There have only been five Martian meteorites that were spotted as they fell down to Earth. One of them, the Tissint meteorite, fell in Morocco in 2012, 50 kilometers (30 miles) from the town from which it takes its name. New research has revealed that this space rock is incredibly rich in organic compounds. Organic […]
The Man Whose Heart Rate Reached 600 Beats Per Minute
In 2012, a team of doctors published the curious case report of a man who temporarily had a heart rate of 600 beats per minute (bpm) – a full 300 beats faster than the theoretical limit of 300 bpm. The case report details how a 57-year-old quadriplegic male was brought into hospital with complaints of […]
Mars In Just 45 Days? NASA Explores Propulsion System Concept For Fast Transit
NASA’s Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program provides exploratory funds to technological concepts that would be immensely significant if they worked, but have a long journey just to their viability. Among this year’s contenders, probably the idea with the biggest blue-sky potential is a way to get astronauts to Mars in 45 days. For comparison, it […]
How The Largest Whales Got So Big May Be Explained By Four Key Genes
The blue whale is not only the biggest animal on Earth, but it’s also the largest ever to have existed on the planet. They can reach lengths of 33 meters (108 feet), and are three times the weight of the second largest fin whales, but how did they get so be so big? New research […]
UV Nail Polish Dryers May Damage The DNA In Our Hands
Ultraviolet (UV) nail polish dryers, typically used to cure gel manicures, could damage DNA in our hands and cause mutations, new research finds. The dryers are a common fixture of beauty salons – but despite their widespread use and the fact that some spectrums of UV rays are known to be carcinogenic, there has never […]
Proprioception Vs Kinesthesia: We All Have A “Sixth Sense”
Whether it’s extrasensory perception (ESP), seeing dead people, or your mom’s uncanny ability to detect shenanigans anywhere within a 30-mile radius, we’re all familiar with the concept of a fabled “sixth sense”. Much like the ability to use more than 10 percent of your brain, it’s become shorthand for superhuman powers – an extra sense, […]
How Did Cleopatra Die? The Queen Of Egypt’s Death Still Mystifies
Just like her tumultuous life, the death of Cleopatra VII has become the stuff of legend. So the story goes, the Queen of the Nile took her own life by forcing an asp (aka an Egyptian cobra) to bite her on either August 10 or 12, 30 BCE, after suffering a crushing defeat against the […]
World’s Oldest Runestone Found In Norway May Speak Of A Mysterious Woman
Archaeologists believe they have found the world’s oldest runestone in Norway. With inscriptions dating back 2,000 years, this laptop-sized stone could shine a light on the development and use of runic writing in ancient Scandinavia. The runestone was first discovered at an ancient grave near Tyrifjorden in eastern Norway during the autumn of 2021 by […]
New “Orthrus” COVID-19 Variant Will Likely Become Dominant In The UK
The new COVID-19 variant CH.1.1, named Orthrus, may be running rampant across the UK, and could soon take over from the current most dominant variants, according to government data. Orthrus may be responsible for around 25 percent of all COVID-19 cases in the UK, but some regions may be seeing it in 100 percent of […]
What Do You Call A Group of Iguanas?
Look upon a group of iguanas and words like “shambles” or “disorganized” spring to mind. These animals are usually solitary, but in one biodiverse corner of the globe they amass in great numbers, spilling over one another in a tangle of scales and tails. So, what do you call a group of iguanas? The answer […]
Locust Antenna Used To Make Robotic Version Of A Sniffer Dog
While a lot of research has been done investigating how electronic sensing devices can be manufactured to sniff out scents better than anything biological, nothing currently beats the power of the natural world, be it dogs or ants, in sniffing out all kinds of chemicals and even detecting diseases. Therefore, scientists have been inspired to […]
The Night Sky Is Getting Brighter Faster Than Expected
It’s increasingly difficult to find a dark sky area to indulge in a spot of star gazing already, but now scientists report further bad news regarding the visibility of stars in the night sky. A new study suggests that in general, the sky is getting brighter at a rate of 9.6 percent every year, meaning […]
Boston Dynamics Shows Incredible Video Of Robot “Working” At A “Construction Site”
It’s the day everyone feared: Boston Dynamics’ robots have moved on from fun dance parties and have started doing actual jobs. In their latest video, the Atlas robot is shown hopping around a “construction site” (a set built at Boston Dynamics’ facility) doing manual labor, throwing tool bags around, and building a little pathway for […]
Face Of Ancient Egyptian Pharaoh Ramesses II Revealed Using CT Scans Of His Mummy
The Face Lab at Liverpool John Moores University and an Egyptian mummy expert and radiologist have teamed up to reveal the face of Ramesses II. To recreate the pharaoh’s face, head of radiology at Cairo University Dr Sahar Saleem reprocessed old CT scans of the mummy she had taken between 2005 and 2009, and then […]
An Incredible 3.32 Billion Celestial Objects Feature In This New Galactic Survey
After more than five years, the second data release from the Dark Energy Camera Plane Survey (DECaPS2) has been published and it was certainly worth the wait. Astronomers have imaged a staggering 3.32 billion objects in this new survey of the galactic plane of the Milky Way. This incredible astronomical feat is publicly accessible and […]
Transmissible Tumors: The Cancers That Can Spread Through Contact
The idea of an infectious cancer might sound like the stuff of post-apocalyptic video games, yet a number of transmissible tumors have been documented in real life. Fortunately, none have ever been reported in humans, although a rapidly-spreading facial tumor has driven the Tasmanian devil to the brink of extinction. The most widely-studied contagious cancer […]
Rare Meteorite That Crashed To Antarctica Is A Big Boy
Meteorite hunters in Antarctica have recently discovered five new space rocks that crash-landed to Earth, including one that weighs a hefty 7.6 kilograms (16.7 pounds). Around 45,000 meteorites have been located in Antarctica over the past century, but only about a hundred or so are this size, meaning the find is pretty special. “Size doesn’t […]
Super Speedy Synapses In The Ear Keep Us From Falling, And Now We Know How
After over 15 years of research, scientists have at last revealed the secrets of a very special synapse. Buried deep in the inner ear, these synapses can process signals faster than any others in the body, but neuroscientists could not figure out how this was possible – until now. Humans, along with many other animals, […]
Dazzlingly Bright Venus And Saturn Will Meet In The Sky This Weekend
The most dazzling astronomical event of January is almost upon us. The conjunction of Venus and Saturn will take place on Sunday, January 22. The two objects will be so close to each other – less than a degree apart – that even with a small telescope you will be able to see them in […]
NASA Reveals Plans For Space Telescope Designed To Hunt For Life
All good things must come to an end, and it’s best to plan beforehand. Revolutionary as the JWST has been, it has a much shorter life expectancy than the Hubble Space Telescope, let alone ground-based instruments. NASA has revealed plans for what could be the replacement to its replacement at the American Astronomical Society’s 241st meeting. […]
