The largest flying bird by wingspan is the snowy albatross, better known as the wandering albatross, with an impressive spread of up to 3.5 meters (11 feet) from wing tip to wing tip. However, this ocean-roaming species has some competition for the title of “largest flying bird” when other metrics are considered. The wild life […]
Why Have Some Gel Nail Polishes Just Been Banned In Europe?
Go for a mani-pedi in Europe from this month forward, and you might not get the type of finishing touches you’re used to. As of September 1 this year, a chemical widely used in gel nail polishes has been banned in the European Union – while, as so often happens in cases like this, the […]
Beyond The Lab: How The World’s Largest Lab Science Conference Is Changing Lives
Pittcon is one of the biggest annual scientific conferences and expositions in laboratory science, and it doesn’t just showcase innovation – it fuels the future of science education. That big statement is backed by decades of dedication from incredible volunteers behind the scenes. Pittcon is a conference that is bursting with knowledge exchange, a place […]
Meet Madame Berthe’s Mouse Lemur, The World’s Smallest Primate
Primates can get pretty big. Just look at gorillas – absolute units. But what about the other side of the spectrum? Well, you might just have to put on your glasses – there can be found Madame Berthe’s mouse lemur, and it really is teeny tiny. The rest of this article is behind a paywall. […]
40 Years Since Titanic’s Wreck Was Found, Watch The Rare Footage Of Its Discovery
Forty years ago yesterday, explorers laid eyes on the RMS Titanic for the first time since its infamous sinking in 1912. To mark the anniversary, those behind the historic mission to locate the wreck have released rarely seen footage of its discovery. On September 1, 1985, the shipwreck of the RMS Titanic was found on […]
Watch As An Asteroid The Size Of A Brachiosaurus Passes 0.0014599 AU From Earth Tomorrow
An asteroid around the size of a Brachiosaurus is set to pass Earth tomorrow at a relatively close distance, with the event being livestreamed to the world by the Virtual Telescope Project. The rest of this article is behind a paywall. Please sign in or subscribe to access the full content. Asteroid 2025 QD8 was […]
The Crypt Of Civilization Was Sealed 85 Years Ago. It Won’t Be Opened Again Until The Year 8113 CE
The Crypt of Civilization was sealed 85 years ago, with instructions not to open it until the year 8113 CE. The rest of this article is behind a paywall. Please sign in or subscribe to access the full content. While studying ancient Egypt, Dr Thornwell Jacobs was struck by how little accurate information about ancient […]
New Zealand’s Population Just Jumped From 5 Million To 695 Billion Overnight – Well, Sort Of
New Zealanders woke up to a bit of a surprise on Monday morning: billboards dotted around three of its cities stating that the country’s population wasn’t actually 5 million – it was 695 billion. That’s more people than exist on Earth, and we’d certainly know about it if billions of aliens had descended upon New […]
Welcome To Earth’s Newest Nature Reserve: Protection Of The Great Maya Forest
In a historic move for the planet’s biodiversity, Mexico, Guatemala, and Belize have officially joined forces to create the Biocultural Corridor of the Great Maya Jungle – 14 million acres (5.7 million hectares) of rainforest reserve. “We should be proud to be able to say to the world: we join our will to preserve and […]
New Liquid Crystal COVID-19 Test Could Be Quicker And More Accurate Than Lateral Flow
Liquid crystals, the same technology found in TV screens, strip thermometers, and mood rings, could soon be used in the next generation of COVID tests. According to scientists at the University of Arkansas and the University of Alabama, such a test could return an accurate result in under two minutes, even when only trace amounts […]
Distant Dwarf Planet Quaoar Might Have More Moons Than We Thought – Or Yet Another “Impossible” Ring
The small, faraway world we call Quaoar is pretty peculiar. It is egg-shaped, and it also possesses a moon and two rings. In particular, the rings are where no ring should be; Quaoar is clearly unaware of this fact. In a recent campaign to observe and study one of its rings, a team of astronomers […]
Most Detailed Geologic Map Of The US To Date Lets You Explore Country’s Ancient History
Ever wanted to know more about the ground beneath your feet? Well, thanks to a new geologic map of the lower 48 states of the USA, now you can – and in more detail than ever before. The rest of this article is behind a paywall. Please sign in or subscribe to access the full […]
Alien Life Could Be Found By Simply Changing The Shape Of Telescopes
Since Galileo perfected the telescope and used it to look at the stars, we have made a giant leap forward in terms of technology. Materials, sizes, locations, and configurations have changed, but ultimately, a telescope has a mostly circular setup where mirrors and lenses magnify and direct light on detectors. A new paper argues that […]
Lion Cubs Seen In Africa’s Bamingui-Bangoran National Park For The First Time In Decades
The North-Eastern Central African Republic (CAR) is celebrating the first video and photographic evidence of lion cubs in the region in decades. Following the dedicated efforts of conservation teams, new footage has revealed a female with three cubs in tow in Bamingui-Bangoran National Park. The rest of this article is behind a paywall. Please sign […]
Contender, The Largest Male Great White Shark In The North Atlantic, Prowls Off The US Coast
This is Contender, the largest male great white shark that’s been caught, tagged, and released in the Atlantic. Measuring 4.19 meters (13 feet 9 inches), this heavyweight predator has been quietly stalking up and down the US East Coast, where scientists hope his presence signals the revival of the region’s once-struggling great white population. The […]
Sneaky Spiders Can Turn Trapped Fireflies’ Glow Into A Handy Hunting Tool
Nature doesn’t mess around when it comes to survival. One species of spider has come up with a hunting trick – using the bioluminescence of trapped fireflies as a living, glowing bait. Males of the firefly species Diaphanes lampyroides can sometimes find themselves entangled in sheetweb spider (Psechrus clavis) webs. But instead of going quietly, the […]
A New Lineage Of Tropical Mammoths Is Discovered In Mexico
A new lineage of mammoth has been discovered in… Mexico? While we usually think of these shaggy Ice Age giants roaming icy landscapes and temperate plains, the find shows that North American mammoths were more genetically diverse – and more widespread – than previously appreciated. In late 2019, construction workers unearthed several large, prehistoric bones […]
Rain At Burning Man? Prepare For The Return Of The Three-Eyed Dinosaur Shrimp
Burning Man festival in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert has once again been putting its visitors to the test, as the first week has seen an onslaught of tricky weather. First came the dust storms whipped up by 80-kilometer-per-hour (50-mile-per-hour) winds, taking with them the famous “Orgy Dome”. Then came the rain, turning the ground so […]
Supercell Storm Leaves 200-Kilometer-Long Hail Scar Across Canada’s “Hailstorm Alley”
A destructive hailstorm has literally made its mark on southern Alberta, Canada, after pummeling the region with golf ball-sized hailstones, leaving a 200-kilometer-long, 15-kilometer-wide (124-mile-long, 9-mile-wide) “scar” across the landscape that’s been captured in satellite images. The rest of this article is behind a paywall. Please sign in or subscribe to access the full content. […]
“I Never Thought I’d Get To See A Blue Lobster In Person”: Meet Neptune, He’s 1-In-2-Million
Lobster fisher Brad Myslinski is no stranger to pulling up crustaceans in a net, but this year he caught something few will ever get to see in person. You see, in his net he saw a flash of electric blue, one that would turn out to be a lobster that’s as rare as one in […]
