The world’s largest sand battery is online and ready to make the most of Finland’s renewable energy. Once fully operational, this giant device is expected to cut carbon-equivalent emissions from the local heating network by about 160 tons each year, slashing the district’s heating emissions by nearly 70 percent. Towering at 13 meters tall and […]
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First-Known Species Of “Methane-Powered” Sea Spiders Have Been Discovered In The Deep Sea
Living without sunlight ain’t easy, but newly discovered sea spiders off the US coast have evolved a remarkable survival strategy on the deep seafloor. In a world where photosynthesis isn’t an option, these spindly creatures farm methane-eating bacteria on their own bodies and then feast upon them. Scientists at Occidental College and the California Institute […]
In 2010, The US Made Guns Easier To Get. The Result? Thousands Of Dead Kids
Guns, according to many a Second Amendment advocate, don’t kill people – people kill people. It’s a catchy turn of phrase, and it spawned a fun Welsh bop that one time, but it ignores one very important variable: that it’s a whole lot easier for people to kill people when they have easy access to […]
The 13th Century “Codex Gigas” Or “The Devil’s Bible” Is The Subject Of An Unsettling Legend
If you’re a bit of a fan of ancient and mysterious manuscripts, perhaps with a little sprinkling of satanic legend, then the Codex Gigas, or the Devil’s Bible, is for you. The legend behind it goes like this: In 13th-century Bohemia, a Christian monk named Herman broke his monastic vows and was subsequently sentenced to […]
The Hottest Thing Ever Created By Humans Was Over 300,000 Times Hotter Than The Sun
Humans are pretty good at making things hot. Heck, it’s pretty much our species’ entire claim to fame at this point. But just how hot can we go when we really put our minds to it? It might seem like a frivolous question – but our ability to heat things up has been responsible for […]
Defying Logic: Symmetrical Crystals Can Interact With Light Asymmetrically
Crystals that are perfectly symmetrical around a central point can nevertheless respond to light as if they were asymmetric, scientists have found. The discovery could lead to more sensitive measuring devices, improve the security of signal transmission, and even allow brighter optical displays, researchers claim. Symmetry comes in many forms. Our bodies, up to a […]
Alaska Issues Its First-Ever Heat Advisory As Temperatures Soar To 30°C
The US state of Alaska has issued its first-ever heat advisory, as meteorologists also warn of flooding caused by rapid snowmelt. The National Weather Service (NWS) offices in Fairbanks and Juneau issued the initial heat advisory on June 12, followed by an updated advisory on June 16 warning of temperatures up to 29.4 to 31.1°C […]
Simulation Captures The Most Complex 1.5 Seconds In A Neutron Star Collision – And You Can Watch It Here
Scientists have developed the longest and most complex simulation to date of a binary neutron star collision that results in the formation of a black hole and a jet. The breakthrough will massively improve future observations of these collisions, since they heavily rely on the theoretical backing to be discovered. The first observation of gravitational […]
These Spiders Vomit Their Victims To Death, Regurgitating Toxic Goo Until It’s Dinner
Imagine, if you will, you are a fly. Out for a stroll when lo! A strong, sticky substance has you ensnared: a spider’s web, built by the eight-legged giant on its way to kill you. You ready yourself for the fatal bite, fangs puncturing your tissues and delivering a mercifully lethal dose of venom, only […]
Atomic Discrepancy Could Be Hint Of Fifth Force Of Nature
Scientists have found an intriguing discrepancy in the way electrons behave in different calcium atoms. The difference between the observations and actual theoretical calculation is subtle; however, the team believes the peculiar effect comes down to a single factor. Whether this factor is something known and missed, or something new, is yet to be determined, […]
The Dark Sides Of Uranus’s Moons Are The Wrong Way Round
Uranus is a very weird planet, and it turns out that there is a newly discovered oddity to add to its already extensive list. Astronomers used Hubble to study the interactions between the planet’s weird magnetic field and its moons, trying to demonstrate that a well-founded hypothesis was true. They found out the very opposite. […]
You Can Watch 1.8 Billion Years Of Earth’s Tectonic Plates Shifting In This 1-Minute Video
Nothing stays the same for long, even Earth’s seemingly solid crust. Your day-to-day perception of the ground you stand on might suggest otherwise, but our planet is an ever-changing, shape-shifting globule of crust floating around a molten sphere of mantle and metals. Scientists have managed to beautifully illustrate this idea through a 1-minute video (watch […]
Achoo! Why Do People Say “Bless You” When You Sneeze?
In most (but not all) cultures, it’s incredibly rude to ignore a sneeze – it has to be publicly acknowledged with a go-to response that everyone knows by heart. In English, the reply is almost always “Bless you!” But do you know the origins of why we say that when a room rings out with […]
Could Studying Dinosaurs’ Cancer Help Us Cure Our Own?
A dinosaur that lived not long before the asteroid ended its kind had a tumor that paleontologists have been studying for seven years. Now, some of those working on the specimen have used advanced microscopy to provide new insights into the disease that plagued the 4-meter (13 feet) long hadrosaur, and think the findings might […]
95 Percent Of The World’s Youngest, Smallest, And Most Mysterious Continent Is Underwater
They say we know more about the surface of the Moon than we do about the bottom of the ocean, but it still might surprise you to learn that we only just officially recognized one of Earth’s continents in 2017. Known as Te Riu-a-Māui, or Zealandia, it’s sandwiched between Australia, Eurasia, and North America, and […]
Physics Puzzle Of The Week: Why Won’t This Contraption Turn?
A while back, the Internet was puzzled by a physics problem involving a set of scales, an iron ball, and a ping pong ball of equal size. Now that that one has been cleared up, Reddit has been mulling over another problem: why won’t this contraption turn? “I don’t know where else to ask,” Redditor […]
This Sea Snake Only Lives In One Place On Earth – And It’s Not The Sea
The animal world is full of contradictions, from tiny mouse-deer that are neither mice nor deer, to vampire squid that aren’t vampires or squid. Now, we come to another confusingly named creature: the Garman’s sea snake is a snake, but it doesn’t live in the sea. Garman’s sea snake (Hydrophis semperi) is one of only […]
Child From World’s Oldest Burial Was Neanderthal-Homo Sapiens Hybrid
A little over 100,000 years ago, groups of prehistoric humans in the Levant suddenly began burying their dead, marking one of the most significant cognitive and behavioral leaps in the history of our species. Yet these primordial grave-diggers weren’t quite like us, and new research reveals that a young child from the world’s oldest cemetery […]
Why A Green Roof Could Protect You Against Microplastics From The Atmosphere
Microplastics are everywhere and unavoidable. They’re in the water we drink, the food we eat, and the air we breathe. But if you’re a city slicker looking to reduce the impact of airborne plastic particles, a green roof could be your best bet. By green roof, we’re not talking about painting your house green. We’re […]
A Language Without Numbers? Pirahã Challenges Long-Held Theories Of Linguistics
Deep in the Amazon rainforest lives a culture that challenges everything we think we know about language and human cognition. The Pirahã people have captivated – and divided – linguists for decades because their language appears to lack words that express precise numerical values; threes, fours, fives, and the like simply don’t factor in their […]