Astronaut Tim Peake is about to take another trip to space, but this time he’s taking us along. He’s the presenter of a new documentary that, in three parts, will tackle some of the most compelling mysteries of the universe. Each episode will focus on a specific subject, both iconic and intriguing: The Planets, Stars […]
Why Do Toy Guns Have Those Little Orange Tips?
You’ve probably noticed that toy guns – mainly in the USA, but also sometimes elsewhere – have a bright orange tip at the end. In some states, that orange tip is illegal to remove. In the US in the 1930s, toy guns were blamed for perceived increases in aggression in young people. In a good […]
At The Milky Way’s Heart, Stars’ Orbits Become Chaotic In Centuries
One of the great scientific discoveries of the late 20th century is that many systems are chaotic, making them impossible to predict far in advance. No matter how much data we collect on the weather, for example, we can’t be certain if it will be raining a month from now (a different thing from identifying […]
What To Expect From NASA’s Big Announcement On UAPs
NASA is about to release the findings of a much-hyped report on “unidentified anomalous phenomena” (UAP). So, what can we expect from the announcement? The briefing will take place at 10:00 EDT (14:00 UTC) on Thursday, September 14, at the agency’s headquarters in Washington DC. You’ll be able to watch a live stream of the […]
Mysterious Hole On Beach Thought To Be “Cosmic Event” Has Obvious Explanation
Yesterday, several media outlets reported about the mysterious appearance of a hole on Portmarnock beach, Dublin. According to the reports, the crater was found by local resident Dave Kennedy while walking his dog. Inside the hole, he found a rock, which he said he was certain to be a meteorite. Advertisement “When I looked at […]
Giant Humans Have Never And Will Never Exist – Here’s Why
No, giant humans aren’t a thing, despite what a popular conspiracy theory might tell you – and it’s all because of the square-cube law. It seems every time you look away from the Internet for more than a few minutes, there are about five new conspiracy theories to catch up on by the time you […]
Updated COVID-19 Vaccines Are Officially On The Way
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has given Moderna and Pfizer approval to update their mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccines, in the hopes of tackling the latest variants of SARS-CoV-2. Although deaths and hospitalizations due to COVID-19 are lower than in previous years, a recent summer increase in outbreaks of the virus – and, consequently, an […]
Secret Service Agent At JFK Assassination Casts Doubt On Single Bullet Theory
A former secret service agent who was present during the assassination of President John F Kennedy has cast doubt on the “single bullet” theory, sometimes mockingly called the “magic bullet” theory, nearly 60 years after the President’s death. On November 22, 1963, Paul Landis was standing on the running board of a car behind the […]
The Southern Accent Is Disappearing From Parts Of The US, Y’all
The sun is setting on the old Southern drawl, y’all. The classic Southern accent is fading away in parts of the US, according to a new study that’s looked at pronunciation shifts in the state of Georgia. Linguists at the University of Georgia and Georgia Tech have found there has been a significant shift in the […]
Earthquake Lights Have Been Reported In Morocco, But What Are they?
A magnitude 6.8 earthquake struck Morocco’s High Atlas Mountains on Friday, September 8, 2023, making it the biggest to hit the country in 123 years. Some who witnessed the disaster first-hand have reported seeing flashing lights shortly before the earthquake began, and it’s a phenomenon that isn’t unfamiliar to scientists. Earthquake lights is the name […]
Flowering Plants Survived The Mass Extinction That Wiped Out The Dinosaurs
The mass extinction event that killed the dinosaurs is thought to have wiped out nearly 75 percent of all animal species alive at the time. The same is not true for the plant species, however, as new research suggests that the Cretaceous-Palaeogene extinction event (K-Pg), while wiping out local plant species, did not have the […]
Stone Age Carvings In Namibia Depict Incredibly Detailed Human And Animal Tracks
The Stone Age inhabitants of Namibia were so adept at carving human and animal footprints that modern-day Indigenous trackers can tell exactly which species these ancient engravers were depicting in their artworks. When examining over 500 examples of tracks carved into rock faces, the present-day experts were able to identify not only the type of […]
NASA Is About To Make A Big Announcement On Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena
NASA is about to unveil the findings of a major report on UFOs, or “unidentified anomalous phenomena” (UAP) as they are officially known today. The briefing will take place at 10:00 EDT (14:00 UTC) on Thursday, September 14, at the agency’s headquarters in Washington DC. You’ll be able to watch a live stream of the […]
The Great Kantō Fire That Killed Over 105,000 People In 1923
On September 1, 1923, the area surrounding Tokyo, Japan, was struck by a magnitude 7.9 earthquake. The Kantō earthquake, as it is now known, represents one of the deadliest natural disasters in history, killing around 105,000 people. However, 90 percent of those deaths were not caused by the quake or collapsing buildings, but by fires […]
Why People Around The World Started Wearing Pajamas Surprisingly Recently
For most of human history, there is little evidence that we wore special night time clothes when we wanted to have a snooze. Nightgowns as a concept date back to at least 1530, when French linguist John Palsgrave wrote “short coats and tight trousers were a great offence to old writers accustomed to long nightgown […]
Drumming Parrots Flirt To The Beat Of Their Own Drumsticks, Using Unique Designs
Drumming parrots with rock n’ roll crests will drum with sticks to win over potential mates. They’re the only group of parrots we’ve observed using tools regularly in the wild, and new research has uncovered the remarkable diversity of their drumstick designs. Parrots are considered to be one of the most intelligent birds on the […]
Archaeologists Unearth 9,000-Year-Old Campsite Near The Famous “Bad Dürrenberg Shaman”
Archaeologists are currently excavating a Mesolithic hunting site that is contemporaneous to the famous “Shaman of Bad Dürrenberg” in Dehlitz, Germany. The circa 9,000-year-old hunting camp is located about 6 kilometers (3.7 miles) from the shaman’s grave, which sheds light on the lives of people living at the time. In 1934, the remains of a […]
Your Body Produces Its Own Cannabinoids That May Chill You Out
Feeling stressed? Don’t sweat. There’s good evidence to suggest that your body will be pumping out its own “homegrown” cannabinoid compounds that help to chill you out. You might be surprised to hear that the human body naturally produces chemicals that are very similar to delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, better known as THC, the psychoactive compound in cannabis, […]
Conspiracy Theorist Asks “If Dinosaurs Actually Existed, Wouldn’t Their Bones Be Everywhere?”
A video of a conspiracy theorist has gone over the last few days, in which she invites people to put their “critical thinking skills to the test” and asks “If dinosaurs actually existed, wouldn’t their bones be everywhere?” While it’s odd critical thinking to disregard all the evidence we have that dinosaurs existed because we […]
How Did We Actually Take A Picture Of A Black Hole?
Four years ago, the first image of the supermassive black hole (SMBH) at the heart of the Messier 87 galaxy (M87) proved the Internet could be broken by something other than a celebrity’s thirst trap. The excitement was followed up last year by the imaging of the much smaller, but still unimaginably vast, SMBH in […]
