This article first appeared in Issue 8 of our free digital magazine CURIOUS. We’ve all seen lie detector tests, be it in cop movies, crime procedurals, or The Simpsons. Generally speaking, the “bad guy” is hooked up to the polygraph test and informed that if they lie, the people conducting the test will know. A few questions later and the […]
The True Size Of World’s Deepest Freshwater Cave Is Still A Mystery
The Hranice Abyss in the Czech Republic is the deepest known freshwater cave on the planet. It’s suggested that it could extend to a depth of 1 kilometer (0.6 miles), but scientists have never actually got the bottom of have deep it truly is. Back in 2016, a remotely operated vehicle swam into the bowels […]
Where Did Fireworks Come From And How Did They Get So Popular?
Fourth of July parties, Guy Fawkes night, and New Year’s eve celebrations have all become associated with the bang and sparkle of dazzling firework displays. But where did the idea come from, and how did they become so popular? According to the American Pyrotechnics Association, historians believe fireworks originated in the second century BCE in […]
Why Do You Want To Squeeze Cute Things?
Ever seen something so impossibly cute – a teeny kitten or a baby Tasmanian devil, perhaps – and feel the urge to squeeze, smush, or bite its adorable little face? Don’t worry, you’re not a psychopath and you’re not alone – it’s a thing and it’s called cute aggression. Delve into the psychology behind the […]
Highly Intelligent People Are Slower To Answer Complex Problems
People who score highly on intelligence tests answer simple questions more quickly than their less intelligent counterparts. However, when the problems get more challenging, the situation reverses, at least for a certain type of question. Faced with these, intelligent people take their time but are much more likely to get the answer right. The findings […]
The Whole Universe Might Be Doomed To Evaporate
Black holes are not eternal. Extremely slowly, they lose mass and energy in the form of thermal radiation – heat. This is known as Hawking radiation, and over incredible time frames would lead to black holes evaporating, eventually disappearing. A new theoretical paper suggests that this is true for more than just black holes: that […]
Ancient 5.5-Million-Year-OId “Elephant Graveyard” Discovered In Northern Florida
A team of researchers and volunteers at the Florida Museum of Natural History have discovered an ancient “elephant graveyard” containing the fossilized remains of a long-extinct ancestor to our modern-day pachyderms. The find may also provide the largest known specimen of the animal ever discovered in Florida. Sometimes around 5.5 million years ago, a number […]
Why Do So Many Cultures Have Dragons In Them?
Travel to any part of the world and it’s hard not to find dragons lurking in their mythological folklore. The ancient legends of Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas all feature the figure of a slinky crocodile-like creature with long talons and a fierce look in its eyes. The question is: why have a significant […]
Bacteria Are Better At Mining Rare Earth Elements Than We Are
A protein produced by certain bacteria can not only extract the elements neodymium and dysprosium from the ore in which they are found, but separate them from each other. With demand for these metals growing exponentially, thanks to their role in wind turbines and electric vehicles adding to existing demand from smartphones, the discovery could […]
The Medieval World’s Most Terrifying Weapon Is Still A Mystery Today
In the Ancient Greek world, there were four elements: Earth, Air, Fire, and Water. Not only did the model have the benefit of describing everything in the known universe, but it was also beautifully symmetrical: Air, being hot and wet, was the opposite of cold dry Earth, while Water, with its cold, wet properties, perfectly […]
Did A Parrot Really Save A Lost Language?
At the start of the 19th century, the German Geographer and Naturalist, Alexander von Humboldt stumbled on a curious language while exploring the Amazon basin. Not only had he never heard this strange language before, but the words were coming from an unlikely source – a parrot. According to Humboldt, the parrot was the last […]
What Happens If You Fry In Microgravity? ESA Has An Answer
What would it be like to fry in microgravity? Throwing potatoes into boiling oil while floating around in space sounds like a recipe for chaos and third degree burns. Scientists are not interested in that, luckily, but in how cooking with oil might need gravity to be effective. And it turns out that this is […]
No, That White Cockroach Doesn’t Have Albinism
White cockroaches are a sight to behold, so remarkably lacking in pigment that many people think they’re looking at a rare albino cockroach. The truth is what you’re looking at is a perfectly standard cockroach, you’ve just caught it at the right time to see its pale get-up. Cockroaches can live for several years and […]
Easy Blood Test That Can Detect Over 50 Cancers Shows “Exciting Results”
A simple blood test that can detect 50 types of cancer has produced some “exciting results” in a new trial, scientists have revealed. The recent trial involved taking a single blood sample from people who had visited the doctor with a suspicion of cancer due to symptoms like weight loss and unexpected pain. Advertisement Out […]
Baby Fusion Reactor Less Than A Meter Wide Tops 100 Million°C
Temperatures seven times hotter than the center of the Sun have been achieved in a nuclear reactor that’s less than a meter (3 feet) wide. Ions inside the spherical Tokamak ST40 soared to over 100 million degrees Celsius, breaking the record for this kind of reactor. One hundred million degrees Celsius (around 180 million degrees […]
“The Great Stink” Engulfed London In A Cloud Of Fetid Air Back In 1858
In 1858 a catastrophic pollution event descended upon London as its sewer-filled streets and waterways built up to create “The Great Stink”. The Thames was and remains a central feature of England’s capital, but back then it wasn’t filled with seals, seahorses, and eels, like it is today. Back then, it was basically a big […]
Your Name Alongside A Poem Could Soon Be On Its Way To Europa
In October 2024, NASA will launch the Europa Clipper missions, which will travel to Jupiter to study its second closest moon: Europa. The satellite harbors a deep-water ocean under a thick icy crust; it is a world that might have the right conditions for life. And if you’d like to make it more personal, your […]
TWIS: China’s 10,000-Meter Hole Aims To Reach The Cretaceous System, Monty Python-Esque Joke Appears In Medieval Stand-Up Comedy Routine, And Much More This Week
This week the first-ever X-ray of a single atom was achieved, a volcanic island is home to rocks that do not belong there, and we investigate the most spectacular end to the universe – vacuum decay. Subscribe to the IFLScience newsletter for all the biggest science news delivered straight to your inbox every Wednesday and […]
Air Force One Has Set Off More Times Than It’s Landed. Wait, What?
As the old saying goes: what goes up must come down. Unless, it seems, you happen to be Air Force One – because the aircraft of the President of the USA, it turns out, has somehow managed to take off more times than it has ever landed. How is that possible? No, you’re not forgetting […]
Glorious Video Shows Whale Sharks Feeding On The Bottom Of The Ocean For First Time
The world’s largest living fish – the whale shark – is a mysterious creature. Despite their size and popularity with ecotourism, little is known about the ecology and behavior of this majestic marine species. Now a new observation develops our understanding of the diet and feeding behavior of these impressive animals. According to the WWF, […]
