A dusty old group of nerves just got a sexy makeover in a preprint paper that’s suggested the long-known Krause corpuscles found in mammalian genitals may do a lot more than sense temperature changes. Instead, the mouse study suggests they act as vibrotactile sensors that are crucial for normal sexual functioning of the penis and […]
Dolphin Duo Trapped For Two Years In Pond Released Into Gulf Of Mexico
Wildlife rescue stories always tug at the heartstrings. From chimps seeing the sunshine, to seals exploring the local town, helping animals in distress is as rewarding as it is tricky. Never more so than when dealing with marine life, as the latest rescue of two dolphins after more than two years has revealed. Thought to […]
Lake Vs Pond: Do You Know The Difference?
Have you ever looked at a body of water and thought: is this a pleasant pond or a luscious lake? Just exactly what is the difference? Well, it all depends on who you are asking. If you are asking from a regulation point of view, there really is no difference between a lake and pond, […]
China’s 2,000-Year-Old Longyou Caves Will Blow Your Mind
The Longyou Caves are among the most mysterious ancient sites in world history. Built around 2,000 years ago, these human-crafted caverns lay in obscurity for centuries until they were accidentally discovered by farmers in the 1990s. The sandstone caves are located near the village of Shiyan Beicun on the Qu River in Zhejiang province, eastern […]
Physicists Made A Block Of Rubber That Can Count To 10
If you’ve ever called someone “dumb as a block of rubber,” you may wish to upgrade your insults, because it turns out a lump of rubber with some holes punched in it can count. It doesn’t even need fingers and toes. If this sounds like a remarkable, but useless, achievement, the designers think it might […]
Cavernous “Passage To The Underworld” Found Beneath Church In Mexico
Under a set of church structures in Mexico, archaeologists have uncovered evidence of an underground labyrinth that they suspect was once believed to be an entrance to the underworld. The discovery was made at the archaeological site of Mitla near the city of Oaxaca by a team from the Mexican National Institute of History and […]
JWST Captures Saturn As You’ve Never Seen It Before
Last week, a spectacular image of Saturn was published by the JWST team. It shows the sparkling rings of the giant planet almost floating by themselves. Saturn itself doesn’t really shine in infrared. A different release shows a little bit more of the ringed planet this time around, as well as showing more details in […]
Where Is The Oldest Pyramid In The World?
From Ancient Egypt to Mesoamerica, the great civilizations of the past had a shared love for building giant pointy things. However, while tourist hotspots like Giza and Chichen Itza may be the first sites that spring to mind when pondering pyramids, the truth is that neither of these iconic locations is home to the oldest […]
The Cherenkov Effect: What Happens When Particles Move Faster Than Light?
The speed of light in a vacuum is the absolute speed limit of the universe. Nothing will go faster than 300,000 kilometers per second (186,000 miles per second), according to Einstein’s work, as it would require an infinite amount of energy to do so. However, that doesn’t mean that light can’t be beaten in terms […]
For 270 Years, The Pacific Was In A Slow El Niño
From 1630 to 1900, the western Pacific experienced El Niño-like conditions, demonstrating that the phenomenon about to play havoc with global weather is not always brief. The finding is also a reminder of how Eurocentric views of historical climate patterns can lead us badly astray. El Niños affect weather worldwide, but their core feature is […]
Is Sparkling Water Bad For You?
For many people, the start of a year is a time for new health resolutions – be it eat more vegetables, consume less sugar or drink more water. Keeping hydrated is essential for body functions such as temperature regulation, transporting nutrients and removing waste. Water even acts as a lubricant and shock absorber for joints. […]
Betelgeuse’s Pulsations Suggest Its Explosion Is Not Far Off
If you saw Orion before it disappeared behind the Sun this year, you may have noticed Betelgeuse’s unusual brightness. Astronomers are unsure of what to make of this brightening, but one team has reinterpreted long-standing patterns in its variability to conclude it is not only in the carbon-burning stage of its life, but nearing that […]
Dazzling “Mushroom Tornado” Captures The Complexity Of Raindrop Spore Dispersal
The devastation of tornadoes has been well documented through history, but did you know that every day there are miniature versions of these rotating columns of air happening all around us? However, though they be small, they are still deadly, capable of spreading spores in a way that can devastate surrounding plant species. One such […]
Can You Really “Address” Annoying Eye Floaters With A Supplement?
If you look up at the sky on a clear day, you might notice little cobweb-like structures drifting across your field of vision. They are known as floaters or, more formally, muscae volitantes – Latin for flying flies. Like regular flies, muscae volitantes are rather pesky, so it’s not surprising that people want to banish […]
Full-Fat Or Low-Fat Cheese And Milk? A Dietitian On Which Is Better
When it comes to dairy products do you tend to buy full-fat or low-fat products? For many people, going for low-fat options can seem like the “healthier” choice. Indeed, a 2020 survey in the US found that out of 1,000 people questioned, one in three sought out “low fat” or “reduced fat” foods or drinks, […]
How Many Types Of Narcissist Are There? A Psychology Expert Sets The Record Straight
Our interest in narcissism has never been higher, with Google searches for the word “narcissist” having steadily increased over the past decade. This term has become part of everyday parlance, readily thrown around to describe celebrities, politicians and ex-partners. A byproduct of our growing interest in narcissism is a curiosity about what types of narcissist […]
Antikythera Mechanism: The True Story Of Indiana Jones’s “Dial Of Destiny”
The fifth Indiana Jones revolves around the so-called “Dial of Destiny,” a time-twisting device supposedly crafted by the ancient Greek mathematician and inventor Archimedes. While its time-traveling credentials are pure nonsense, the titular object is based on a genuine archaeological artifact: the Antikythera mechanism. This remarkable relic was found by sponge divers among a shipwreck […]
Pseduopenis, Aggression, And Matriarchy: The Sex Life Of Africa’s Most Abundant Carnivore
Hyenas are quite an unusual member of the animal kingdom, with powerful bone-crushing jaws and downright weird sex lives. There are four species of hyena in the family Hyaenidea that all live in Africa; spotted, brown, striped, and aardwolf. In spotted hyenas (Crocuta crocuta), society is run by females, who are significantly bigger and more […]
Who Is Archimedes, The Central Ancient Figure In The New Indiana Jones Movie?
Every Indiana Jones movie has its own MacGuffin, an object of importance that has the main good guys and bad guys busy searching and getting into wacky adventures. In the latest film – Dial of Destiny – that object is, you guessed it, an ancient object called the dial of destiny. The movie refers to […]
Australia Becomes First Country To Legalize Psychedelic Therapies
Australia has become the first country in the world to officially legalize the use of psychedelics to treat specific mental health conditions. From July 1, authorized psychiatrists are allowed to prescribe MDMA for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and psilocybin, the active ingredient of magic mushrooms, for drug-resistant depression. Following a decision made in February this […]
