The JWST has added to our knowledge of the first “habitable zone” planet beyond the Solar System around which we detected atmospheric water. The spectrum the space telescope obtained shows strong evidence of carbon dioxide and methane, both gases that can have biological origins but are also common without. More significantly, but much more tentatively, […]
Extinct Human Relatives Make An Unexpected Voyage To Space
Two ancient human ancestors have achieved the unlikely achievement of becoming “post-mortem astronauts” after parts of their fossilized skeletons were blasted into space late last week. Fossilized remains of a 2-million-year-old hominin species called Australopithecus sediba and a 250,000-year-old species named Homo naledi were launched on Virgin Galactic’s spaceship, VSS Unity, on September 8, 2023. […]
“Inverse Vaccine” Could Reverse Symptoms Of Multiple Autoimmune Diseases
A newly developed vaccine could be used to reverse the symptoms of several autoimmune diseases, like multiple sclerosis and type 1 diabetes, without shutting down the entire immune system. Why an “inverse vaccine”? Vaccines normally work to increase immunity, which is the opposite of how you’d want to treat an autoimmune disease, where the immune […]
How Many People Have Lived On Earth So Far?
At some point, somebody has probably told you that the number of people alive on Earth right now outnumbers the number of dead who have ever lived. It might seem a plausible idea. The human population – fueled by industrialization and farming improvements – grew significantly in the last two centuries, from 1.6 billion in […]
Could A Single Drug Treat The Two Leading Causes Of Death In The US: Cancer And Cardiovascular Disease?
What would you guess are the two biggest killers in the world? Based on media coverage, maybe you guessed gun violence, accidents or COVID-19. But the top two killers are actually cardiovascular disease and cancer. These two diseases combined account for nearly 50% of deaths in the U.S. Cardiovascular disease and cancer seem to be […]
“Brainless” Soft Robots Wriggle Out Of A Maze With No Help From Humans
You might think the above image shows a couple of pieces of string, but these unassuming little things are so much more than that. They’re actually robots, created without “brains” or computerized intelligence, but capable of wiggling their way out of some very complex spaces. The team behind this breakthrough, from North Carolina State University, […]
Stealthy Water Scorpions’ Most Unique Feature Does Something Very Weird
Which scorpion sounds like a scorpion, looks like a scorpion, but isn’t a scorpion? Why, it’s the water scorpion, of course, known scientifically as Nepa cinerea. These unique aquatic insects have some truly peculiar adaptations that have shaped them into stealthy underwater hunters with what’s effectively a snorkel sticking out of their butts. Water scorpions […]
Is Planet Earth Running Out Of Helium?
Apart from being a children’s favorite for making your voice squeaky at the end of a birthday party, helium has lots of surprising and very unusual qualities and applications in the world. Despite being the second most abundant element in the universe, helium is actually pretty rare on Earth and it’s only getting more so. […]
Humans And Neanderthals Interbred A Lot More Than We Once Assumed
The first humans to make it into Europe were quick to get “friendly” with the Neanderthals they met there. A number of recent studies have not only confirmed that Homo sapiens and Neanderthals regularly interbred but they did so more frequently than previously assumed. The evidence is useful for our understanding of how humans migrated out […]
Where Is The Longest Stretch Of Beach In The World?
If you enjoy a nice, long stroll on the beach, here’s a new challenge – around 226 kilometers (140 miles) of continuous sandy shoreline. Stretching all the way from Brazil to its border with Uruguay, Praia do Cassino is the longest sea beach in the world. Beginning in the historic seaport city of Rio Grande, […]
A Third Of Brits Wash Their Towel Every Three Months
A bathroom towel welcomes millions upon millions of bacterial visitors after just a single use, so it might worry you to hear that a concerning proportion of people only wash their towels a couple of times a year (at least if this survey from the UK is anything to go by). A recent study courtesy […]
Alternative Theory Of Gravity Could Give Black Holes Hair
The “no-hair theorem” of black holes, which greatly simplifies the way we model them, may not be true if an alternative theory of gravity known as the teleparallel formulation is correct, an unpublished paper argues. This could make the study of black holes considerably more complicated, but it would also allow physicists to understand them […]
Ritualistic Artifacts Belonging To Sorcerers Uncovered On Hajj Pilgrimage Route
During the 1990s, locals and archaeologists recovered some unusual items in the mountains of the Eilat region in Southern Israel, on a route that was often taken by pilgrims traveling to Mecca. Now, researchers believe the items were used by types of sorcerers who performed popular magic ceremonies. The research was conducted by Dr Itamar […]
Barren “Moonscape” Becomes A Wildlife Haven In Island Rewilding Win
A rewilding success story is being celebrated in the Caribbean where, in just a few short years, the barren moonscape of the island of Redonda has been transformed into a lush wildlife sanctuary. Now named the Redonda Ecosystem Reserve, it’s been assigned protected status, becoming one of the largest protected areas in the Caribbean. Spanning […]
If You Want To Spot Comet Nishimura, Tomorrow Could Be Your Best Chance
Tomorrow’s the day if you want to have the best possible chance of gazing upon the green spectacle of Comet Nishimura. You’ll need to be prepared for an early start, but this comet takes 437 years to do a lap of the Solar System, so we really are talking about a once in a lifetime […]
Ethiopia’s Controversial Megadam Threatens A Water War With Egypt
Ethiopia has completed the final phase of filling a reservoir for its highly controversial hydroelectric dam on the Blue Nile River, much to the annoyance of Egypt who fear it could sever them from the Nile’s precious waters. Fueled by climate change and ongoing geopolitical tension, it’s often been said that the problem of water […]
Blood Rain: Brits Wake Up To Weird Layer Of Dust Covering Their Cars
Over the weekend, a lot of people living in the UK woke up and found their cars were dirtier than they would usually be. Brits found a layer of dust covering their vehicles or windows. The dust, of course, did not target cars but cars are especially good at showing up the dirt. Advertisement ⓘ IFLScience […]
Perseverance Produces Enough Oxygen To Keep Small Dog Alive For 10 Hours On Mars
NASA’s Perseverance rover has now produced enough oxygen to keep a small dog alive on Mars for 10 hours, NASA has announced, despite no plans to weird a dog out shortly before its demise. When Perseverance landed on Mars in February 2021, it took with it the Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment (MOXIE) aimed […]
Movement Detected On The Moon Appears To Be Coming From The Apollo 17 Lander
In the 1970s, astronauts placed three seismometers on the lunar surface, to collect data between October 1976 and May 1977. A new study has looked at this seismograph data, discovering that some of the repeating tremors appear to be coming from the Apollo 17 lander. When earthquakes occur on Earth, waves of energy are sent […]
World’s Largest Lithium Trove Found Under Ancient Volcano In US
The planet’s largest-known lithium deposit may have been found hiding beneath an ancient supervolcano along the Nevada–Oregon border in the US. Given the skyrocketing demand for lithium, this deposit could be a treasure trove – although obtaining it could come with a bunch of challenges and dangers. An estimated 20 to 40 million metric tons […]
