya believed led to the otherworldly realm. In 2021, a team of underwater archaeologists with the Mexican National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) found […]
World’s Hottest Day Record Broken Twice In 3 Days
On Monday, we reported that the Earth’s average temperature had reached a record high, making it the hottest day since measurements began. But that’s now old news having been beaten on Tuesday, and again on Wednesday, as temperatures soared to an average of 17.18°C (62.9°F). These record conditions were reached on Tuesday, July 4, and […]
People Are Just Now Learning The Purpose Of The Pinky Toe
Human toes, no longer given the glamorous task of clinging to trees, are largely only paid attention to when you stub them or make the mistake of wearing sandals. Losing the ability to grip branches with them may seem like a backward step, given how much cooler our commutes would be if we swung into […]
Millions Instantly Sign Up To Threads, Zuck’s New Rival To Musk’s Twitter
Threads, a new rival to Twitter, has finally arrived amid an avalanche of users signing up to the platform – that includes everyone’s favorite source of popular science news, IFLScience. So what is it, how does it work, and how do you get it? The new social networking service was officially launched on Wednesday, July […]
Why Archaeologists Usually Rebury Their Excavations
Hadrian’s Wall in Northern England is a popular tourist spot for those interested in British history. Visitors this year will get the chance to see the Roman bathhouse at Birdoswald before it is reburied by archaeologists. Birdoswald was a Roman military base on Hadrian’s Wall, which was built in the AD120s during the reign of […]
Ancient Stars Discovered Still Orbiting The Center Of The Milky Way
Many stars that were born in the first billion years of the universe are now dead and gone. Some exploded in supernovae, some changed into other objects – but not all of these early stars have stopped shining. Some are still around, and researchers have reported the discovery of a population around the core of […]
This Hot Mess Of A Cambrian Predator Preferred Smooth Over Crunchy Prey
The extinct apex predator Anomalocaris canadensis just got a rebrand, as new research shows these weird shrimp-like animals weren’t as tough as we used to think. Their bizarre arachnid-like front legs were thought to be absolute weapons, but modeling has now demonstrated that they might’ve struggled with crunchy prey. If you think we’re being mean by […]
The Smell Of Your Hand Can Give Away Your Sex
A new technique for decoding the smell of a person’s hand could be used to help forensic investigators catch criminals. Testing out their method on 60 volunteers, a team of scientists successfully identified the sex of more than 96 percent of participants, revealing how the approach may help to narrow down the identity of felons. […]
Black Hole Echoes Could Help Resolve Tension Around How Fast The Universe Is Expanding
Active black holes are surrounded by disks of material and can spew powerful jets. These jets, in turn, can release powerful X-rays. And some of those X-rays will shine downwards towards the black hole and disk. In the disk they can get reflected, creating an echo that astronomers call X-ray reverberation. Such a signal can […]
The Taos Hum Had Residents In New Mexico Convinced They Could Hear Something
In the spring of 1993, a peculiar mystery gripped Taos, New Mexico. Residents began reporting an unsettling noise that nobody could quite put their finger on, and so it became known as the Taos Hum. The phenomenon became so widely known that a week-long study was conducted to try and pinpoint the source of the […]
Icon Of The Industrial Revolution Stole Iron Technique From Enslaved Metallurgists
Henry Cort, a British entrepreneur born in Lancaster around 1740, has long been regarded as discovering a metallurgical technique that was crucial to the Industrial Revolution. However, a new study has shown that Cort actually stole the practice from Black metal smiths in Jamaica. The traditional story Cort is a somewhat unknown figure despite the […]
Plan To Dump Radioactive Water From Fukushima Into Sea Gets UN Approval
The United Nations (UN) nuclear watchdog has officially approved Japan’s plan to release treated radioactive water from the Fukushima nuclear disaster into the Pacific Ocean. While the plan has been deemed safe by a variety of agencies and some experts, the idea of dumping tainted water in the sea is not sitting well with everyone. […]
Tooth Regrowing Drug Therapy Set For Human Clinical Trials Next Year
Japanese scientists are reportedly set to start human trials for a drug that can regrow teeth. All being well, the clinical trial will start next year and a tooth regeneration therapy could be ready for people with holey smiles as early as 2030, according to Japanese media. Back in 2021, a team from the Graduate […]
The Scientist Who Died While Helping To Create An Antidote To The Snake That Bit Him
In 1950, a young amateur herpetologist and snake hunter attempted to catch a live specimen of one of the deadliest snakes in the world, to be used in research into developing an antivenom. Kevin Budden, despite his young age, was an experienced snake hunter. Local papers had written of his hobby of catching venomous snakes, […]
Vaginal Discharge: What Is This Weird Substance That Comes Out My Bits?
A large proportion of the global population deals with vaginal discharge most days. However, there is a lack of school education about the matter, which leads to misconceptions about what is classed as healthy or unhealthy. Firstly, what is vaginal discharge? Essentially, it is a fluid that is needed to keep the vagina clean, […]
If Evolution Is Real, Why Are There Still Monkeys Around Today?
Evolutionary biologists often face the question: “If humans evolved from monkeys, why are there still monkeys?” Alternatively, one might question why the world doesn’t have any half-chimp, half-humans that show the transition from primitive apes to Homo sapiens? However, these questions are loaded with a bunch of presumptions and misconceptions about how evolution works. The […]
What Does A Planet Need To Be Considered Earth-Like?
Thousands of planets have been discovered orbiting other stars, but only a few are referred to as Earth-like. None of these worlds are an exact match for our home planet, which raises the question: how similar does a planet have to be to get called Earth-like? Also, how can we tell? And who even gets […]
Did Russia Ban Chess In Antarctica After A Scientist Murdered His Opponent?
Crime in Antarctica is relatively rare, given the lack of humans to commit crime against and the lack of legislation against penguins that can be used to punish them for their terrible crimes. However, with the extreme monotony and isolation of life at research stations on the continent, there have been a few incidents. This […]
Watch Incredibly Rare Footage Of A Humpback Whale Calf Feeding Underwater
In the waters off the Colombian coast, a super rare video of a huge humpback whale mother feeding her calf has been recorded. Filmed in August 2022 in the Gulf of Cupica by scientists from Macuáticos Colombia and Madre Agua Colombia, this is only the second video report of a calf being fed. It was […]
Psychologists Divide Adult Development Into Four Stages. Where Do You Fit In?
Over the years, more than one famous thinker has had a crack at defining the stages of growth we all go through to reach adulthood. Shakespeare outlined the “seven ages of man” in As You Like It. Freud himself had a go, with his famous five stages of human development. In the modern era, though, we […]
