Being a Viking wasn’t all raiding and marauding. According to new research, a large part of the ancient Norse lifestyle also involved being struck down by oral and maxillofacial diseases, many of which would likely have caused immense pain and suffering. ADVERTISEMENT GO AD FREE The study authors used computed tomography (CT) to scan the […]
Rare Red Sea Brine Pools Are One Of The Most Extreme Environments On Earth
A handsome fictional mathematician once said that life, uh, finds a way – and he’s not wrong. Earth is teeming with organisms that manage to survive in the most extreme environments, including in some rare deep-sea brine pools in the Red Sea, which very nearly went undiscovered. ADVERTISEMENT GO AD FREE The brine pools in […]
Can Bird Flu Spread Through The Air?
With bird flu having devastated farms across the US, scientists have been searching for the reasons why it’s been able to spread so far and wide. One potential answer has come from across the Atlantic, where researchers studying a bird flu outbreak in the Czech Republic concluded that windborne transmission may have been to blame. […]
Why Are Blue Whale Calf Sightings So Mysteriously Rare?
Blue whales might be some of the most iconic creatures on the planet, but for all their impressive features, there’s still plenty we don’t know about them. One particularly confounding mystery is why their calves are so rarely seen – but a new study has come up with an interesting proposal as to why. ADVERTISEMENT […]
New Coronavirus HKU5-CoV-2 In Bats Can Infect Human Cells Just Like COVID-19
Researchers at the Wuhan Institute of Virology have detected a new coronavirus in bats that is capable of entering human cells using the exact same mechanism as SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. However, while this finding implies the obvious possibility of a spillover to human populations, the study authors point out that the new […]
What’s The Deadliest Animal? Ask The Crespo Scale, The Moon Is About To Get A 4G Cellular Network, And Much More This Week
This week, for the first time in 100 years, an ancient Egyptian royal tomb has been discovered, a former Paralympian has become the first astronaut with a disability to be cleared for an ISS mission, and the face of the Earth is being shaped by more than 600 “animal architect” species. Finally, we ask how […]
New Zealand’s Bug Of The Year Is A “Living Fossil” That Turns Prey To Soup
New Zealand is well known for its Bird of the Year competition, which has seen winners ranging from a delightfully round, drunk pigeon to a rogue bat. But did you know it awards a “Bug of the Year” too? And this year’s champion is an ancient and surprisingly savage killer. ADVERTISEMENT GO AD FREE The […]
Most Dangerous Animal, Tomb Discovery, And How To Break Habits
This week on Break It Down: the first ancient Egyptian royal tomb has been discovered since Tutankhamun over 100 years ago, a brand new “dangerous animal” scale reveals the realistic threat of different creatures, architects are operating on land and at the deepest parts of the ocean (they just don’t look how you imagine), a […]
New Tongan Island Forged By Volcanic Eruption Just Had A Hefty Growth Spurt
The volcanic eruption of Hunga Tonga–Hunga Haʻapai back in 2021 might’ve been the largest in over a century, but that’s far from the only eruptive activity that Tonga has seen as of late. In 2022, a new volcanic island emerged from the ocean nearby – and it’s just grown again. ADVERTISEMENT GO AD FREE The […]
Camels Drinking, Marlins Pouncing, And Mother-Calf Bonding: Spectacular Underwater Photographer Of The Year 2025 Winners
It’s time to unveil the Underwater Photographer of The Year! With over 6,000 images entered ranging from angry fish to silly camels, the competition showcases the best underwater photographers have to offer across 13 categories, including Macro, Wide Angle, Behavior, and Portrait. ADVERTISEMENT GO AD FREE The title of Underwater Photographer of The Year 2025 […]
What Is That Horrible Sound When You Crack Your Knuckles?
Cracking your knuckles is right up there with the most divisive things you can do at the dinner table. Some shrug it off, some fall to their knees crying, “Won’t somebody please think of the arthritis?!” ADVERTISEMENT GO AD FREE It is really quite remarkable how a small bend of the finger can elicit a […]
Could Gas Moons Exist? If So, Why Aren’t There Any In The Solar System?
The Solar System has four planets made mostly of gas, but no moons with the same composition. So is it a law of nature that gas moons are impossible, and if not why don’t we have any? Can gas moons exist? ADVERTISEMENT GO AD FREE The answer to this is probably. We can’t be completely […]
Neanderthals Suffered A Massive Population Crash 110,000 Years Ago
Neanderthals clung onto existence in Eurasia until roughly 40,000 years ago, yet new research suggests that their numbers declined drastically around 70,000 years prior to their eventual extinction. As a consequence, genetic and physical diversity within the Neanderthal population plummeted, leading to a largely homogeneous set of characteristics among the species’ final representatives. ADVERTISEMENT GO […]
Evolution Itself May Be Evolving, Allowing Faster Adaptation To Change
How is it that organisms are so damned good at evolving to overcome environmental challenges? This is a question that has long been posed by researchers, but the answers have not been overly clear. Now, a new study suggests that evolution itself may be a process that can evolve. ADVERTISEMENT GO AD FREE Life has […]
Rodent Resuscitation? Watch Mice Attempt To Revive Their Unconscious Mates
In some wholesome news, some mice seemingly attempt to revive their unconscious peers in an act that could be interpreted as akin to human “first aid”. The rodents were found to paw at, bite, and pull the tongues of their comatose conspecifics – and the researchers were even able to identify distinct brain regions that […]
Inhalable Cystic Fibrosis Gene Therapy 24 Years In The Making Enters Clinical Trials
A new inhalable gene therapy for cystic fibrosis (CF) has entered Phase I clinical trials, a major milestone on the journey towards seeing this treatment in the clinic. For this first phase, the aim is to test the treatment on around 36 people at centers across Europe, with results expected in early 2027. ADVERTISEMENT GO […]
Giant Megafauna Lived Alongside Humans As Recently As 3,500 Years Ago
It seems some species of megafauna may have existed for much longer than previously assumed. ADVERTISEMENT GO AD FREE For a long time, the overall consensus has been that mammalian megafauna – giant mammals that roamed the Earth in the past, including species like mammoths, giant sloths and sabertoothed tigers – went extinct at the […]
Yep, The Pain Of Pulling Hair Really Does Hit Faster Than Other Pain
Some pain just hits different. Even without getting into the age-old argument about childbirth vs. a kick in the balls, everyone knows that papercuts hurt way more than they should, while the pain of falling into the world’s most dangerous plant sounds like a very bad time indeed. Having your hair pulled is one pain […]
What Is Vaper’s Tongue?
With New York’s Attorney General recently announcing plans to sue vape distributors for “fueling the youth vaping epidemic” and “creating a massive public health crisis”, it’s worth taking a look at some of the potential side effects of vaping – one of which appears to be something called “vaper’s tongue”. What is vaper’s tongue? ADVERTISEMENT […]
This Is Why You Should Never Kill Spiders In Your Home
Arachnophobia, the fear of spiders, is one of the most common phobias – even for those without a full-blown fear, these eight-legged beasties still give plenty of people the creeps. But before you reach for a slipper the next time you see one scampering up your bedroom wall, consider this: spiders aren’t out to get […]
