News

China is set to venture where humanity has scarcely been before: beneath the Earth’s crust, into its mantle. To achieve this aspiration, it has deployed Meng Xiang – meaning “dream”– a colossal drilling ship built to pierce through kilometers of seabed. If successful, this mission could unlock secrets of the Earth’s interior and the tectonic […]

A vaccine against norovirus, the dreaded “winter vomiting bug”, could be closer than you think: early clinical trials have returned positive results for a vaccine candidate that is taken orally as a pill. The trial targeted older adults, who are particularly at risk from severe complications from the infection that causes annual misery for so […]

There is a fairly popular idea circulating the Internet that a single gram of uranium contains about 20 billion calories, with some joking that eating it could sustain you like a turbo-charged diet supplement. But is that calorie count right, and could you actually get energy from it? ADVERTISEMENT Well, the first thing we should […]

The natural world is full of all kinds of strange phenomena, from spooky Brocken specters to  chocolate waterfalls. Now, we explain the optical illusion showing the lake that seemingly floats above the sea below.  ADVERTISEMENT At the center of a rough triangle between the top of Scotland, the east coast of Iceland, and the west […]

A new study looking at observations by the JWST of the early universe has thrown up a new and intriguing mystery; the majority of galaxies appear to be rotating in the same direction. This finding, not predicted by our current understanding of the universe, may hint that we are inside a black hole, according to […]

If you’ve ever had the pleasure of visiting Thailand, you might have noticed the locals and seasoned visitors have an unfamiliar habit: holding a little tub up to their noses and gently sniffing. Walk into a 7-Eleven or convenience store and you’ll notice the shelves are stocked with these peculiar plastic jars, each with their […]

Microplastics get everywhere, and there’s increasing attention being paid to their potential effects on human health. It’s not exactly great news, then, that a new study suggests microplastics found in medical infusion bags may be getting pumped directly into our bloodstreams. ADVERTISEMENT It seems that wherever you look, you can find microplastics. Humanity’s decades-long love […]

Remember back in 1999, when – in among Spice Mania and frantically collecting Beanie Babies for some reason – everyone was freaking out about the Millennium Bug?  ADVERTISEMENT The fear was that, as ‘99 clicked over into ‘00, computers would be unable to parse that the century had changed; the date would be reset back […]

A palaeontologist’s call-out for rocks bearing dinosaur footprints around an Australian town has borne fruit, including a densely packed set of prints sitting in the foyer of the local high school, unbeknown to many students. ADVERTISEMENT Australia is notoriously lacking in dinosaur bones, and Dr Anthony Romilio of the University of Queensland told IFLScience none […]

In a quest to understand complex speech, scientists inserted what’s been dubbed a human “language gene” into mice. Remarkably, the genetic tweak had a profound impact on the little rodents’ ability to squeak, revealing astonishing clues about the evolution of vocal communication. ADVERTISEMENT Mouse pups that had the human version of the language gene showed […]

A grey nurse shark put on a hell of a show for visitors to the SEA LIFE Sydney Aquarium, where they got to witness the birth of a baby shark. Named Archie, the tiny male pup marks a first in the aquarium’s history, which has said that his birth is also great news for the […]

Through avoiding sustained contact with the outside world, over 100 uncontacted tribes around the world represent a crucial element of humankind’s diversity – but who are these people, and what do we know about the threats that they face? ADVERTISEMENT Before we dive in, a quick note on what “uncontacted” actually means – it’s not […]

RIP, me. I’ve popped my clogs and fallen in a lake. All very sad for friends and family, but finally, a lifelong dream is about to be realized: I’m on my way to becoming a fossil. So, how long is my body going to have to wait for that sweet, sweet permineralization? And exactly when […]

Sixty-six million years ago, an asteroid thought to be around 12 kilometers (7.4 miles) in diameter impacted the Earth, forming a crater 200 kilometers (120 miles) in diameter, and 1 kilometer (0.62 miles) deep underneath what is now the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico. ADVERTISEMENT The impact sent debris flying into the air, which then rained […]

A new study on soccer teams (or, to use the correct term, “football teams”) has found that teams appear to act as if they are one single person, and follow movement patterns similar to albatrosses searching for food, or particles in a turbulent fluid. ADVERTISEMENT There’s a lot to unpack here. The team, from the […]

Metals aren’t typically something we think of as chewable (unless you happen to be the Iron Giant), but there appears to be an exception – indium. Try to gnaw on some steel and you could land yourself a visit to the dentist, but indium? That can be chomped on like a slightly stale stick of […]

The gene that enables East Asian adults to drink milk without getting side effects like stomach cramps was probably inherited from Neanderthals, thousands of years before humans started consuming dairy, according to a new study. Therefore, researchers think that this genetic variant may have initially spread through hunter-gatherer populations because it enhanced immune system function, […]

It’s a question just about every new parent has wondered at some point: what’s the world like for my little one? How do they experience life? How much can they understand? In other words: how conscious is my baby? It’s a question that has long baffled researchers – but can a new way of thinking […]

In a new step forward on the quest for better painkillers, scientists have developed a synthetic cannabinoid that keeps the pain-relieving properties of cannabis without being addictive or psychoactive.  ADVERTISEMENT Chronic pain is a common problem. A 2023 study from the National Institutes of Health indicated that new cases of chronic pain conditions occur more […]

A mission intended to bring two astronauts left on the International Space Station much longer than originally planned back to Earth is currently in limbo after the launch was aborted. The delay may last as little as two days, but it comes uncomfortably close to SpaceX CEO Elon Musk’s claims that political interference prevented the […]