To put it mildly, it’s been a weird hurricane season. Despite predictions that La Niña would cause more frequent storms, the Atlantic has had only six named storms so far compared to 21 storms in 2021 and 2020’s total of 30. Hurricane Fiona is the first category 4 storm of the 2022 Atlantic hurricane season. […]
TWIS: Neptune Flashes Us Its Snazzy Rings, Fetuses Judge Our Ability To Cook Kale, And Much More This Week
This week, JWST grants us access to view Neptune’s dazzling rings, a brand-new island has emerged out of the depths of the Pacific Ocean, and we learn about the mysteries of rare “golden blood”. JWST Captures Neptune And Its Intriguing Rings As We Have Never Seen Before Neptune makes a complete orbit of our Sun […]
New Coronavirus That Could Infect Humans Discovered Lurking In Russian Bats
Scientists have revealed that a recently discovered coronavirus found in Russian bats has the worrying ability to infect human cells. Although the pathogen is very similar to SARS-CoV-2, the virus behind COVID-19, our current vaccines would be useless against it. Khosta-1 and Khosta–2 viruses were discovered living in horseshoe bats near Sochi National Park back […]
Cracked Bones And Decaying Sludge: The Early Days Of Cryonics Was A Complete Horror Show
The history of cryonics – the attempt to freeze the bodies of the recently deceased in the hope that they can be revived and cured at some far-off point in the future – is pretty grim. In an article originally published in Cryonics in 1992, early attempts at cryonics were documented in great and horrific […]
History’s Guide To Making Sure Vampires Don’t Rise From The Dead
Through one of history’s more morbid games of telephone, the myth of the vampire, and how to contain it, was born. A culmination of medical ignorance and re-interpreted religious practises meant the threat of spooky ghoulies used to be very real – at least in the minds of the public. Seeking protection against what we […]
Explainer: Is Cannabis Use Causing Heart Attacks In Young People?
A recent and troubling trend has seen heart attacks in people under 40 move from “practically unheard of” to making up around one in five cases. We all know what a heart attack looks like, right? It’s when an old guy, probably heavier than average, with a history of things like alcohol and tobacco use […]
Golden Blood: Fewer Than 50 People In The World Have This Super-Rare Blood Type
There’s a blood type so rare that fewer than 50 people in the world are known to possess it. Scientifically known as Rhnull (Rhesus null), it’s often referred to as “golden blood” due to its extreme rarity – and its value to others. To understand why Rhnull is so rare and precious, you need to quick […]
IFLScience The Big Questions: Why Is The Universe Made Of Matter And Not Antimatter?
Everything we see, from galaxies to capybaras, is made of matter. But matter has a mirrored version of itself known as antimatter. If the two come into contact they annihilate one another, turning into pure energy. Why does the universe prefer one over the other? This is a fundamental mystery of the universe, and at […]
Reusable Contact Lenses More Than Triple Your Risk Of Catching This Rare Eye Infection
Your risk of contracting a rare eye infection increases almost four times if you use soft reusable contact lenses compared to using soft disposable ones. That’s the grim findings from research led by the University College London (UCL) Institute of Ophthalmology and Moorfields Eye Hospital, where researchers have been investigating what factors can increase a […]
Quieter Raccoons Make For The Most Cunning Trash Can Criminals
The humble raccoon was practically built for a life of crime, having evolved a bandit mask to give the Hamburglar a run for his money. Famous for raiding bins and breaking into banks, these animals are well versed in navigating city life – but new research has found that when it comes to nailing the […]
Gaia Finds The Protogalaxy That Became The Milky Way’s Heart
The Milky Way is orders of magnitude larger than the other galaxies in the local group, Andromeda aside. It got that way by cannibalizing smaller galaxies. The GAIA space telescope has allowed us to identify stars of common origin, based on their movements and ages, revealing many of the conglomerations of stars that got consumed. […]
New Monoclonal Antibody “Highly Effective” For Kids With Severe Eczema
New research that has used a biologic drug to treat infants and kids with severe eczema has shown huge promise in an early trial. By using this monoclonal antibody treatment in kids, the researchers even speculate that it might be able to save them from developing other allergies beyond eczema. After a 16-week course of […]
For Some ALS Patients, A New Drug Shows Potential To Slow And Even Reverse Disease Progression
A landmark new study has shown once and for all that patience really is a virtue – at least if you’re hoping to change the world. After a slow start, tofersen – an experimental drug being investigated as a treatment for motor neurone disease (MND) aka amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) – has turned out to […]
The Cat Flap Is Surprisingly Ancient, And Not The Work Of Isaac Newton
The cat flap may not be the most sophisticated of inventions – a tiny flap in a door that a cat can get through is not Nikola Tesla territory – yet they have still been around a surprisingly long time. They even make an appearance in churches dating back to the 16th century, though it […]
CRISPR-Based HIV Gene Therapy Administered To First Human Patient
In a clinical trial, the first patient has received a single dose of a new human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) gene editing therapy, researchers at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University and Excision BioTherapeutics, Inc have reported. In a collaborative effort, the researchers are currently running a phase 1/2 clinical trial to evaluate the […]
Ultrasounds Show Unborn Fetuses Making Disgusted Faces When Mom Eats Kale
The taste of kale is so repulsive to fetuses that it causes them to screw up their faces in disgust while in the womb, a new imaging study reveals. Researchers used 4D ultrasound to observe the reactions of 100 fetuses to the flavors ingested by their mothers, and found that they respond favorably to carrot […]
“Frosted Cupcake” Clouds Caught Dancing On Jupiter
New 3D renders created by a team of amateur scientists from Juno data show the “frosted cupcake” clouds of Jupiter in all their glory. As pretty as they may appear, however, you certainly don’t want to get caught up in this astronomically powerful storm. The stunning results were presented by a team of citizen scientists […]
Connecticut Becomes One Of First States To Require Teaching Climate Change By Law
A new law will make Connecticut one of the first US states to mandate the teaching of climate change. For all public schools within Connecticut, the curriculum must now include how the climate is changing and how humans are directly responsible, how this shift will impact populations, what is being done to prevent it, […]
Tradition Dictates King Charles Will Now Be Served A Bloodsucking Parasite Pie
Look, a lot of the traditions that go on in Britain are a bit weird. Every year at the opening of Parliament, a hostage is taken by the monarchy until the ceremony is complete. A search is then carried out for gunpowder under the Houses of Parliament, in case Guy Fawkes has pulled off some […]
Sleep Disorders And Quantum Cryptography Win Big At The Breakthrough Prizes 2023
The winners of the 2023 Breakthrough Prizes in Fundamental Physics, Life Sciences, and Mathematics have been announced together with several other early career awards given by the Breakthrough Prize. Of the five main prizes, three are awarded in Life Science, one in fundamental Physics, and one in Math, each worth $3 million for a total […]
