During the 13th and 12th centuries BCE, many of the “great ancient civilizations” fell like dominoes. Once-grand cities around the Eastern Mediterranean, North Africa, and the Near East fell into ruin; writing systems were extinguished; rebellions sprung up; wars raged; and cultures were seemingly wiped from the planet. The late Bronze Age has been described […]
Orion’s New Views Of The Moon And Earth Are Breathtaking
Orion has just completed half of its mission and got the furthest it will ever get away from Earth. And in these last two weeks, it has brought us stunning views of the Moon – some up close and some of the whole Moon-Earth system, all of them spectacular. NASA has shared some of them […]
Phantom Rectum Syndrome Is A Real Pain In The Ass
You may have heard of phantom limb syndrome, a particularly odd condition that 80-100 percent of people experience after going through an amputation. Amputees can experience sensations, discomfort, and pain that feels like it’s coming from a limb or appendage that is no longer there. Though common after limb amputation, the condition can also affect […]
The Canada Goose Is Winning The War With Humans
If you ask any North American resident “what is the most fearsome, savage animal on Earth?”, you may be surprised by the answer. It’s not lions, tigers, or bears, nor is it crocodiles or 32-foot snakes. No. It’s the Canada goose. Born in the fiery pits of hell and sent to Earth for pure chaos, […]
Cyborgs V “Holdout Humans”: What The World Might Be Like If Our Species Survives For A Million Years
Most species are transitory. They go extinct, branch into new species or change over time due to random mutations and environmental shifts. A typical mammalian species can be expected to exist for a million years. Modern humans, Homo sapiens, have been around for roughly 300,000 years. So what will happen if we make it to […]
The Mauna Loa Volcano Eruption Looks Formidable From Space
Mauna Loa erupted for the first time in nearly 40 years on the Big Island of Hawai’i on Sunday night, releasing a flurry of red-hot lava that trickled down its side. This spectacular sight has since been captured from the vantage point of low-Earth orbit by satellites. Maxar Technologies captured the shots on Monday night […]
Man Found Alive More Than 15 Hours After Falling From A Cruise Ship
Falling from a cruise ship is something you might expect to be a fatal accident, and it seems even less likely that you could then survive being lost at sea overnight. In what’s being reported as a “Thanksgiving miracle”, a man cruising in the Gulf of Mexico has done just that as he was pulled […]
Water Intoxication: Why Can’t Babies Drink Water?
“Drink more water” is something that’s drilled into us as adults partial to salty food and hangovers. There’s been a lot of debate of late as to how much water you should drink – but did you know that for babies, the life elixir can be dangerous? While most people are aware that babies need […]
Woman Trains AI Chatbot On Her Childhood Diaries, So She Can Speak To Herself As A Child
What if you could find a way to speak to yourself as a child, without creating an unsolvable time travel paradox, of course? Well, one person has done the next best thing, creating an artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot of herself as a child by training it on her childhood diary entries. Twitter user Michelle Huang […]
Bats Use Death Metal Growls To Communicate
Death metal fans just got a new mascot, as it’s been revealed that bats can vibrate folds in their larynx in a way similar to death metal singers to make sounds. Exactly what these roars are meant to communicate isn’t yet clear, but it demonstrates the vast range of these animals who are better known […]
Foot Binding: The Extreme Fashion That Caused 1,000 Years Of Broken Bones
Fashions rise and fall, styles change, but when it comes to looking good, one law has held depressingly strong throughout history: pain is beauty. Whether it was 18th-century French noblewomen wearing dresses so heavy and restrictive that they needed a boot camp just to walk in the things, Naomi Campbell turning her ankle in a […]
Super Rare Black Hole Event Sees Incredibly Bright Jet Shooting Right At Earth
Astronomers have discovered the farthest-ever tidal disruption event (TDE). A Sun-like star was ripped apart by the tidal forces of a supermassive black hole. This dramatic event was also the brightest ever TDE seen so far, by a fair bit. Its light came to us from 8.5 billion light-years away. Thanks to a chance alignment, the […]
Twitter Says It Is No Longer Stopping Any COVID-19 Misinformation
Twitter announced it has stopped enforcing its COVID-19 misinformation policy on November 23, not taking action on any tweets breaking their rules in this area. The platform previously held a staunch anti-misinformation stance against the spreading of false information due to the inherent health risks – but under new direction from Elon Musk, Twitter is […]
At-Home DNA Tests Just Aren’t That Reliable – And The Risks May Outweigh The Benefits
The field of genomic science is rapidly advancing, with commercial genetic tests becoming affordable and popular. Taking these tests is simple. The company sends you a collection kit. You send it back with a saliva sample or cheek swab. The sample is sequenced and analysed, and before long you have your results. Advertisement However, upon […]
Attachment Theory: What People Get Wrong About Pop Psychology’s Latest Trend For Explaining Relationships
Attachment theory is almost everywhere. In magazines and books, in the news, on social media and in our conversations with each other. Originally rooted in developmental psychology, the theory explains how we form and maintain close relationships in order to survive and thrive in the environment we are born into. It was quickly picked up […]
Fatherhood Changes Men’s Brains, According To Before-And-After MRI Scans
The time fathers devote to child care every week has tripled over the past 50 years in the United States. The increase in fathers’ involvement in child rearing is even steeper in countries that have expanded paid paternity leave or created incentives for fathers to take leave, such as Germany, Spain, Sweden and Iceland. And […]
IFLScience Meets: Anil Seth, Renowned Neuroscientist And Consciousness Researcher
Anil Seth is a neuroscientist, author, and public speaker who has been conducting research into the brain basis of consciousness for more than 20 years. He is a Professor of Cognitive and Computational Neuroscience at the University of Sussex and Founding Co-Director of the Sussex Centre for Consciousness Science. He is also Co-Director of the […]
You Probably Shouldn’t Tape Your Mouth Shut While You Sleep
Spend too long on TikTok and you might come across a new trend; people extolling the virtues of taping your mouth shut before you go to bed. On top of the benefits of not being able to talk, proponents say that taping your mouth shut can promote everything from better sleep to weight loss. Though […]
Building Rights For Untouched “Paradise” In Indonesia To Be Sold Off
The development rights for an Indonesian archipelago will be sold to the highest bidder in an auction in a few weeks. Some conservationists are not happy about the sale, and worry it could open up the “pristine” area to more environmental dangers. The auction for development rights in Widi Reserve is set to kick off […]
Why The Bones Of Thousands Of People Adorn Sedlec Ossuary
From the outside, the Cemetery Church of All Saints in Czechia looks like a quaint but unassuming church perched on top of a graveyard. But beneath this Gothic building, you’ll find the final resting place of some 40,000 to 70,000 people whose bones are artistically exhibited in a bodacious display. Scan your eyes across this […]
