President Trump has issued an executive order that allows commercial flights across America to fly faster than the speed of sound. The order overturns what it refers to as “outdated and overly restrictive regulations”. It comes as companies are working on quieter supersonic aircraft, and instructs the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to create standards to […]
NASA Creates Incredible Visualization Of One Of The Largest Solar Storms Observed In Space
Across September 1 and 2, 1859, the Earth experienced the most intense geomagnetic storm in recorded history. It is known as the Carrington Event and caused aurorae visible almost to the equator and damage to electrical systems, which at the time mostly consisted of telegraphs. None comparable have hit Earth since, but we came really […]
Remains Of Antarctic Researcher Lost During 1959 Expedition Found After 65 Years
On July 26, 1959, British scientist Dennis Bell was conducting a geological survey with surveyor Jeff Stokes, meteorologist Ken Gibson, and geologist Colin Barton with the aid of two dog sleds. When the sled dogs began to struggle, Bell went ahead to encourage them forward, but fell through a hole in a crevasse bridge. Efforts […]
Javan Rhinos Creep Ever Closer To Extinction – Now Just 50 Remain
The world’s rhino populations face a myriad of threats, from habitat loss, poaching for the medicine trade, and even botanical threats that can limit their food supply. A new report highlights which species are slowly increasing their numbers and which, sadly, are not. Of the two broader rhino species that are found only in Africa, […]
Accidentally Shrunk Your Clothes In The Laundry? There Is A Way To Unshrink Them
If it weren’t necessary for living in polite society, nobody would do laundry. It’s insanely labor-intensive without modern technology, the instructions are basically written in code, and worst of all, if you do it wrong, you can end up shrinking your favorite shirt or pants into a child’s size version of their original design. But […]
What’s The Deepest Dinosaur Fossil Ever Found?
Ever wanted to find a dinosaur? After all, as your favorite conspiracy theorists have asked, if they existed, then surely their bones would be everywhere – so how much work would it take to dig one up? Well, it depends where you are. In England, where the first dinosaur fossils were found and categorized, there […]
There’s A Very Intriguing Reason Why Great White Sharks Have White Bellies
You ever noticed how a “great white” shark isn’t? White, that is – it’s grey, right? Except for its belly, of course. Why is that? It turns out that whoever named the great white shark must have been underneath one, looking up, when they did so: “The name ‘white shark’ refers to the color of […]
NASA’s Space Probe Finds Evidence Of A “Helicity Barrier” In The Sun’s 2 Million Kelvin Atmosphere
A study analyzing data from NASA’s Parker Solar Probe has uncovered evidence of a “helicity barrier” in the Sun’s atmosphere. In 2018, NASA launched the Parker Solar Probe on a trajectory that would eventually have it dive into the Sun’s atmosphere (corona), getting seven times closer to our host star than any other spacecraft so […]
Why Do Some People Talk In Their Sleep?
Have you ever held a conversation while you slept? It’s more likely than you think. Whether it’s a stray chuckle, a word or two, or a full monologue a la Hamlet Act 3 Scene 1, somniloquy – aka talking in your sleep – is extremely common. But why does it happen? And is it dangerous? […]
Can Animals Think? Understanding Them Could Be Key To Communicating With Aliens One Day
The debate about whether (and, if so, how) animals think is an ancient one. Aristotle considered it important enough to write on the question extensively, and it’s a safe bet people were debating it long before we have written records. Unsurprisingly, it’s a major topic of research today, but one that tends to defy easy […]
The World’s Only White Giraffe Has A Tragic Story
Giraffes are one of those iconic species of the African savannah: tall-necked, with their trademark mottled coats decked out in all the colors of a slightly over-ripe banana. In Kenya, though, there’s one giraffe who doesn’t fit in with the others. Dazzlingly white and mysteriously unnamed, he’s the only known such creature in the world: […]
Are You More Likely To Be Killed By An Elephant Or An Asteroid? RFK Jr Pulls Millions Of Dollars Of mRNA Vaccine Funding, And Much More This Week
This week, the miniature “hobbit” ancient humans of Flores Island may have come from the nearby island of Sulawesi, where researchers have discovered stone tools, four newly discovered tarantulas have been discovered with the longest known schlongs in the spider world, and cockatoos have at least 30 different dance moves that they love to perform. […]
ChatGPT Poisoned A Guy Into Psychosis, Case Study Shows
Next time you’re feeling a bit peaky, better dust off your grandma’s old medical encyclopedias rather than opt for the high-tech solution – it turns out asking ChatGPT might just make things worse. The evidence? A new case study out of Washington state, in which a seemingly healthy man ended up poisoning himself to the […]
8 Key DNA Regions More Likely To Be Altered In People With ME/CFS, Finds 27,000-Strong Study
A landmark study of myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) has just reported preliminary results, suggesting that the DNA of people with the condition is markedly altered in eight key regions. ME/CFS affects an estimated 67 million people worldwide. There is no specific test or cure for the condition, and patients can experience substantial challenges when […]
Quantum “Schrödinger’s Cat” Survives For Mind-Blowing 23 Minutes In Record-Breaking Experiment
States in quantum superposition are notoriously fragile, but researchers in China have reported creating such a state that lasted for a whopping 23 minutes and 20 seconds. While this record-breaking result is exciting in itself, the team believes that it could open new ways to high-precision measurements and even information processing for quantum computers – […]
World-First Estimate Shows Over 13 Million Babies Born Through Assisted Reproduction
The first study to conduct a thorough global estimate of the number of children born via assisted reproductive technology (ART), like in vitro fertilization (IVF), has estimated that between 9.8 million to just over 13 million babies have been born this way since the tech first came into use in 1978. ART consists of any […]
Californian Wild Pigs Found With Bright Blue Flesh, Officials Warn Public To “Be Aware”
Californian authorities are warning people to avoid the meat of wild pigs in Monterey County as something strange and deeply worrying is happening to them: their flesh and fat are turning blue. And this is not just a little blue, like a cold person, but bright, almost neon blue. The phenomenon was first brought to […]
Dancing Cockatoos, Spider Schlongs, And Will I Be Hit By An Asteroid?
This week on Break It Down: cockatoos have added 17 new dance moves to their official tally, we may finally know where the ancient “hobbit” humans came from, four new species of tarantulas have been discovered with one key difference to other species, science has the answer as to whether you’re more likely to be […]
NASA Releases Closest Ever Images Of The Sun, Snapped As Probe Travels Through Its Atmosphere
NASA had a special Christmas gift last year. On December 24, the Parker Solar Probe reached the closest it will ever get to the Sun. As it flew just 6.1 million kilometers (3.8 million miles) from its surface, it snapped a picture of the solar wind, the stream of particles that is released from the […]
Grizzly Adams: The Wild Truth Behind The Man, The Myth, And The Beard
You might remember The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams, that gloriously ’70s movie and TV drama about a bearded frontiersman who buddies up with bears and roams the untamed American West. This larger-than-life character is based on a real person – James Capen Adams – and while the on-screen version made him look like […]
