Trillions of cicadas are set to erupt across parts of the US this spring, bringing a deluge of high-pitched buzzing to the Midwest and the Southeast. One group of people that could be unexpectedly impacted by the so-called “cicadapocalypse” will be those with tinnitus, a condition that involves hearing an unwanted ringing, buzzing, or whooshing […]
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Newly Discovered Comet On Its Way To Earth Should Be Visible To The Naked Eye Soon
Eyes on the sky, people: Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS) has a good chance of getting bright enough to be visible to the naked eye in the coming months. It is currently visible only to telescopes, but it is still quite a distance away from the Sun. It has time to get brighter, and could even […]
Dark Matter-Hunting Euclid Releases Incredible New Images Sparkling With Stars And Galaxies
The European Space Agency has designed their space observatory Euclid to hunt for the invisible but crucial components of the universe: dark matter and dark energy. Its first science release is now out and it shows that the observatory is more than up to the task. And it can do so much more than that. […]
Is The Guillotine Painful?
Does it hurt to be executed by guillotine? Do you remain conscious after being decapitated? Unfortunately, there’s nobody with first-hand experience around to answer that question. Nevertheless, it is possible to piece together a fair amount of evidence that indicates how a last dance with the guillotine might go down. The guillotine is the iconic […]
Timor Cave Discredits Once-Favored Explanation For How People Reached Australia
Laili rock shelter on the island of Timor, north of Australia, appears to provide the smoking gun to rule out what was once considered the obvious route for one of the greatest and least understood migrations in human history. In the process, it may tell us something important about how people first arrived on Timor […]
The Tesla Elon Musk Launched Into Space Has A 22 Percent Chance Of Hitting Earth (Eventually)
Six years ago, Elon Musk’s SpaceX launched a Tesla into space, in a stunt that even the most hardened Musk haters would grudgingly admit is pretty cool. The Roadster has since been on one hell of a journey, currently moving away from Earth at the impressive speed of 25,290 kilometers per hour (15,715 miles per […]
How Does Turbulence Work And Is It Becoming More Frequent?
On May 21, one person died and several were injured after a flight from London to Singapore was struck by severe turbulence. Though such fatalities are rare, and turbulence is usually only mildly bumpy, some scientists believe we could be seeing more of it. What is turbulence? Turbulence is a sudden, irregular change in airflow […]
Howler Monkeys Are Dropping Dead Out Of Trees In Mexico’s Heatwave
Mexico’s baking heatwave and desperate drought are so severe that they’re causing monkeys to drop dead out of trees. Worse still, temperatures are expected to climb even further in the next few weeks ahead. At least 138 howler monkeys have been found dead in the Gulf Coast state of Tabasco since May 16, according to […]
Why Does The Heart Symbol Look Nothing Like A Real Heart?
IFLScience needs the contact information you provide to us to contact you about our products and services. You may unsubscribe from these communications at any time. For information on how to unsubscribe, as well as our privacy practices and commitment to protecting your privacy, check out ourPrivacy Policy Deborah BloomfieldSource Link: Why Does The Heart […]
A “Lunar Lighthouse”? For 30 Minutes, NASA Lit Up A Beacon On The Moon
NASA has successfully tested a positioning system on the Moon that will allow for the safer navigation of rovers and humans on the lunar surface. The test, conducted in February, was part of Intuitive Machine’s Odysseus mission. Called Lunar Node 1 (LN-1), the beacon was turned on for 30 total minutes and showcased how it […]
Unique Coral Found In Deep Arctic Ocean Is “Almost Certainly A New Species”
In the bitterly cold waters of the Arctic Ocean, scientists have discovered a strange and unique coral that’s “almost certainly a new species.” When you think about corals, you might imagine tropical temperatures, crystal-clear waters, and clownfish. However, corals are incredibly diverse and inhabit many different ecosystems across the planet, from the idyllic atolls of […]
Airline For Dogs Launches Its First-Ever Flight
A new airline tailored specifically for dogs is scheduled to take off for the first time. Bark Air – which allows dogs to sit on seats and roam around the cabin – will operate its maiden voyage from New York to Los Angeles today. Operated by pet company Bark, the domesticated flight (get it?) has […]
Voyager 1 Has Resumed Sending NASA Science Data, After 6-Month-Long Glitch
NASA’s Voyager 1 spacecraft has resumed sending back science data, six months after it began sending garbled patterns of zeroes and ones. Voyager 1 has traveled further than any human-made object, crossing the heliopause and heading into interstellar space. While doing this, it has continued to send back useful data to Earth, helping us learn […]
Portal Between New York And Dublin Reopened After Shutdown For “Inappropriate Behavior”
The “portal” between New York, USA, and Dublin, Republic of Ireland, has reopened this week, despite previously having to shut down due to “inappropriate behavior”. Earlier this month, a “portal” – really a livestream of the two locations broadcast onto two large circular screens – was launched. Advertisement “Portals are an invitation to meet people […]
Second Farm Worker Infected With H5N1 Bird Flu By Dairy Cows In USA
Bird flu has been passed from an infected dairy cow to a farm worker in Michigan, marking the second occasion that the disease has been spread in this way. This strain of virus, called H5N1, has run rampant through both wild bird and domestic poultry populations and even spread as far as the Antarctic region. […]
Iceberg Bigger Than Las Vegas Breaks Off From Antarctic Ice Shelf
We’re here to bring you some quite literally breaking news – an iceberg that’s bigger than the city of Las Vegas has broken off the Brunt Ice Shelf in Antarctica. This 380 square-kilometer (147 square-mile) chunk of ice parted ways with the shelf on the morning of May 20, after a crack that first appeared […]
Warm Seawater Is Flowing Under The “Doomsday Glacier” And It’s As Bad As It Sounds
Tidal pressures have been observed pushing (relatively) warm water under the Thwaites Glacier, exposing a much larger area of ice to warming pressure. The observations indicate a catastrophic sea level rise could be coming much sooner than almost anyone is preparing for. Rising temperatures are contributing to higher sea levels by making the existing water […]
Hundreds Of Stars Have Vanished Without A Trace. A New Study Could Explain Why
Over recent years, astronomers have investigated an unusual phenomenon: stars apparently disappearing, leaving behind few clues as to what made them vanish from our view. In 2019, the Vanishing and Appearing Sources during a Century of Observations (VASCO) project attempted to catalog how many stars have disappeared from view in the last 70 years and […]
A Mourning Mother Chimp Carries Her Dead Baby For 3 Months At Zoo
A grieving chimpanzee has been carrying around her dead baby for months at a Spanish zoo in a tragic demonstration of the species’ intelligence and social complexity. Natalia the chimp gave birth to an infant at Bioparc Valencia in early February 2024, but it died just 14 days later. Advertisement Although infant mortality is extremely […]
A 425-Million-Year-Old Predatory Worm That Moved Like An Accordion? Why Not
A remarkable fossil of a worm has been described, estimated to be around 425 million years old and marking the youngest species of its group to have been classified. The carnivorous burrowing predator was retrieved from Leintwardine in Herefordshire and has been named Radnorscolex latus by scientists at the London Natural History Museum. Radnorscolex is […]