When humans were busy pummeling the Earth with atomic bombs in the latter half of the 20th century, turtles and tortoises across the world were quietly (and very slowly) getting on with their lives. Unbeknownst to them, the legacy of the dreadful explosions was becoming deeply imprinted into their shells. New research has studied the […]
India Becomes Fourth Nation To Successfully Land On The Moon
India did it. The lander and rover of the Chandrayaan-3 mission reached the surface of the Moon, landing as expected on Wednesday, August 23 at 12:34 pm UTC (8:34 am EST). This makes India the fourth nation to successfully soft land on the Moon, after the Soviet Union, the United States, and China. Chandrayaan-3 has […]
We Might Know What People In Ancient Rome Smelled Like
In Roman Spain, some 2,000 years ago, people may have been dousing themselves with the musky scent of patchouli, recent research hints. The study marks the first time that the composition of a Roman perfume has been identified, offering us a rare whiff of a bygone empire. The perfume, which has solidified after two millennia […]
Can You Cry Underwater?
Curious Kids is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to [email protected]. Can you cry underwater? – Rosie, age 17, Bedford, New Hampshire Your eyes are constantly coated by tears, made of oil, water and mucus. Advertisement When someone is emotional, their […]
Fiber Is Your Body’s Natural Guide To Weight Management – Rather Than Cutting Carbs Out Of Your Diet, Eat Them In Their Original Fiber Packaging Instead
Fiber might just be the key to healthy weight management – and nature packages it in perfectly balanced ratios with carbs when you eat them as whole foods. Think unprocessed fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans, nuts and seeds. Research suggests that carbohydrates are meant to come packaged in nature-balanced ratios of total carbohydrates to fiber. […]
First-Ever “Seeds” Of Supermassive Black Holes May Have Been Discovered
Supermassive black holes can weigh millions if not billions of times more than the Sun. They lay at the center of galaxies where they accumulate mass over billions of years. But how did they start? Astronomers are not so sure. They could begin as relatively small black holes formed in supernovae, and then somehow accumulate […]
Spotless Giraffe Born At Tennessee Zoo Thought To Be Only One In The World
Nature is pretty good at coming up with clever color patterns to help animals hide from or deter predators, keeping them camouflaged against a backdrop of rainforest trees or tall grasses. Sometimes, however, genetic mutations can throw a spanner in the works, creating unusual variations of typical animal colors. Now, a new giraffe calf has […]
Mysterious Cyberattack Shuts Down Yet More Telescopes For Weeks
A cyberattack on the National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory (NOIRLab) research center for ground-based astronomy has left several large telescopes unable to operate for weeks. The attack took place on August 1, when NOIRLab say they detected a “cyber incident” in their computer systems, requiring them to suspend astronomical observations at the Gemini North telescope […]
Ecuador Votes To Block Amazon Oil Drilling In Victory For Uncontacted Tribes
A historic referendum has seen the people of Ecuador vote in favor of halting new oil drilling projects in the Amazonian Yasuní national park, signaling a major victory for the uncontacted tribes who call this forest their home. The vote took place on Sunday, August 20 in the first round of the country’s presidential elections. […]
Ancient Megafauna Were Likely Killed By Human-Set Fires 13,000 Years Ago
Researchers examining fossilized remains in the La Brea Tar Pit, Southern California, have come to a disturbing conclusion. According to a new, in-depth analysis, changing temperatures and human activity led to more wildfires at the end of the Pleistocene era, which caused the extinction of megafauna species that once thrived in the area. The results […]
Mars Simulation Finds One Personality Type Should Probably Not Colonize The Red Planet
A new study has run simulations of colonies on Mars to determine the ideal number of Martian residents needed for such a settlement to survive, also finding that certain personality types should probably steer clear of such a mission. Should humans ever decide to create a permanent outpost on another planet (and remember, humans have […]
Lolita The 57-Year-Old Orca Dies Shortly Before Her Release From Captivity
Earlier this year it was announced that Lolita the orca, also known as Tokitae or Toki, was finally set to be released back into her Pacific Northwest home after more than 50 years in captivity. However, as preparations were being made, it was announced that the elderly orca passed away on Friday afternoon from a […]
The “Useless” Yolk Sacs Of Human Embryos Actually Serve An Important Function
Do you ever spare a thought for your yolk sac? Of course not, you’re too busy thinking of yourself (or possibly never knew that it existed), but new research has discovered we have a lot to thank human yolk sacs for. It might sound like a vestige of evolution left behind by our distant relatives, […]
Teenage Smoking Linked To Reduced Gray Matter In Key Brain Regions
People who start smoking in their mid-teens may have less gray matter in two brain regions that play a central role in pleasure-seeking, self-control, and risk-taking. Analyzing brain imaging data from over 800 people aged 14, 19, and 23, researchers discovered that both the left and right ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) appeared smaller in those […]
6 Science-Backed Benefits Of The Mediterranean Diet And How To Implement It
Google “the Mediterranean diet” and you’ll find search results suggesting it has numerous health benefits tied to the gut microbiome, improved pregnancy outcomes, and even erectile dysfunction. While a diet claiming to be a cure-all is nothing new, what makes the Mediterranean diet stand out is that some of its alleged perks are actually backed […]
Tooth Regeneration Breakthrough Could Lead To “Living Fillings”
Scientists are saying they’ve made a “critical first step” in developing a treatment that could allow people to regenerate their lost or broken teeth. With further work, they hope this breakthrough could be used to make “living filings” that grow and produce real enamel to regrow the tooth. In a new study, researchers from the […]
99 Percent Of Earth’s Gold Is In Its Core
Right now, you’re standing on a goldmine. There’s so much gold on Earth you could cover every bit of land on the planet in it to a depth of 50 centimeters (20 inches), according to one calculation. So why is gold so rare that it’s a byword for preciousness? Because almost all of it has […]
NASA’s Psyche Mission To A Metal World May Reveal The Mysteries Of Earth’s Interior
French novelist Jules Verne delighted 19th-century readers with the tantalizing notion that a journey to the center of the Earth was actually plausible. Since then, scientists have long acknowledged that Verne’s literary journey was only science fiction. The extreme temperatures of the Earth’s interior – around 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit (5,537 Celsius) at the core – […]
A 350-Year-Old Theorem Can Explain The Quantum Properties Of Light
Light can behave both as a wave and a particle, a head-scratcher that confused scientists for centuries before the fact became obvious. This duality is a cornerstone of quantum mechanics, and the peculiar behavior of the quantum world has mostly left classical mechanics theorems behind in the realm of things our own size. A research […]
Hogfish Can Sense Light With Their Skin – Even When They’re Dead
Hogfish, like many reef-dwelling sea creatures, are experts in changing the color of their skin – and it turns out they don’t even have to be alive to do so. Without the use of their eyes, how can hogfish detect the environmental changes that lead them to color shift in the first place? Researchers believe […]
