It is hard to know the details surrounding the lives of prehistoric people, especially when their remains are recovered in unusual places – and especially when they died under mysterious circumstances. One example is the so-called “Vittrup Man”, a partial skeleton recovered from a peat bog in northern Denmark during the early 20th century. For […]
CRISPR Pigs Immune To Blue-Ear Disease Could Soon Be On The Market
Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) has become a global issue, affecting pig farms since around the 1980s. A new type of gene editing hopes to tackle the fatal disease by creating CRISPR pigs that are immune – and it’s expected they could reach the market within two years. Also known as “blue-ear pig disease,” […]
Semi-Transparent Cells Could Turn Windows Into Solar Energy Collectors
Scientists in South Korea have announced a step forward in the development of semi-transparent perovskite solar cells that could someday allow windows to generate energy. In the latest tests, the semi-transparent perovskite solar cells achieved an efficiency of over 21 percent, which the researchers claim is a record for this type of technology. Furthermore, over […]
What Do Women Look For In Personal Pleasure Toys? We Finally Have Some Answers
Sometimes, science is about discovering new life, curing the incurable, or sending humanity to the stars. Sometimes, it’s about finding the ideal shape for a vaginally insertable plastic penis. Today, friends, is one of those days. A new study has asked the question that’s secretly been on all of our minds: does size really matter […]
Married People May Be Less Likely To Go Around Phubbing, Surprisingly
Phubbing. Depending on who you ask, it’s either the scourge of modern society or really not that big of a deal. It’s been linked to all sorts, from loneliness, to relationship woes. But one recent study produced a surprising result – contrary to every depiction of family life that you’ve ever seen on 21st-century television, […]
240-Million-Year-Old Fossilized “Chinese Dragon” Fully Revealed For The First Time
The remains of a 240-million-year-old marine reptile with an uncanny resemblance to a mythical Chinese dragon have been pierced together by paleontologists for the first time. Known as Dinocephalosaurus orientalis, the 5-metre (16-foot) long beast was a native of southwestern China during the Triassic period. While the species was first identified in 2003, its appearance […]
US Makes History With Its First Moon Landing In Over 50 Years
“What we can confirm, without a doubt, is our equipment is on the surface of the Moon and we are transmitting.” Those were the words from flight director Tim Crain yesterday, as private company Intuitive Machines confirmed its lander Odysseus successfully touched down on the lunar surface, making history in the process. It marks the […]
JWST Finds A Neutron Star In Remnant Of SN1987a, The Last Naked-Eye Supernova
The supernova 1987a left behind a neutron star, and the JWST has finally found it, offering astronomers their best chance to examine the early days of this astronomical phenomenon. Although older supernova remnants within our own galaxy provide much closer opportunities to study matter in its most extreme form, this helps build a picture of […]
Electron’s Charge Seen Splintering Into Fractions In Graphene For The First Time
The elementary charge is a fundamental constant of the universe. We call it simply e. Protons have a value of +e and electrons are -e. Depending on how familiar you are with physics, you might have heard that the quarks that make protons have a fractional charge, but we do not worry about that because […]
Granite: Ancient Wonders, Middle Ages, To Modern Marvels
You may think of granite as little more than a fancy material for making kitchen countertops out of, and that’s… not wrong, exactly. But it’s not the whole story. Granite is born in the Earth’s molten mantle, and turns up just about everywhere on the planet. It’s hard and durable, so good for building; it […]
Redditor Asks Why Looking Through Cheese Crackers Improves Their Vision
Over on Reddit, one user has an unusual question about their vision: why is it improved by looking through the holes in Country Cheese crackers? “I was just in bed eating crackers and decided to look at the TV through the holes in the cracker,” the Redditor explained in the AskScience subreddit, “low and behold […]
Long COVID Symptoms Linked To High Levels Of Inflammatory Protein
A new study has identified a protein that, when it persists, appears to be linked to the symptoms of long COVID. As a result, it could represent an easier way to diagnose the condition and potentially even a new avenue for treatment. Researchers first recruited 55 patients with long COVID, all of whom were experiencing […]
New Species Of 23-Million-Year-Old Dolphin Thought To Snap Up Fish In The Shallows
There have been a number of ancient fossil dolphins discovered over the years that are famous mostly for their big teeth, though one species lost theirs to slurp up squid. Most believe the teeth of these ancient dolphin species were used for thrusting forwards towards large prey; however, a newly described dolphin called Aureia rerehua […]
Some Of Earth’s Oldest Biomass Reveals Biological Diversity Soon After Life Began
Three and a half billion years ago life had not only found a way, but diversified, so that all these years later we can observe differences in what was left behind. The Earth has undergone so many cycles of geologic uplift and destruction that there is very little left of the rocks from the time […]
Tiny Neck Brace Created For Peruvian Jumping Stick At Houston Zoo
Working in a zoo presents challenges of all kinds, from working to engage the public with conservation issues to making sure every animal has the highest standard of care and welfare. Over at Houston Zoo, the team is doing just that – down to some of the smallest residents. In the Bug House, a Peruvian jumping […]
Whale Falls: How Dead Whales Go On To Feed An Entire Ecosystem
When animals are killed by predators on land in the wild, there’s a good chance scavengers will descend upon the carcass pretty quickly, saving everybody the problem of burial. The same is true in the ocean. Essentially, if there are predators out there who do not finish the whole meal, you better believe something will […]
NASA Wants People To Pretend To Be Martians For A Whole Year
NASA hopes to have astronauts on Mars in the near future. It is not going to be an easy journey and being on another world will be extremely dangerous. The space agency wants to be there as prepared as possible. And part of that requires volunteers who want to take part in a 12-month-long simulation […]
Watch Live As The US Tries To Land Back On The Moon After Over 40 Years
Today is the day! In just a few hours, Intuitive Machines might be making history. They could become the first private company to soft-land on the Moon. The company’s lander, named Odysseus (also known as IM-1), launched last week, and it is scheduled to land on February 22 at 17:49 EST (22:49 UTC) inside Malapert […]
Over 100 Never-Before-Seen Species Discovered Along Deep Sea Mountain Range
More than 100 new species have been discovered on an underwater mountain range off the coast of Chile. Among the never-before-seen critters seen on the expedition are corals, glass sponges, sea urchins, amphipods, lobsters, plus a gaggle of peculiar fish and squid that are already known to science (but no less strange). The discoveries come […]
Newly Discovered Cretaceous Mammal Was An Absolute Unit
In the Cretaceous Period, dinosaurs were big, and mammals were small. At least, that’s been the general view – until very recently, when a slew of larger ancient fuzzies started turning up in the fossil record. None, however, come anywhere close to the size of Patagomaia chainko: a brand-new Late Cretaceous mammal reckoned to have […]