Juice cleanses – where people exclusively consume fruit and/or vegetable juice – have often been touted as good for your health, purportedly “detoxing” you and helping you to get a bunch of vitamins and minerals to boot. The thing is, detox diets have been thoroughly debunked – and a new study has found that juice […]
Shy Cave Spiders Turned Into “Zombies” By Behavior-Changing Fungus
There are some pretty weird relationships in the animal world. Some parasites exist only in the eyes of the world’s oldest sharks, while researchers have been researching fungus that survives by infecting spiders. Now, a new species of such a fungus has been described altering the behavior of its spider host, in the same style […]
Spectacular Jet Over 200,000 Light-Years Across Is Largest Ever Seen In The Early Universe
Galaxies in a quasar state can release powerful jets from their active supermassive black holes. The jets can extend far into intergalactic space, even for millions of light-years. The process for many objects started a long time ago, and researchers have found these jets even in the distant universe. Astronomers have now announced the largest […]
This 1.4 Million-Year-Old Jawbone May Reveal A New “Gorilla-Like” Human Relative
The hominin family tree may have a new twig: Paranthropus capensis, a “gorilla-like” human relative that lived in southern Africa some 1.4 million years ago. A new study focuses on a hominin jawbone known as SK 15 that was unearthed in 1949 at Swartkrans, a cave in modern-day South Africa that holds a rich trove […]
There’s A New Way To Cook The Perfect Egg – It’s Not How You Think
Boiling an egg feels like walking a tightrope: misjudge it by just a fraction and you’ll end up with either a snot-like undercooked white or a miserable, dry yolk. Fortunately, a team of scientists has finally cracked it, developing a novel method to cook all parts of an egg to perfection. ADVERTISEMENT GO AD FREE […]
Chances Of Asteroid 2024 YR4 Hitting Earth In 2032 Just Climbed To 2.3 Percent
Update 2/6/25: We have updated this article to include the Center for Near Earth Objects Studies cumulative impact probability, which upgrades the chance from 1.8 percent to 2.3 percent. ADVERTISEMENT GO AD FREE The threat of Asteroid 2024 YR4 has not gone away just yet. The near-Earth object was discovered in December and calculations of […]
New Test For Life On Mars Could Help Prove We Are Not Alone In The Universe
A team of researchers in Germany have proposed a new method for searching for life on alien worlds, which they believe could be integrated into future Mars missions. ADVERTISEMENT GO AD FREE Finding life on another planet would be a world-changing discovery for humanity. But actually detecting it is no simple task. Rovers sent to […]
68 Million-Year-Old Antarctic Fossil Proves Existence Of Dinosaur-Era Ducks
A Cretaceous-era skull found on Vega Island, Antarctica, has been confirmed as a member of the same order as ducks and geese, making it one of the oldest known examples of a modern bird. Dating from not very long before the asteroid hit, the species Vegavis iaai, or a near relative, is a strong candidate for […]
Scary Or Safe? New Brain Pathway Quashes The Instinct To Flee From Danger
Fear is very useful for survival – but so is being able to control it. It’s wise to be scared of the unfamiliar, especially when it resembles a known threat. However, once you realize that thing lying by the door is actually just a draught excluder and not a reticulated python, you can safely set […]
Inside Ancient Herculaneum Scroll Seen For First Time Since Vesuvius Erupted 2,000 Years Ago
Researchers have successfully generated a digital image of an ancient scroll from Herculaneum that has not been seen in almost 2,000 years. The announcement was made by the Bodleian Libraries, Oxford, and the Vesuvius Challenge, which have been working to decipher three scrolls, including this one, over the last few years. ADVERTISEMENT GO AD FREE […]
Blue Whales, One Of The Loudest Things On Earth, Are “Acoustically Invisible” To Killer Whales
Avoiding predators is one of the most important jobs for many members of the animal world. Even ocean giants like baleen whales have something to fear from killer whales, their only known natural predators. To avoid coming across killer whales, new research has revealed that some whale species might be whispering through the ocean, hoping […]
Animals’ Magnetic Senses Could Work At The Limit Of Quantum Possibility
When you consider, say, a salmon, or a pigeon, your first thought is probably not “Wow, I bet that guy is great at quantum mechanics” – and yet, that’s precisely what the evidence suggests: that these animals, among others, exploit some of the most advanced science currently understood by humans in their everyday lives – […]
Pink And White “Pastes” Sealing Ancient Egyptian Cult Worker’s Coffins Analyzed For First Time
Around 2,700 years ago in ancient Egypt, a man named Pakepu held the title of “water pourer on the west of Thebes”, responsible for managing the funerary cult in the legendary city. Upon his own death, Pakepu was placed inside a set of wooden coffins, sealed with a selection of pink and white “pastes” that […]
Argentina Says It’s Dropping Out Of The WHO, Following Trump’s Brazen Withdrawal
Argentina’s president has ordered the country to pull out of the World Health Organization (WHO), following the lead of like-minded allies in the US. ADVERTISEMENT GO AD FREE On February 5, President Javier Milei – a self-described anarcho-capitalist nicknamed “El Loco” (the Madman) – took to social media to announce the withdrawal, citing the WHO’s […]
How This Massive Galaxy Got To Wear Nine Rings
Galaxy LEDA 1313424 is a beauty. It is 2.5 times the size of the Milky Way and has something no other galaxy has: A series of concentric rings, nine to be exact. This is more than other known galaxies, which usually have just two or three rings. ADVERTISEMENT GO AD FREE The galaxy has been […]
Do We Actually Own Our Bodies?
Should we be allowed to charge for sex? Do we have a right to sell our organs? And is our DNA our own property? The level of autonomy we ought to have over our flesh and bones is far from clear cut, and as innovations in biotechnology continue to transform our moral and economic relationships […]
Lost Works From Ancient Greek “Great Geometer” Discovered Among Hundreds Of Islamic Texts
When it comes to chronicling the past, it seems there are basically two ways discoveries are made: either they’re the result of years of painstaking, devoted work… or they’re accidentally found in a drawer somewhere after eons of collecting dust. ADVERTISEMENT GO AD FREE The new discovery of two scientific treatises by Apollonius, the ancient […]
The Infamous “Summerville Ghost” Of South Carolina May Have A Geological Explanation
A seismologist working at the US Geological Survey (USGS) may have solved an old mystery involving supposed hauntings in Charleston, South Carolina. ADVERTISEMENT GO AD FREE From around the mid-20th Century CE, people have told stories of a ghost haunting the railroad track between Charleston and Summerville in South Carolina. Though there are a number […]
Stabbed, Slashed, And Bleeding: Meet The Medieval “Wound Man” With All The Injuries
He does not look overly enthusiastic as I look down on his body, but then again, I doubt anyone would be if they had every conceivable weapon of their age cutting, poking, stabbing, slicing, gouging, ripping, and shattering their body. I say “and” here, because this individual is not being assaulted by just one object […]
Goodbye Potholes? Biobased Spores Could Soon Make Self-Healing Roads A Reality
A team of scientists from King’s College London, Swansea University, and collaborators in Chile say that they have found a way to reverse cracking in bitumen, paving the way toward the sci-fi dream of self-healing roads. ADVERTISEMENT GO AD FREE Potholes are a bit of a problem, causing damage to cars at a cost of […]
