There are all sorts of things that can turn a guy off, but the smell of female tears could be one of the most unexpected. Research conducted over a decade ago suggested that sniffing the emotional secretions of crying women reduces subjective levels of sexual arousal in men, while also lowering testosterone and dampening activity […]
IFLScience The Big Questions: How Does A Quantum Computer Work And How Will They Change The World?
The path beyond the limits of regular computers, even the most powerful supercomputer, lies with the theory of quantum mechanics. Quantum computing promises to change the world, but how do quantum computers work, and how close are we to this fabled new approach to computation? Host Dr Alfredo Carpineti spoke with Professor Winfried Hensinger, Professor of […]
Planet Vulcan: The Lost 19th Century World Einstein “Erased” From Our Solar System
In 1846, astronomer and mathematician Urbain Le Verrier sat down and attempted to locate a planet that had never been seen before by humans. Uranus (grow up) had been moving in unexpected ways, as predicted by the Newtonian theory of gravity. Though the discrepancies were small, there was a difference between the observed orbit of Uranus […]
The Most Spectacular Way The Universe Might End? Meet “Vacuum Decay”
There is a lot of speculation about the end of the universe. Humans love a good ending after all. We know that the universe started with the Big Bang and it has been going for almost 14 billion years. But how the curtain call of the cosmos occurs is not certain yet. There are, of […]
X-Ray Of A Single Atom Achieved In World First
Thinking of X-rays might trigger memories of broken bones or dental check-ups. But this extremely energetic light can show us more than just our bones: it is also used to study the molecular world, even biochemical reactions in real-time. One issue, though, is that researchers have never been able to study a single atom with […]
Enormous Structure Found Hiding Under The Surface Of The Moon
The Moon has one of the largest preserved craters in the Solar System, the South Pole-Aitken Basin, located on the far side of our satellite. The area is central to many investigations, with India’s first lunar lander aiming for the region, Artemis 3 hoping to land humans at the South Pole, and perhaps most curiously, […]
What Makes Super Glue So Damn Sticky?
The science of super glue is nothing like watching paint dry. Within this situation-saving liquid, there’s some fascinating yet relatively simple chemistry going on. Like many other good discoveries, super glue was invented by accident. The person credited with its creation is Dr Harry Coover, a chemist from the US who was attempting to make […]
First Giant Solar Eruption To Hit Earth, The Moon, And Mars At Once Recorded
On October 28, 2021, the Sun released a coronal mass ejection. A large swathe of plasma, electrically charged particles from the Sun, was thrown into the Solar System. The material spread out, fanning out and reaching the planets. And for the first time, it was detected on Earth, on the Moon, and on Mars, as […]
New Algorithm Hunting For Dangerous Asteroids Spots Its First One During Test
A special algorithm designed to spot dangerous near-Earth asteroids appears to be so good it has spotted its very first one during an initial test. The Vera C. Rubin Telescope is expected to come online in August 2024. Among the many incredible observations and surveys that it will conduct will be a 10-year survey of […]
Mokele-Mbembe: The “Living Dinosaurs” People Thought Lived In The Congo
Do sauropods live in the Congo? No, but that didn’t stop the idea from circulating in the not-so-distant past. The “dinosaur” in question was said to be a long-necked rotund sauropod-like herbivore that waded through swamps and rivers. It’s big in the cryptozoology circles, but its origins, like many cryptids, are murky. The mysterious animal […]
The Silurian Hypothesis: Might Earth Have Hosted A Sophisticated Civilization Millions Of Years Before Our Existence?
In Doctor Who, an alien species called the Silurians exists – technologically-advanced humanoid reptiles who lived long before humans, going into hiding and being basically undiscovered again until everyone’s favorite time-traveling alien came along in his phone box. So far, so not science. However, in 2018 two University of Cambridge scientists named their paper – The […]
A Self-Healing Metal Has Been Discovered For The First Time
A metal that fills in cracks in itself without human intervention could be the key to making self-healing machines and infrastructure that could save trillions in repairs and maintenance. Things get more alarming if you think about applying it to robots, but maybe we’re there already. Metallic parts develop small cracks under repeated stress, known […]
Is LK-99 A Superconductor Or Not? What To Know About Recent Superconductor Claims
Last week, with no major fanfare, a paper appeared on the pre-print server ArXiv claiming that the holy grail of superconductivity has been achieved. Korean scientists claimed that they had created a superconductor – materials that conduct electricity perfectly without losing energy – that can work outside lab conditions at room temperature and ambient pressure. […]
Heavy Rain Events Can Trigger Damaging Earthquakes Even Within Tectonic Plates
An unusual earthquake that damaged villages in France’s Rhône Valley appears to have been caused by heavy rain. Although no one was killed in this event and its impact was quite localized, the findings show that human effects on climate can have unexpected indirect consequences we haven’t taken into account. Most earthquakes, particularly larger ones, take place […]
First Sighting Of Rare Pink Bird In Wisconsin In 178 Years Delights Birdwatchers
Watching birds in the wild has been found to have positive effects on your mental health as well as allowing you to spend time appreciating the great outdoors. Whether you see a snowy owl in Central Park or a bird that’s been missing since 1882, there is always something to be enjoyed. Recently, birders in […]
Is The Gulf Stream Really Going To Collapse In Just A Few Years?
Last week, you might have seen a bunch of news stories about a new study that found the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), “the conveyor belt of the ocean” that carries warm water from the tropics northwards to the North Atlantic, is potentially facing collapse within the century. Some fairly sensational reporting of the study […]
Black Bones, Tissue, And Organs: The Curious Case Of The Goth Chicken
One of the blackest animals on Earth is a chicken. In Java, Indonesia, where the bird is native, it’s known as Ayam Cemani. Across the internet, the majestic hyper-melanistic bird is known as the goth chicken. Black bones, tissue, and organs are rare in the animal kingdom, and the Ayam Cemani chicken is one of […]
What The Cheese Paradox Reveals About Vegetarians’ Moral Decision Making
While the meat paradox explains how people are able to be both animal lovers and meat eaters, the cheese paradox outlines a complex process of cognitive dissonance that allows those who practice ethical vegetarianism to still consume animal products sourced through wholly unethical means. Inspired by the meat paradox, a new study by researchers in […]
People Are Learning Others Can Smell Ants And It’s Freaking Them Out
Scientists of the world, we have a request: please investigate the claim that some people can detect the smell of ants while others can’t. It’s painfully urgent. Everyone now and again, a viral post will go around in which some people claim they can smell ants. In one TikTok video sharing the apparent fact, the […]
Impossible Colors Exist And You Can Train Your Eyes To See Them
This article first appeared in Issue 10 of our free digital magazine CURIOUS. Have you ever seen the color yellow-blue? No, we don’t mean green – we’re talking about a color that’s simultaneously blue and yellow at the same time. OK, it’s hard to picture, as is the idea of a color that’s exactly as red […]
