The dream of keeping climate change to within 1.5°C (2.7°F) has taken a major hit. The latest climate report by the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) has confirmed that 2024 was likely the first calendar year to have a global temperature more than 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. ADVERTISEMENT The global mean near-surface temperature last year was […]
The Warty Octopus Gets Wartier The Deeper It Lives – Why?
Deep in the Pacific Ocean lives a warty octopus. Its bumpy texture can range from a delicate peppering of bumps to – and we’re borrowing the words of the Field Museum here – “outrageous warts”. It was a variation that caught the eye of associate curator of zoology at the museum, Janet Voight, and the […]
If You Farted In A Jar And Opened It 20 Years Later, Would It Still Smell Of Farts?
A while ago, one reality TV star began selling her own farts in jars, earning an astonishing $45,000 a week for her troubles. ADVERTISEMENT While her career choice briefly landed her in hospital, forcing her to switch to find a far safer occupation (selling boob sweat), you may have a few questions. Questions like “what […]
US Sees First Outbreak Of H7N9 Bird Flu Since 2017
While the United States continues to deal with a significant outbreak of the H5N1 bird flu, officials have now reported the country’s first outbreak of H7N9 – another often deadly strain – in commercial poultry since 2017. ADVERTISEMENT The first signs of the outbreak came on March 8, when chickens at a commercial broiler breeder […]
Uranus Is Much Hotter Than We Thought
Two teams have separately concluded that Uranus is releasing more internal heat than was indicated in observations by Voyager 2. Instead of just reflecting heat from the Sun, it adds some of its own. The papers have yet to complete peer review, but in addition to the teams independently reaching similar conclusions, the findings bring […]
How Did Cave Spiders Get Their Eyes? Study Provides First Detailed Insight Into Their Development
Across planet Earth, the animal world is full of species perfectly adapted for life in their specific niche. From polar bears with translucent fur to the worlds longest living leaves, the environment shapes an organisms’ adaptations. Now, a study has honed in on the development of a spider species found within caves, and looking closer […]
Being On Your Period Doesn’t Change How Your Brain Works, FFS
There are so many myths around periods, it’s amazing humans haven’t just given up and adopted an estrous cycle instead. After all, if we believed everything we’ve ever been told about this extremely normal biological process, experienced every month or so by approximately two billion people, then we’d all be avoiding showers, surrounded by bears, […]
Seeds Discovered In Natural “Time Capsules” In South Africa Can Still Grow After 130 Years
During an investigation to see whether it was possible to restore an iconic, but endangered, community of shrubland plant species in South Africa, researchers have not only discovered underground banks of seeds that have remained intact for over 130 years, but that are also very much still alive – and can grow too. ADVERTISEMENT The […]
Tourists Watch As The Sea Turns Blood Red On The Iranian Island Of Hormuz
A video taken in a popular tourist hotspot on an Iranian island shows rain flowing down a cliff, turning the beach and sea below blood red. ADVERTISEMENT The video, which has amassed over 1 million likes on Instagram, shows a beach on Hormuz Island, Iran, named Red Beach for fairly obvious reasons. The video, posted […]
JWST Finds Its First Carbon Dioxide In Planets Outside The Solar System
The JWST has spotted the presence of carbon dioxide on HR 8799’s four known planets, part of a system astronomers use to explore the formation of our own system. The results are consistent with models of how the Solar System’s giant planets formed. ADVERTISEMENT There are two models for planet formation, known as top-down and […]
“Dodo Of The Caribbean”: Incredibly Rare Dove Teeters “On The Brink” Of Extinction
In Cuba, you can find a beautiful dove that has a brown-feathered body topped with an iridescent blue head. It might not be the most elaborate in a world of fancy pigeons, but it is rather cute. Unfortunately, you might not find “the dodo of the Caribbean” in Cuba for long. ADVERTISEMENT New research has […]
Who Has The Fastest Punch On Earth?
When asked which of Earth’s many creatures packs the most powerful punch, one might assume it would come from the clenched fist of the staggeringly strong silverback gorilla, or maybe from an animal with incredible bone density – but in reality, the title for Earth’s mightiest punch comes in a surprisingly small package, proving size […]
The Sahara Desert Isn’t As Sandy As You Think It Is
What do you picture when you think of the Sahara? A vast expanse of towering sand dunes? The occasional oasis, perhaps? But mostly, we tend to imagine a very sandy landscape. Turns out, however, that a surprising proportion of the world’s largest hot desert isn’t actually sandy at all. ADVERTISEMENT Just 25 percent of the […]
Gray Wolf Populations In Europe Are Booming, Up 58 Percent In Just A Decade
Once demonized and hunted to the edge of extinction, wolves have made an incredible comeback across much of Europe. New research estimates the wolf population of Europe in 2022 stood at 21,500 – an increase of 58 percent compared to the previous estimate of 12,000 wolves a decade earlier. ADVERTISEMENT “We report that wolves are […]
Humans Descended From At Least Two Ancestral Populations That Split Then Reconnected
Homo sapiens (that’s us) did not descend from a neat, single lineage. Instead, modern humans can link their heritage back to at least two ancestral populations that drifted apart over a million years ago before reconnecting just 300,000 years ago, according to a new study by computational biologists. ADVERTISEMENT The team developed an algorithm that […]
2,000-Year-Old Jewelry Was Made Using Sophisticated Diamond Drills
The nomadic tribes that occupied Central Asia 2,000 years ago used diamond drills to perforate gemstones when manufacturing necklaces, bracelets, and pendants. The hardest naturally occurring material on the planet, diamond is often used today for masonry drilling, yet its use in ancient times may also have been surprisingly widespread. ADVERTISEMENT Previous research has suggested […]
China Is Building A Crewed Deep-Sea “Space Station” To Explore Bottom Of South China Sea
Seemingly unaware of the film Deep Blue Sea and countless B-movie tropes, China is set to build a new deep-sea laboratory that will be crewed by a team of resident scientists. ADVERTISEMENT In a recent announcement, the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ South China Sea Institute of Oceanology said they hope to complete the construction of […]
AI Struggles With A Task So Basic Most 8-Year-Old Humans Can Do It
Artificial intelligence (AI) has come a long way over the last decade, moving from this horror show to pretty impressive image generation, and text generation which gets its facts right a lot of the time and confidently tells you the wrong answer when it can’t. ADVERTISEMENT But there are quite a few tasks where humans […]
Russell-McPherron Effect: Why “Cracks” In Earth’s Magnetic Field Mean We Get Peak Auroras At Equinox
Remember last year when more of us than usual were treated to a spectacular display of aurorae? If you’re one of the people who missed out, you could be in with another chance of seeing the show this week, thanks to a phenomenon known as the Russell-McPherron effect. ADVERTISEMENT While aurora season is generally considered […]
Is Zero An Odd Or Even Number?
Zero is a weird number. Well, not weird as in “abundant but not semiperfect” – let’s just say it’s “unusual”. Okay, not unusual like “its largest prime factor is strictly greater than its square root” – maybe we should just describe it as “odd”. Or should we? ADVERTISEMENT Because of its unique place on the […]
