Space junk is a growing issue. From large chunks of rockets to specks of paint, the orbits around Earth are filled with garbage – garbage that moves faster than a bullet and poses a risk to astronauts and other satellites. The number of satellites is growing massively, year on year. Just five years ago, there […]
3,000-Year-Old “Charioteer” Skeleton With Special Belt Discovered In Siberia
An untouched archaeological discovery has been unearthed (literally) in Siberia. Thought to be the skeleton of a charioteer due to a metal object found with the remains, this raises the question about whether horse-drawn chariots had been used in the region. The remains, thought to be around 3,000 years old, were found together with a […]
Post-Menopause Orca Moms Protect Their Large Orca Sons From Whale Fights
The ocean’s apex predators have been getting a bad rap recently – first, they were exposed for attacking boats in Europe and then an unflattering story about salmon hats came out. Now, in a further reminder they are not to be messed with, it’s been revealed that post-menopausal orca moms protect their sons from fights […]
An Asteroid Just Passed Closer To Earth Than The Moon And We Only Noticed Afterward
On July 13, an asteroid passed the Earth at a distance of 100,000 kilometers (60,000 miles). Not only was humanity entirely unaware it was coming, no one even noticed until two days later. If this had been something too small to do damage – like the famous “half-a-giraffe” that may have slashed down off Iceland […]
How Coffee Could Protect Against Alzheimer’s: Espresso Found To Inhibit Tau Proteins
Depending on who you listen to, coffee is either a superfood (well, superdrink) or a health hazard, yet a remarkable new study demonstrates that store-bought Java beans can be used to disrupt the formation of protein plaques that contribute to the development of Alzheimer’s disease. And while the experiments were conducted in a petri dish, […]
What Archaeologists Think Indiana Jones Gets Wrong About Archaeology
This summer, Indiana “Indy” Jones returns to the silver screen in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, the final installment of this decades-long cinematic saga. Since his first outing in Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indy’s whip-cracking adventures have been a source of entertainment and inspiration for many people – there are few who cannot […]
Do We Feel Guilty After Cheating? Survey Reveals Surprising Reality Of Infidelity
Think you know why people cheat, how they feel about it, or the impact it might have on their relationship? You might want to think again if a recent study, which casts doubt on common cheating assumptions, is anything to go by. “Findings from this study challenge widely held notions about infidelity experiences,” its authors […]
Why Do I Have To Take My Laptop Out Of The Bag At Airport Security?
Anyone who has travelled by air in the past 10 years will know how stressful airports can be. You didn’t leave home as early as you should have. In the mad rush to get to your gate, the security screening seems to slow everything down. And to add insult to injury, you’re met with the […]
Avoid Dumping Oil In The Drain, There’s A Fun Method To Dispose Of It
There’s been a lot of hype around air fryers recently, but for foodies like Jay Rayner, nothing beats the indulgent crisp of something that’s been fried in a deep pool of bubbling golden oil (the secret ingredient is danger). However, what’s great for our tastebuds isn’t all that good for the environment as the cooking style results in a […]
How To Keep Your Pets Safe In A Heatwave
As temperatures reach uncomfortably high levels, pets are likely to struggle with the heat. Here’s how to keep them safe during the heatwave. Animals kept in a cage or hutch may find it hard to escape the heat as the sun moves around the garden, so you may need to move them or create shade […]
Phobos, the ‘Doomed’ Moon, Is Going to Crash into Mars
NASA’s Perseverance Rover captured a gorgeous view of Phobos eclipsing the Sun, from the surface of Mars. From the point of view of any Martian microbes lurking out there, the eclipse may have seemed more ominous (yeah ok, there might not be living organisms up there, let alone ones sentient enough to grasp the concept […]
TWIS: Please Stop Phubbing Your Spouse, Death Valley Reaches Hottest Midnight Ever Recorded, And Much More This Week
This week two planets have been spotted appearing to share the same orbit for the first time, we explain why it is extremely unlikely that report suggesting the universe is actually 26.7 billion years old is true, there’s a good reason Einstein makes a cameo in new movie Oppenheimer, and we find out what real […]
Cannabis Use May Trigger Epigenetic Changes, New Study Reveals
Cannabis use, both recent and long-term, has been linked to epigenetic changes in a new study. The researchers found evidence that the drug is associated with DNA methylation, a chemical alteration to the DNA inside human cells. With almost half of adults in the US having tried cannabis at least once, according to some estimates, […]
Does Going Deep Into The Earth Make You Unwell Like Altitude Sickness?
Walking at extreme elevations can lead to fatal altitude sickness, but what happens to people who venture deep into the Earth? Miners and bridge engineers have historically been exposed to atmospheric pressures twice that at the surface, and the toll it took on their bodies was also sometimes fatal. It got us wondering, what does […]
More UFO Secrets On The Way Next Week, With Navy Pilots Set To Testify
Two US Navy pilots are set to testify at a US House Oversight Committee hearing into unidentified flying objects (UFOs) next week. Rep. Tim Burchett announced on Thursday that the committee will provide “firsthand accounts of unidentified anomalous phenomena” at the hearing next Wednesday. Former Navy commander David Braver and former Navy pilot Ryan Graves, […]
Counter Earth: The Belief There Is Another Earth On The Other Side Of The Sun
There is an idea, first proposed thousands of years ago by Greek philosopher Philolaus, that behind the Sun where we can’t see it there lurks a “counter-Earth”, named Antichthon. The theory, strange as it seems today, was likely created as a way to explain lunar eclipses. Lunar eclipses are more frequent than solar eclipses, and […]
A Fish With Teeth Like A Human Was Caught In Oklahoma
Fish with teeth are old news. After all, we all grew up thinking piranhas were going to be a much bigger problem in our daily lives. That said, it never gets old when someone finds a pacu – think piranha, but with dentures. The human-like teeth of pacu have seen them circulate in the press […]
A Dark Secret Lies In The Atacama Desert
Deep in Chile’s Atacama Desert, there lies an ugly monument to fast fashion and cheap online clothing stores: piles upon piles of unsold clothing mounting like synthetic sand dunes. The majority of the world’s clothing is made in China, literally on the other side of the world from Chile. However, huge quantities of the clothes […]
A Map To The Gods: The Sajama Lines Are An Ancient Mystery
A bird’s eye view over the deserts of western Bolivia reveals thousands of dead-straight lines that were etched into the ground thousands of years ago. When exactly, and why they were created, however, remains a bit of a mystery. Know as the Sajama Lines, the geoglyphs are located in the shadow of the Nevado Sajama […]
Massive Relic Galaxy Without Dark Matter Puzzles Astronomers
Our understanding of the universe is incomplete. The best model we have requires the existence of two substances we have yet to prove to exist: dark energy and dark matter. While that is less than ideal, the model has been far better than the alternatives and it has great predictive power. But not knowing how […]
