If you’re unhappy with the size of your nose then you now have someone to blame, as new research has revealed that certain genes responsible for increasing schnoz length can be traced back to our extinct Neanderthal cousins. According to the study authors, the ancient hominids may have evolved large noses to help them cope […]
Why Is Nature Full Of Patterns?
This article first appeared in Issue 7 of our free digital magazine CURIOUS. In science, we often stumble upon profound questions about what is real and what is perceived. Quantum mechanics and the uncertainty principle is a fan favorite, for example. A more subtle question we might encounter is about naturally occurring patterns. From snowflakes […]
Online Predators Target Children’s Webcams, Study Finds
There has been a tenfold increase in sexual abuse imagery created with webcams and other recording devices worldwide since 2019, according to the Internet Watch Foundation. Social media sites and chatrooms are the most common methods used to facilitate contact with kids, and abuse occurs both online and offline. Increasingly, predators are using advances in […]
Arcturus: What To Know About The New COVID Variant, Omicron XBB.1.16
A new COVID variant XBB.1.16, or “Arcturus”, has now been identified in at least 34 countries including the UK. Arcturus is a subvariant of omicron and was first detected in India in January 2023. Advertisement As of April 17, the latest date up to which the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has reported data on […]
Are There Still “Hobbits” Living In Indonesia?
At one point in time, Homo sapiens – that is, the group of great apes that includes you and me, but not, say, a chimpanzee or an orangutan – was just one of many species in the genus. As recently as a couple hundred thousand years ago, a world tour of humanity would reveal not […]
Here’s Why Your Freezer Smells So Bad – And What You Can Do About It
Most people would expect a freezer can keep perishable food fresh and safe from spoilage for many months. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. Have you ever noticed a funky smell in your freezer? Where does it come from and what can be done to fix the problem? Advertisement Hardy microbes and pungent chemicals […]
Why Some People Lose Their Accents But Others Don’t
The way a person speaks is an intrinsic part of their identity. It’s tribal, marking a speaker as being from one social group or another. Accents are a sign of belonging as much as something that separates communities. Yet we can probably all think of examples of people who seem to have “lost” their regional […]
Shadows Of Forming Planets Tracked By Hubble
It seems that Hubble not only tracks light near and far, but it can also track shadows. Planets forming in the system of the star TW Hydrae are shifting the material in the protoplanetary disk where they are formed. These rings are becoming misaligned with the much larger outer disk – and as the planets […]
TWIS: Serious Warning From WMO Says We Should Prepare For El Niño, Why Only Women Should Be Going To Mars, And Much More This Week
This week, a new Alzheimer’s drug has managed to halt progression in almost half of trial patients, a surgery was successfully carried out on the brain of a 34-week-old fetus still inside the womb, and we learn about the risks of charging your phone overnight. Subscribe to the IFLScience newsletter for all the biggest science […]
Microplastics Found In Arctic Algae Are Bad News For The Rest Of The Food Chain
Microplastics are everywhere, causing disruption to hormones, crossing the blood-brain barrier in mice, and even being found inside the stomachs of the largest creatures on Earth. There’s estimated to be 171 trillion bits of plastic pollution in the world’s oceans. Even in remote locations microplastics persist in these extreme environments, and new research has learnt […]
Russian Soldiers Got Radiation Sickness After Digging In Chernobyl, Diplomats Reportedly Confirm
Russian soldiers setting up offensive positions in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone have fallen ill from radiation sickness, according to multiple media outlets. After entering the heavily irradiated areas of the EZ early in the invasion, it was suspected that truckloads of soldiers leaving the area developed sickness, and it appears diplomats have since confirmed it […]
What Really Killed COVID-19 Patients?
A new study that used machine learning algorithms on medical data from intensive care patients has found evidence that the main driver in COVID-19 deaths is not cytokine storms, as previously thought. The team from Northwestern University looked at the medical records of 585 patients in the intensive care unit (ICU) at Northwestern Memorial Hospital […]
Our Understanding Of The Mysterious Nodding Syndrome
There are still many medical unknowns in the world, and one curious example is a little-understood condition that has baffled doctors and researchers for decades. Known as “Nodding syndrome”, it has affected people – almost exclusively children – in parts of East Africa since it was first identified in the 1960s, but no one yet […]
World Health Organization Declares That COVID-19 Is No Longer An Emergency
The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared today that, after over three years, COVID-19 is no longer a health emergency. This doesn’t mean that COVID-19 has magically vanished, but the WHO has considered reducing the level of alarm connected to the disease. Thanks to immunization via vaccines and infections, the pandemic has been on a […]
The Thinking Error That Makes People Susceptible To Climate Change Denial
Cold spells often bring climate change deniers out in force on social media, with hashtags like #ClimateHoax and #ClimateScam. Former President Donald Trump often chimes in, repeatedly claiming that each cold snap disproves the existence of global warming. From a scientific standpoint, these claims of disproof are absurd. Fluctuations in the weather don’t refute clear […]
Does Cooking Meat That’s About To Go Off Buy You Extra Time?
Food waste is a terrible thing, but while it’s good to use everything we buy, there’s a line you don’t want to cross when it comes to the risk of food poisoning. Some chicken that’s on the brink of its expiry date is a pickle if you’re out of freezer space and are going away […]
Ancient Bacteria’s DNA Resurrected From Neanderthal Dental Plaque, Producing New Molecules
A new study looking at the dental plaque of 12 Neanderthals and 52 anatomically modern humans from the past 100,000 years has uncovered a new class of compound that may have once played an important role in the group’s ecology. Over the past decade, scientific advances in analyzing ancient DNA have allowed researchers to study […]
Enormous Camel Spiders Do Chase People, But They’re Not After Us
About the size of your hand with a lot of legs and a huge set of mandibles, it’s unsurprising that camel spiders aren’t exactly welcomed with open arms by everybody. They aren’t actually spiders at all but a closely related group of arachnids that sits between them and scorpions. However, their tendency to chase people […]
Why You Shouldn’t Charge Your Phone With Its Case On
Hi, we’re IFLScience. You may remember us from such articles as Why You Shouldn’t Charge Your Phone Overnight, and Please Don’t Stick Frozen Potatoes Up Your Butt To Treat Medical Conditions. We’re back with another tip on avoiding getting caught up during the everyday and mundane to tell you why it’s a good idea to […]
Indigenous Amazonian Soil Technology Key To Restoring Rainforests Worldwide
A small-scale trial of rainforest restoration has met with success when performed using Amazonian dark earth (ADE), also known as terra preta, but failed using ordinary soil. A 1:4 mix of ADE and other soils saw some, but not all, species establish themselves. Bringing back devastated forests is likely to be one of the key […]
