The ancients knew of five planets, objects that moved against the background stars, if one didn’t count the Sun and Moon. Copernicus revealed the Earth was actually one of these, made different only by our presence here, but the assumption remained that this was all there was, passing comets aside. Then in 1781, William Herschell […]
Year’s Worth Of Rain In Single Day Leaves Death Valley With Incredible Ephemeral Lake
The idea of an oasis rising in the middle of a desert to quench the thirst of a stranded soul might sound like something out of a survival movie, but it has become the reality in one of the driest places on Earth. In Death Valley National Park, the aftermath of Hurricane Hilary has created […]
These Weirdo Amphibians Eat Their Own Mom’s Skin To Pass on Bacteria
Caecilians, a mysterious type of limbless amphibian that dwells underground, just got even weirder. Young caecilians effectively eat their mother alive, munching on her tissues to aid with their early development. The mother produces a special layer of fatty skin tissue, which their babies gnaw off using specialized teeth and consume. Mmm, delicious. It was […]
Why Do Some People Die In Their Sleep?
It’s a pretty human thing to think about our mortality, particularly when it comes to the prospect of how it might happen. For some, they might be worried about dying in their sleep – but thankfully, unless you have a particular medical condition, the chance of that happening is relatively low. There are a number […]
The Biggest Insect To Ever Creep The Earth Was A Giant Dragonfly-Like Bug
Long before birds ruled the sky, a giant dragonfly-like beast earned the title of being the largest known insect of all time. Known as Meganeuropsis permiana, this extinct bug had an estimated wingspan of 71 centimeters (28 inches), around the size of a well-fed pigeon. Remains of Meganeuropsis permiana suggested it looked a lot like […]
Get Ready For October’s Blood Moon Partial Lunar Eclipse This Weekend
It’s October, which means it’s spooky season and in some fantastic astronomical timing, the Sun, Moon, and Earth have all lined up to give us a Blood Moon partial lunar eclipse this weekend, where the Earth will appear to take a bite out of the Moon like a cosmic vampire. Lunar eclipses occur when the […]
Flatworm Takes On A Spider On Its Own Web – And Wins
Just a few days ago we reported on how spiders are masters of not getting tangled in their own webs – but that doesn’t mean the silken traps are safe spaces for them. In the first known case of its kind, scientists have witnessed a spider being attacked and killed on its own web by […]
Fierce Hunters Sparkle With Bioluminescence In The Twilight Zone, But It’s Under Threat
During World War II, the seabed started moving. At least, that’s what it looked like to sonar technicians who couldn’t figure out why the ocean depth kept changing dramatically from night to day. We now know that this “false seafloor” was the result of deep scattering layers, walls consisting of millions of animals that undergo […]
Mysterious 1.8-Million-Year-Old Hominid Was As Broad As A Modern Human
The collarbone of an unknown hominid that lived in East Africa around 1.8 million years ago is remarkably similar in length and curvature to that of a barrel-chested modern man. Discovered in Tanzania in 2005, the ancient fossil provides evidence that our ancient ancestors may have been as broad as we are, despite differences in […]
Simulation Shows How Aliens Should Be Expanding Throughout The Universe
The more we learn about planets inside and outside our Solar System, the more difficult the question “Well, where the hell are aliens then?” seems to become. As well as finding a slew of planets in the habitable zones around their stars and locating new classes of exoplanets that may be good candidates for life, […]
When An Essential Substance Used In Chemistry Turned Out Not To Exist
In 2018, a team of researchers attempting to investigate the use of sulfide solutions to reduce mercury emissions from alumina refineries made another, bigger discovery: an ion once considered an essential part of chemistry calculations simply does not exist. While investigating the use of sulfide solutions to reduce mercury emissions, the team began looking at […]
Cosmonauts Find Growing Blob Outside International Space Station
Cosmonauts on board the International Space Station (ISS) conducted a spacewalk in order to fix a leaking radiator on Wednesday. The leak, confirmed earlier this month by Russian space agency Roscosmos, came from the backup radiator mounted on the outside of the Nauka module launched in 2021. The main radiator remains operational, but Rosmocos scheduled […]
Hundreds Of Roman Empire Forts Revealed By Cold War Spy Satellites
Declassified imagery from Cold War-era spy satellites has revealed hundreds of long-lost Roman forts across Syria and Iraq. Ancient forts were first documented in the Near East in the 1920s when Jesuit priest Father Antoine Poidebard undertook one of the world’s first aerial archaeological surveys. His studies counted a line of 116 forts, suggesting that […]
Strange Noises Explained By Spider And Exoskeleton Inside Woman’s Ear
A woman who began hearing strange noises turned out to have a spider living in her ear, alongside an exoskeleton it had shed while occupying her head. The 64-year-old showed up at an otolaryngology clinic after four days of abnormal beating, clicking, and rustling sounds keeping her awake. She had a pretty clear idea of […]
Papyrus Containing Egyptian Book Of The Dead Found Alongside Mummies At Ancient Cemetery
Archaeologists in Egypt have discovered an exceptionally long papyrus scroll containing excerpts from the legendary Book of the Dead alongside the mummified inhabitants of an ancient cemetery. Located within the Tuna el-Gebel necropolis, the newly unearthed graveyard served as the final resting place for senior officials and priests during the New Kingdom, which existed between […]
Two Deep-Sea Coral Reefs Have Been Discovered Off The Galápagos Islands
Two pristine coral reefs have been discovered deep underwater off the Galápagos Islands, surprising Schmidt Ocean Institute scientists piloting the remote-operated vehicle (ROV) SuBastian. The discovery was made during an expedition that had set out to study underwater cliff ecosystems and came away with two new coral reefs and some previously uncharted sea mounts to […]
Spooky Green Foxfire Could Be Lighting Up A Forest Near You
In a weird quirk of the natural world, lots of species glow. From dormice to puffins, they are lighting up under UV light for reasons scientists still aren’t sure about. While the sea has a bioluminescent glow created by dinoflagellates, known as sea sparkle, fungi are also joining the glow up, with their own bioluminescence […]
Lasers Power A Particle Accelerator That (Almost) Fits On A Coin
Medieval philosophers debated how many angels could dance on the head of a pin; modern scientists are getting close to sticking a particle accelerator on one instead. Particle physicists have announced the demonstration of a nano-accelerator that uses lasers to push electrons to high speeds. Naturally tiny machines like this are not going to replace […]
The Hammerhead Bat Is Real, But You Don’t Need To Be Scared
Some animals look more like Pokémon than Pokémon do, and this is surely true of the hammerhead bat. With the intimidating species name Hypsignathus monstrosus, it sounds like a villain, but the hammerhead bat is a fruit-slurping sweety. Also known as the hammer-headed fruit bat, or – our personal favorite – the big-lipped bat, it […]
Infrared Aurora Seen On Uranus For The First Time
An infrared aurora has been spotted on Uranus for the very first time, providing insights into the strange magnetic fields that can be found on the solar system’s distant icy giants. Down here on Earth, aurorae are caused by solar winds clashing with highly energetic charged particles in the atmosphere, resulting in the particles emitting […]
