A study into the surprisingly complex mechanisms behind snakes’ ability to hear has found that, despite previous assumptions, many snakes are capable of hearing airborne sounds as well as sensing ground vibrations. As snakes lack an external ear, it’s been widely accepted that they only sense soundwaves through ground vibrations via their belly scales. While […]
Google Vice President Warns That AI Chatbots Are Hallucinating
Senior Vice President at Google, Prabhakar Raghavan, has warned the public about a little-known problem with artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots: they “hallucinate”. Google is set to launch its own rival to OpenAI’s ChatGPT, a language model that can answer your questions and queries. Named Bard, the chatbot will roll out to the public in the […]
Bird Flu Continues To Spread In Mammals – What This Means For Humans And Wildlife
As bird flu continues to decimate poultry and wild bird populations around the world, the virus – a deadly strain called H5N1 – appears to be spreading to mammals. The virus has already been confirmed in foxes and otters in the UK, and more recently in four dead seals. Bird flu refers to influenza A […]
Five Things Research Can Teach Us About Having Better Sex, According To A Sex Therapist
Sex can be wonderful, but it can also be tricky. Science may be the furthest thing from your mind when you’re getting intimate with someone. But actually, there’s a lot we can learn from science when it comes to sex. The science of sex is a broad field of research that encompasses many aspects of […]
World’s Youngest Alzheimer’s Disease Patient Diagnosed At 19 Years Old
A 19-year-old man from China has become the world’s youngest patient to be diagnosed with probable Alzheimer’s disease, according to a new case report. The patient experienced memory loss and problems concentrating at school for a period of two years, and doctors examining him concluded that he fit the diagnostic criteria for the disease, which […]
Medieval Italian Woman Had Her Skull Operated On Multiple Times
A skull belonging to a Byzantine-era woman in central Italy displays signs of having been surgically fiddled with on at least two separate occasions. Reporting the find in a new study, researchers say the unenviable patient probably underwent a series of trepanations in order to treat a “systemic pathological condition,” although they can’t say exactly […]
China Claims It Is Going To Down A UFO Found Hovering In Its Skies
You wait decades for the military to start downing unidentified flying objects (UFOs) then suddenly they’re dropping out of the sky like month-old birthday balloons. The US has downed a fourth flying object this week, taking care to not rule out the possibility of aliens before taking a more sensible approach and denying it was […]
Blue Origin Claims It Can Make Solar Cells From Lunar Dust
Last week a blog post on Blue Origin’s website made a claim that, if verified, could dramatically increase the prospects for establishing ongoing bases on the Moon. However, the curious lack of promotion the company – not usually known for avoiding publicity – has so far given the announcement suggests they may still have some […]
Earth-Sized Telescope Snaps Image Of One Of The Brightest Lights In The Universe
The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) is a virtual telescope that connects observatories all over the world. Thanks to a quirk of physics, the resulting instrument is the size of our planet, and it has been used to snap the first close-up images of supermassive black holes: Sagittarius A* at the center of the Milky Way, […]
When You Exercise May Affect How Much Fat You Burn
With the exception of a few genetic lottery winners, many people have felt it at some point in their life: the frustration of standing on the bathroom scales after a few weeks of diligent exercise, seeing the exact same number as before you even bothered. It’s enough to make you lose faith in the whole […]
AI Just Fully Controlled A Tactical Jet For The First Time Ever
A tactical aircraft has made the first-ever flight being piloted purely by artificial intelligence (AI), according to a release from Lockheed Martin. Flying for a staggering 17 hours, the AI-piloted a VISTA X-62A tactical test aircraft that is used to mimic military jets in a trial that hopes to add new capabilities to the VISTA […]
Remarkable Male Contraceptive Proven To Make Mouse Sperm Lose Its Swimming Power
A new male contraceptive is being hailed a “game-changer” as it’s been found to temporarily pause fertility in mice without affecting their long-term sperm production. Mice given the treatment became infertile but maintained normal mating behavior, and by the next day were fully fertile again. The male contraceptive works by inhibiting soluble adenylyl cyclase (sAC) […]
Astronomer Finds New Way To Find Mysterious Planet 9, If It Exists At All
An astronomer has outlined a new way of finding the elusive Planet Nine, if it exists at all and has picked up moons as it orbits around our Sun. You may be wondering why we have so much trouble finding a planet in our own Solar System, when thousands have been discovered in recent years […]
Like A Butterfly Effect, “Teleconnections” Link Weather All Around World
New research has looked at the vast climate “teleconnections” that span across our planet, potentially linking droughts and driving wildfires around the world. Teleconnection is the idea in atmospheric science that climate and weather events in geographically distant places can be tightly related. After all, the planet is a vast interconnected system. Advertisement A freakishly […]
Ice Sheets May Cause 1.4-Meter Sea Level Rise If Climate Crisis Lets Rip
If the climate crisis is allowed to deepen, the melting of the West Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets alone could contribute about 1.4 meters (4.5 feet) to global sea level rise, according to a new study. That figure is before we even consider the impact of other contributions to the sea level rise, such as […]
Vegetarian Dinosaurs Evolved Different Ways To Eat The Same Food
Dinosaurs came in all shapes and sizes, so it may not be surprising to learn that they had different ways to approach food. But a new study has shown that there are a surprising number of ways that ‘veggie’ dinosaurs, even among closely related species, approached plant-based foods, and that these differences are important for […]
Could You Shoot A Bullet Through Jupiter?
The four gas giant planets in the Solar System are Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune – and they are very alien to the experience we have here on Earth. They have thick atmospheres, unlike anything seen in the rocky planets of the Solar System. Some people wonder if passing through them would be a bit […]
You Are Not Ready For The Mating Ritual Of The World’s Biggest Slug
Love-making in the animal kingdom comes in all shapes, sizes and confusing choreography, but for all of its weirdness it’s hard to imagine that there’s much left out there to surprise one of humankind’s most famous naturalists, David Attenborough. Remarkably, the presenter was still taken aback when a new series from the BBC brought to […]
Bing’s New Chat AI Appears To Claim It Is Sentient After Release To The Public
Bing’s new artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot has been having some awkward and downright baffling conversations with the general public, following a limited release of the “new Bing” powered by the AI. Widely-posted screenshots of chats between the public and the machine show it acting slightly depressed after being informed it has no long-term memory, getting […]
500-Year-Old Horn Container Discovered In South Africa Sheds Light On Pre-Colonial Khoisan Medicines
In 2020, a chance discovery near the small South African hamlet of Misgund in the Eastern Cape unearthed an unusual parcel – a gift to science. The parcel turned out to be a 500-year-old cow horn, capped with a leather lid and carefully wrapped in grass and the leafy scales of a Bushman poison bulb […]
