One hundred years ago on this day, November 4, the tomb of pharaoh Tutankhamun was discovered. Egyptian workers (and possibly a single boy working away from the main area) found the steps to this extremely well-concealed tomb. This archaeological dig was led by British Egyptologist Howard Carter with the patronage of George Herbert, 5th Earl […]
Are Bananas Really “Radioactive”? Clearing Up Common Misunderstandings About Radiation
The simple mention of the word “radiation” often evokes fear in people. For others, it’s fun to think a little exposure to radiation could turn you into the next superhero, just like the Hulk. But is it true basically everything around us is radioactive, even the food we eat? You may have heard bananas are […]
What Is Shadowbanning? How Do I Know If It Has Happened To Me, And What Can I Do About It?
Tech platforms use recommender algorithms to control society’s key resource: attention. With these algorithms they can quietly demote or hide certain content instead of just blocking or deleting it. This opaque practice is called “shadowbanning”. While platforms will often deny they engage in shadowbanning, there’s plenty of evidence it’s well and truly present. And it’s […]
A Helicopter Is Going To Try And Catch A Plummeting Rocket Mid-Air Today
Space startup Rocket Lab is all set to pull off its latest feat today: using a helicopter to catch a rocket booster in mid-air as it plummets back to Earth. The launch window for the “Catch Me If You Can” mission opens today, November 4, between 5:15-6:30 pm UTC (1:15-2:30 pm EST). Best of all, […]
What Are “Indigo Children”? Or, To Be More Accurate, Do They Really Exist?
As a kid, were you more empathetic and aware of your emotions than others? Did you like music and art – even if your potential in those areas was never fully reached? Were you a free and independent thinker, an outsider, sometimes feeling hemmed in by external authority? If so, some may have labeled you […]
Hackers Take One Of World’s Largest Telescopes Offline With Mysterious Motive
One of the world’s most advanced telescopes has been hacked and taken offline, with all astronomical observations suspended, but the motive of the intruders – and when it will be back up and running – remains unclear. On Wednesday, the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) Observatory in Chile announced they had been hit by a cyberattack […]
Crewless Black Hawk Helicopter Pulls Off Complex Mission Autuomously
An autonomous Black Hawk helicopter has cracked on with its latest test flight and shown it safely and reliably perform cargo resupply missions – all without the need for human pilots. In mid-October, the helicopter managed to fly without any crew onboard for 133 kilometers (83 miles) around the Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona while […]
IFLScience The Big Questions: How Does Our Diet Impact The Body’s Ability To Fight Disease?
What and how we eat plays a huge role in keeping us healthy. How our diet can help us when we are fighting off diseases is also vital but not discussed enough. Host Dr Alfredo Carpineti is joined by Dr William Li, physician, scientist, President and Medical Director of the Angiogenesis Foundation, and author of Eat […]
Unexplained Neutrinos Emitted By A Nearby Galaxy Have Been Detected Beneath Antarctica
Messier 77, also known as NGC 1068, is one of the most studied galaxies outside our own, but it can still surprise. Beloved by amateur astronomers for its beautiful spiral shape, Messier 77 has been revealed to be producing many high-energy neutrinos. To find this out researchers had to go, not into space or to […]
Sorry Stoners, Cannabis Probably Doesn’t Make You As Creative As You Think
A surprising correlation between smoking cannabis and creativity levels has been found by new research, indicating that the drug has no effect on creative thought – but does impact how creative the user sees themselves and others. A team of researchers carried out a number of experiments into how moderate everyday cannabis use can affect […]
15 Days To Prevent Disaster: Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant Running On Backup Generator
Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant has been fully cut off from the power grid following shelling by Russian forces, leaving it to rely on backup diesel generators, according to the Ukrainian State Enterprise National Nuclear Energy Generating Company “Energoatom”. The company said that the last lines connecting the power station to the grid were damaged […]
Man Explains Why Giving Up Masturbation Was The “Best Decision” Of His Life. But Are There Really Any Benefits?
There are subreddits for just about everything, from one dedicated to loooooong furbies to one created by a community that likes to staple bread to trees. One that stands out is “nofap“, which acts as a sort of support group for people who (for one reason or another) have chosen to stop masturbating. People in […]
Magic Mushrooms’ Psilocybin Eases Severe Depression In Big New Study
A single dose of psilocybin – the psychedelic compound that puts the “magic” in magic mushrooms – has been shown to significantly reduce the symptoms of depression in people who had previously not benefited from treatment. In the largest study of its kind to date, scientists from Kings College London studied a group of over 200 […]
Stone Age Child Buried With Feathers And Canine Fur Discovered In Finland
Buried beneath a gravel road in a Finnish forest, archaeologists have discovered tooth fragments belonging to a child that lived some 6,000 years ago in the Mesolithic period. And while none of the youngster’s bones survived the intervening millennia, a few animal furs and bird feathers were retrieved from the grave, providing some fascinating insights […]
What Are Those Big Colorful Balls You See On Powerlines?
Take a look at any overhead power lines in the US and you’ll perhaps see a number of big yellow, orange, red, or white balls gripping the wires. Some people have speculated that they are weights for the lines, weather sensors, or even surveillance systems. However, none of these guesses are correct. Along with jazzing […]
A Video From 1938 Has People Convinced Of Time Travel. But What The Hell Is Really Going On?
Last month, we discovered that a bunch of people were convinced of time travel due to a 1937 painting appearing to depict a man holding a cell phone, and reacting like he’d seen a really bad tweet. This month is following in a similar fashion, with people convinced that a 1938 video shows a woman […]
Cholera Outbreaks Rise Across The Globe As Vaccine Stocks Rationed
Worldwide, cases of cholera, the deadly but treatable disease that kills its victims in a particularly messy way – to put it bluntly, you vomit and diarrhea yourself to death – have soared this year, leaving health agencies across the globe scrambling to cope with the increased demand for vaccines. The disease is being reported […]
Another Long March Rocket Set For Uncontrolled Crash Landing
For the fourth time in two years, a giant piece of a Long March 5B rocket is descending to Earth in an uncontrolled fashion. Parts of the rocket could land over much of the planet, with only high latitudes truly safe. Although the chance of debris hitting humans, or even valuable infrastructure, is small for […]
Huge New WhatsApp Update Brings Much-Wanted Feature
WhatsApp has had a major update with the ability to bring multiple groups into a larger community, allowing for individual discussions to be had within groups but updates to be shared with ease across every group at once. Meta claim they have made the communities feature with neighborhoods and schools in mind; so, a […]
Alzheimer’s Drugs Tested In First-Ever Virtual Clinical Trial
A computer model successfully simulated a clinical trial, testing two Alzheimer’s drugs head-to-head in a first-of-its kind study. “We’re calling this a virtual clinical trial, because we used real, de-identified patient data to simulate health outcomes,” said lead author Dr Wenrui Hao, of Penn State University, in a statement. “What we found aligns almost exactly […]