A man has been arrested after allegedly buying human body parts over Facebook. In June, a complaint to East Pennsboro Township Police in Pennsylvania alleged that human remains were being sold on the social media platform. A month later, they received a second call, with the caller reporting possible human remains inside a home basement […]
China Looks To Cloud-Seeding Weather Modification To Remedy Drought
Facing their most significant drought in living memory, China is turning to cloud-seeding to bring rain to the parched reservoirs along the Yangtze River – the longest river in Asia that provides water for hundreds of millions of people. Advertisement It’s been a summer of record-breaking heatwaves in the US and parts of Europe – […]
Water Becomes Two Liquids When Supercooled, And We’re Starting To Learn Their Natures
When water gets very cold, the molecules can group together into larger structures while still remaining liquid. They can do this in two ways, leading to separate liquids with very different densities. New research has shed light on the shapes of these supermolecules and what each says about the nature of each liquid. Advertisement The […]
Astronomers Have Detected One Of The Biggest Black Hole Jets In The Sky
Astronomers at Western Sydney University have discovered one of the biggest black hole jets in the sky. Advertisement Spanning more than a million light years from end to end, the jet shoots away from a black hole with enormous energy, and at almost the speed of light. But in the vast expanses of space between […]
High-Speed Internet On Kilimanjaro Lets Climbers Access Instagram (And, You Know, Life-Saving Aid)
On October 6, 1889, a German geology professor named Hans Meyer, an Austrian mountaineer called Ludwig Purtscheller, and a group of local guides from the nearby Moshi province all made history. As they climbed the final steps to the highest peak of Kilimanjaro, a mountain never known to have been scaled before, they must have […]
Brain-Eating Amoeba Has Caused Another Fatality This Year – But Do They Actually Eat Your Brain?
Nothing is as joyous for a child as jumping into a local lake for a quick refreshing dip on a hot and sweaty day. Unfortunately, a brain-eating amoeba may be lurking underneath the surface, waiting for a chance encounter with an unsuspecting human. Advertisement There have been many summer cases over the past few years. […]
Knuckle-Bone Dice Used For Gambling And Divination Found Beneath Ancient Hellenic City
Long before Dungeons and Dragons, Kerplunk, or Risk, the ancient inhabitants of the Middle East used the astragali – or knuckle bones – of cattle to make dice for retro board games. Describing the discovery of 532 astragali in an underground cave complex in southern Israel dating back over 2,000 years, the authors of a […]
Monkey Suspected Of Phoning 911 From A Zoo In California
A monkey had cops scratching their heads on August 13 after they received a mysterious 911 call. After losing connection, they investigated the source, finding that the call had been made from a zoo where no keepers owned up to being the caller – but a 10-month-old capuchin had reportedly nicked a cellphone. Advertisement “We’re […]
One Of World’s Biggest Moths Seen In US For First Time, Stumping Scientists
One of the world’s largest moths has been officially reported in the US for the first time. Since Atlas moths, which have a wingspan of 25 centimeters (10 inches), are typically found in the tropical forests of Asia, entomologists are currency clueless about how the outlawed insect found itself in Washington. Advertisement The moth was […]
Antenna Made Of Just Excited Atoms Can Be Used To Stream Color TV And Video Games
Scientists have successfully adapted an atom-based radio communication system to also receive color video signals and even stream a video game from a console. This is a huge step forward for these devices, whose small size and tolerance to noise make them potential substitutes for certain environments. Plus, it passed a golden standard for tech: […]
Have You Read Our Free E-Magazine? CURIOUS Issue 1 Is Out Now
Did you know that IFLScience has a brand new free e-magazine? Yup, it’s called CURIOUS. Each month you can kick back for a more relaxed form of scientific exploration delivered straight to your inbox as we take you through the month’s science highlights with deep dives into intriguing topics, diary dates for events not to […]
The Grisly Reason Some Americans Might Think Guns Keep Them Safe
According to the most recent surveys, nearly one in every three Americans are gun owners. Out of those, around two-thirds cite “safety” or “protection” as their main motivation for doing so. Objectively speaking, this doesn’t make sense: Decades of studies have consistently found that living with guns in the home makes a person more likely, […]
Human Foot In A Shoe Found Floating In Yellowstone Hot Spring
A human foot still inside its shoe has been spotted in one of Yellowstone National Park’s bubbling hot springs. Nobody is sure how the body part ended up in the geothermal feature, but park officials are reportedly investigating. Advertisement The unusual situation first unfolded on Tuesday, August 16, when a park employee saw the foot […]
This Is The Best Ever Image Of The Heaviest Star In The Known Universe
Astronomers have produced the sharpest view yet of the R136 star cluster and its most famous inhabitant R136a1, the heaviest star in the cosmos as far as humans know. This incredibly massive object has now been seen with such clarity that the team was able to refine the mass estimates, something that has profound consequences […]
Voyager 2 Celebrates 45 Years Exploring Edge Of Solar System And Beyond
On August 20, 1977, Voyager 2 was launched into space. Its twin, Voyager 1, would be launched 16 days later. Together, they’d bring a new understanding of the gas giant planets in the Solar system and would become the first human-made objects to leave the heliosphere behind and enter interstellar space. Forty-Five years on, the […]
Astronauts Probably Won’t Faint On Mars Arrival
Missions to Mars have many obstacles to overcome, and perhaps chief among them is the danger astronauts will not be able to perform their duties after too long in microgravity. However, a preliminary model suggests the average healthy astronaut probably will cope with the weak Martian gravity, provided they stick to their exercise routine en […]
Some “Forever Chemicals” Decapitated And Destroyed By New Method
Thanks to a new breakthrough, “forever chemicals” may no longer be a problem for eternity. Chemists at Northwestern University have found a way to break down two major classes of PFAS chemicals into harmless by-products, according to a new study published in the journal Science. Advertisement Using powerful computational methods, the researchers found the “Achilles’ […]
Apple Warns Of Security Flaw That Could Give Hackers Full Control Of Devices
Apple has warned iPhone, iPad, and iPod users of a serious security flaw that could allow attackers to take complete control of devices. To fix the vulnerability, they’re urging all users to update their devices ASAP. Advertisement Apple sounded the alarm bell on Wednesday August 17, explaining that hackers were actively exploiting the security flaw […]
TWIS: A Hologram Shocks Funeral Guests, Megalodons May Have Been Munching On Orcas, And Much More This Week
This week, a deceased woman gets to have the final word at her own funeral, the puzzling phosphine on Venus saga takes a dramatic turn, and we find out why whales aren’t commonly born with cancer. Advertisement Hologram Technology Allows Woman To Answer Questions At Her Own Funeral An AI-driven chatbot technology has allowed […]
Roasted Puppy Fat And Salty Owls: Bizarre Medieval Medicine Revealed In New Digital Project
As a general rule, if you’re going to get sick, you should try not to do it in the past. The present? Sure. The future? Go for it. But the past? Extremely bad idea. At best, you’re going to be sat in the moonlight and just told you feel better – and at worst, you’re […]