With all the speculation around unidentified flying objects (UFOs) of late, you may have missed that we’re about to make contact with a parallel universe. According to an article doing the rounds on Twitter, researchers at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) are due to get chatty with the parallel universe “within days”. While great news […]
Second Ever Planet Found In a “Tatooine System” Orbiting Two Suns
One of the few planets known to orbit two stars, TOI-1338b, has a giant companion in the same system – only the second time that what is known as a Tatooine System has been found to be multi-planetary. Most known stars are part of binary systems, but we’re still just starting to learn how well […]
In 1797, Henry Cavendish Used Two Small Metal Spheres To Weigh The Entire Earth
If someone asked you to weigh the planet – assuming you haven’t paid much attention during physics in high school – you might not know where to start. How do you weigh a thing you’re standing on? That’s like being asked to weigh your own scales without using a second set of scales. If you’re […]
What Is The ‘Splinternet’? Here’s Why The Internet Is Less Whole Than You Might Think
Splinternet” refers to the way the internet is being splintered – broken up, divided, separated, locked down, boxed up, or otherwise segmented. Whether for nation states or corporations, there’s money and control to be had by influencing what information people can access and share, as well as the costs that are paid for this access. […]
Betelgeuse Is Continuing To Behave Mysteriously – Here’s What Would Happen If It Exploded
The bright, red star Betelgeuse in the constellation Orion has shown some unexpected behaviour. In late 2019 and 2020 it became fainter than we had ever seen it – at least in records going back more than a century. Briefly it became fainter (just about) than Bellatrix, the third brightest star of Orion. This event […]
AI Discovers Giant New Nazca Lines Hidden In Peruvian Desert
Artificial intelligence (AI) has been used to identify a handful of “Nazca Line” geoglyphs that were carved in the deserts of southern Peru thousands of years ago. The collection of colossal ancient carvings – pictured below – depict a pair of legs measuring 78 meters (256 feet) in size, a fish measuring 19 meters (62 […]
Campi Flegrei, Europe’s Supervolcano, Might Be Getting Closer To Rupture
Italy is very geologically active, with many volcanos – some of which have been deadly. However, the largest one doesn’t look like your average volcano at all: Campi Flegrei looks like a depression. It is a caldera with a diameter between 12 to 14 kilometers (7.5-8.7 miles), and part of it is in the sea. […]
This Weird Condition Makes It Possible To Write Messages On Human Skin
With “skin writing” you never get caught short without a pen, as this peculiar condition makes it possible to write messages on human skin with the touch of a finger. Known as dermatographic urticaria, it’s estimated to affect around 2 to 3 percent of the population. Dermatographism, as the condition is known, literally means “to […]
The Center Of The Earth Is 2 Years Younger Than The Surface. It Wasn’t When Earth First Formed
Here’s a fact that would make you sound unhinged if you shouted it in the street: The center of the Earth is two and a half years younger than the surface. About 4.6 billion years ago, a hot cloud of dust orbiting the Sun coalesced and cooled. As it did so, the heavier elements formed […]
You May Need To Revise Your Expectations About Your Perfect Partner’s Height
Spend five minutes on any dating app and you’re bound to find someone who, among the laundry list of qualities they desire in a potential partner, has a very specific view about one particular aspect of human physiology: height. A study looked at people’s preferences for height in romantic partners and found some notable differences […]
Why You Should Never Waste The Stringy Bits On A Banana
Many banana lovers are quick to banish those strange stringy bits that emerge when peeling the fruit, but there are a few good reasons you should savor these strands. Known as phloem bundles, these stringy bits are perfectly edible and surprisingly nutritious. They might be mildly radioactive, but bananas are packed full of goodness. As […]
Will We Ever Get A Jurassic Park?
This article first appeared in Issue 11 of our free digital magazine CURIOUS out now. They say be careful what you wish for, but hot damn, don’t we all want to go to Jurassic Park? Before all of the chaos and carnage and people getting eaten on the toilet, John Hammond’s dream of a dinosaur […]
TWIS: Orcas Ramp Up Their Boat-Destroying Tactics, Billion-Year-Old Rocks Reveal Ancestral “Lost World”, And Much More This Week
This week crocodiles have been documented for the first time reproducing via parthenogenesis, a patient whose life-improving brain implant had to be removed tells of her human-machine symbiosis, and we ask the question: do those with Rhesus-negative blood really descend from aliens? Subscribe to the IFLScience newsletter for all the biggest science news delivered straight […]
100,000 Soldiers: A Geological Oddity Not Seen Anywhere Else In The World
We at IFLScience love a cave. The deeper, bluer, and more terrifying the better. We are also always keen to celebrate the weirdest wonders planet Earth has to offer, and as geological oddballs go, the Trabuc Caves in southern France take the cake. Situated in Mialet, France, the caves are the largest network of underground passages in the […]
Most Expensive Pink Diamond Sells For Record $34 Million In Just 2 Minutes
A pink diamond, described as the “most important pink diamond” to ever come to market, sold for a record-breaking $34.8 million within just two minutes at an auction by Sotheby’s New York on Thursday afternoon. The Eternal Pink is a 10.57-carat diamond that’s said to have a “flawless” clarity. Mined in 2019 at the Damtshaa […]
Some Think Shilajit Is An “Elixir Of Life,” But What Does The Science Say?
Shilajit is a dark sticky substance that has been used in traditional medicine for thousands of years. While there’s a lack of evidence-based scientific studies on this tar-like goo, some modern research has hinted that some of its purported benefits may have an element of truth. What is shilajit made of? The “herbomineral” substance comes […]
US “Doomsday” Plane, Capable Of Surviving Nuclear War, Just Got A Big Revamp
The US Navy has just received a revamped “Doomsday” plane that has been kitted out with new communications hardware to connect the President’s “big red button” to the nation’s nuclear forces. Defense contractor Northrop Grumman recently returned the first E-6B Mercury aircraft to the US Navy after installing five new kits onboard that improve its […]
Who Were The Real Aryans Before The Name Got Co-Opted By Racists?
The idea of the “Aryan race” has been discredited for decades and is now synonymous with racism, notions of racial superiority, and hyper-nationalism. While many may reject it as a bygone designation for a supposed “type” of people, there are still plenty of misunderstandings associated with the term’s origins and where it came from. The […]
After Months Of Warnings, El Niño Has Been Officially Declared
The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)’s Climate Prediction Center has officially declared an El Niño, with all the likelihood of extreme weather that involves. The event comes as no surprise, after months of warnings by the World Meteorological Organization and national climate institutes, but the timing of the announcement reflects the fact the […]
“Elixir Of Life”: Single Amino Acid Could Boost Lifespan By 10 Percent
Taurine could be an inexpensive “elixir of life” by boosting lifespan by up to 10 percent, according to new results in animal models. The amino acid is typically found in meat and fish and declines with age, but keeping it topped up in our bodies cold have a life-extending impact if the results translate to […]
