Asteroid 2024 YR4 has reached the highest risk of impact yet, according to both NASA and the European Space Agency, with the agencies estimating a 2.6 percent and 2.4 percent chance respectively that the rock will hit Earth on December 22, 2032. The two measurements are independent of each other and continue to be in […]
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“Life-Threatening” Cold To Hit US As Polar Vortex Returns For 10th Time This Winter
Bitter cold has descended on swathes of the US this week, as the nation faces its 10th – and coldest – polar vortex of the season. In a normal winter, you can expect to see this happen two or three times. ADVERTISEMENT GO AD FREE The anomalous Arctic chill is set to hit the Central […]
Watch Lava Melt Snow As It Flows Down Italy’s Erupting Mount Etna
Mount Etna is Europe’s highest and most active volcano and has recently been up to its usual albeit impressive tricks of shooting volcanic ash and debris into the air. Mesmerizing new footage captured lava flowing down the volcano’s snow-covered sides, melting it as it goes. ADVERTISEMENT GO AD FREE It’s not surprising for Mount Etna, […]
Were Asylums As Bad As People Think? The Rise And Fall Of The So-Called “Madhouse”
What comes to mind when you think about asylums? I bet it involves some large, gothic building on a walled estate. Chances are you are also imagining long sterile corridors, barred windows, white-clothed orderlies, and of course, restrained and straitjacketed patients in various levels of distress. But how accurate is this image? ADVERTISEMENT GO AD […]
Reintroducing Wolves To Scotland Could Help Capture 1 Million Tons Of CO2 Per Year
A team of researchers from the University of Leeds in the UK has come up with a surprising way to help tackle the climate crisis; reintroducing wolves to Scotland. According to the team, introducing a population of wolves to the Cairngorms, South-west Highlands, Central Highlands, and North-west Highlands could help capture and store up to […]
Global Sea Ice Plummets To New Record Low Amid Unusually Warm Temperatures
The world currently has less sea ice than ever before according to a new analysis, with both the Arctic and Antarctic experiencing unusually warm temperatures. This has led to a massive melt in the region around the South Pole, while things in the north just aren’t freezing like they should be at this time of […]
Pineapple On Pizza? Here’s What Science Says About The World’s Most Divisive Topping
Nothing can set a room on fire quite like the old “does pineapple belong on pizza” debate. At IFLScience it cycles around time and again, and in a recent employee poll scored a clean 50/50 for and against. The conversation turned to other curious toppings to be found across the globe (banana and curry? We […]
Former Paralympian Becomes First Astronaut With Disability To Be Cleared For ISS Mission
Former Paralympian and current surgeon John McFall has become the first disabled astronaut to be cleared for a mission to the International Space Station (ISS) by feasibility studies. ADVERTISEMENT GO AD FREE In 2000, aged 19, McFall’s right leg was amputated after he was involved in a serious motorcycle accident. After being fitted with a […]
What Is A Geomagnetic Field, And What Sets It Apart From Other Electromagnetic Fields?
Electromagnetic fields are everywhere – and if the scam artists we’ve seen on our social media feeds are to be believed, that should terrify you. But should it, really? After all, there’s a gigantic one surrounding the Earth right now, and without it, we’d all probably be dead – and that’s gotta be a point […]
Santorini Earthquakes: What’s Been Happening – And Why?
The Greek island of Santorini normally conjures up images of beautiful white buildings and dreamy blue seas, but since January this year, its home in the Aegean Sea has been hit by a near-constant string of seismic activity – so what’s going on? ADVERTISEMENT GO AD FREE At the time of publishing, in the last […]
Miracle Seems Somewhat Unlikely After Blood Of Virgin Mary Statue Receives DNA Test
A statue of the Virgin Mary has been the unlikely recipient of a DNA swab, after it appeared to be weeping blood. Results from the test make a miracle appear unlikely, and a criminal case against its owner more probable. ADVERTISEMENT GO AD FREE Back in 2014, “mystic” Gisella Cardia bought a statue of the […]
Before Lions And Wolves, Bastetodon Was The Apex Predator Early Monkeys Feared
A 30-million-year-old skull from Fayum, Egypt, is thought to come from the apex predator of the times, which would have been the scourge of early hippos and elephants, snacking on our own ancestors in between. ADVERTISEMENT GO AD FREE The cat and dog families evolved about halfway between the death of the dinosaurs and today. […]
How Do Our Brains Make – And Break – Habits?
Is there a habit you wish you had? Maybe it’s something simple, like always leaving your keys in one specific place so you never lose them. Or is there an annoying habit you’d really like to kick, like biting your nails? Let’s take a step back for second, though: what actually is a habit? ADVERTISEMENT GO […]
Incredible 14.6-Million-Year-Old Fossil Bee Discovered In New Zealand
Finding fossils of any species is an exciting discovery for science, but some are a little bit more special than others. In New Zealand, a 14.6-million-year-old fossilized bee has been discovered, marking the first fossil bee to be uncovered from Zealandia. ADVERTISEMENT GO AD FREE Near the township of Outram in Otago on the South […]
Carbon Capture Is More Expensive Than Just Switching To Renewables
As the nations of the world continue to burn fossil fuels, the amount of carbon dioxide, methane, and other greenhouse gases – as well as air pollutants – continue to increase. The climate crisis is a consequence of those human actions. Wouldn’t it be great to just remove excess CO2? Carbon capture aims to do […]
World’s Largest Lake Island Has Lakes Of Its Own – Which Also Have Lake Islands
If you found Inception tricky enough to get your head around, just wait until you hear about Manitoulin Island. Located in Lake Huron, not only is it the world’s largest lake island, but it also has lakes of its own, some of which in turn have their own lake islands. Someone grab us the Advil… ADVERTISEMENT […]
Neutrinos’ Quantum Size Likely Thousands Of Times Larger Than Atomic Nuclei
The quantum size of a neutrino has been measured for the first time using innovative table-top measurements of the particle’s decay. ADVERTISEMENT GO AD FREE Neutrinos are thought to be the second most common particles in the universe after photons, and the most plentiful ones with mass, but it’s not that long ago that physicists […]
Watch Amazon River Dolphins Pee Straight Up Into The Air, What Do Ancient Mummies Smell Like, And Much More This Week
This week, we take an inside look at how humanity is dealing with the threat of asteroid 2024 YR4, humpback whale song seems to follow a fundamental law of human language, and we investigate whether red light therapy is a skin superhero or a beauty bust. Finally, we discuss a powerful human emotion everyone has […]
The Greenland Ice Sheet Is Falling Apart – New Study
Observing Greenland from a helicopter, the main problem is one of comprehending scale. I have thought we were skimming low over the waves of a fjord, before noticing the tiny shadow of a seabird far below and realising what I suspected were floating shards of ice were in fact icebergs the size of office blocks. […]
Solar-Powered Reactor Gobbles Up Carbon Dioxide And Spits Out Sustainable Fuel
Researchers at the University of Cambridge have developed a brand-new device designed to capture carbon dioxide directly from the air and turn it into fuel – and it does so with only the power of the Sun. ADVERTISEMENT GO AD FREE Direct air carbon capture is far from a new idea, but time has yet […]
