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Male blue-lined octopi (Hapalochlaena fasciata) have been found to use venom on their sexual partners, as well as for the usual reasons of defense against predators and subduing prey. Killing the females would be counterproductive, but adaptations mean that they just get sedated instead – moreover, the males would be well placed to plead self-defense. ADVERTISEMENT […]

A skeleton that was found shackled with thick mental chains and weighed down with iron plates has turned out to be female, thus revealing that women as well as men once practiced extreme asceticism. Found in Jerusalem and dated to the fifth century CE, the ancient nun is thought to have tormented herself in the […]

New Mexico health officials have announced that Betsy Arakawa, a classical pianist, businesswoman, and wife of renowned actor Gene Hackman, died from a rare disease known as hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS). ADVERTISEMENT “This tragic death reminds us that hantavirus remains a serious public health concern in our state,” said Erin Phipps, state public health veterinarian […]

When you imagine a map of the world, it’s probably a very particular image that comes to mind; There’s North America, Norway, and the North Pole at the top; and South America, South Africa, Australia (from the Latin australis, meaning South), and the South Pole at the bottom. You know – just how every map […]

A new study into the mighty Megalodon has found intriguing evidence to answer some of the biggest questions about these animals. What was their body size and shape? How did they give birth? And why did they go extinct? All will be revealed… ADVERTISEMENT Megalodon pose a curious challenge to scientists because despite being one […]

Card shuffling, assuming a standard deck of 52 cards, is just about one of the most randomizing things you can do, in theory. There are famously so many different possible permutations that it would take more seconds than have elapsed since the Big Bang to deal them all, even if you enlisted the help of […]

There’s a disease that affects millions of people across the world that can cause them debilitating pain, prevent them from getting pregnant, and affect their mental health, and yet we don’t know what causes it, there’s no cure, and many people wait years to be diagnosed. The condition in question? Endometriosis, or as some have […]

If someone were to run an ice cube across the back of your neck, chances are you’d get a piloerection. Fear not, nobody’s about to shame you. After all, goosebumps happen to everybody. ADVERTISEMENT Thing is, why? After all, it’s hard to imagine a benefit to naked skin going all bobbly like that. The trick […]

Had you asked G H Hardy – the Cambridge scholar responsible for myriad seminal mathematical results and developments of the early 20th century – what his favorite area of math was, he’d answer without hesitation: number theory.  ADVERTISEMENT It is, he wrote in A Mathematician’s Apology, “one of the most obviously useless branches” of math, […]

In 333 BCE, legend says, Alexander the Great entered the city of Gordion, in Phrygia, now Turkey. The once mighty power had by that point been reduced to a mere province of the Persian Empire, and all it had left of its proud history was an old wagon, tied to a post in the town […]

This week, in a world first, 3D-printed tissue has restored penis capabilities in pigs and rabbits, we ask why so few international organizations have responded to Trump and Musk’s attack on science, and humans may have been producing tools made from bones for more than 1 million years longer than we previously thought. Finally, we […]

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: Influential Women In Medicine

A small group of long COVID patients have successfully had their sense of smell restored, after taking part in a trial where they received surgery that’s typically used to help people breathe more easily. ADVERTISEMENT The surgery, known as functional septorhinoplasty (fSRP), is frequently used to correct problems like a deviated septum and other nasal […]

This week on Break It Down: Colossal Biosciences creates the “woolly mouse” in their mission to de-extinct the mammoth, scientists 3D-print functional penises (and have the babies to prove their efficacy), that gaping hole in the ozone layer really is repairing, IFLScience asks why so few international organizations have responded to Trump and Musk’s attack […]

Trying to catch a meal in the animal world can generate a whole host of challenges. You must first find the prey, and then catch it without botching the attempt and losing your dinner. In the cuttlefish world, researchers have identified four impressive camouflage techniques that these mollusks use to help them pursue prey and […]

In condensed matter physics, things can get pretty weird. When temperatures get close to absolute zero, it is possible to put matter in a state called supersolid, a crystal that can flow without losing energy. Under the right conditions, it is also possible to couple light with excited states of matter, creating quasiparticles – interactions […]

A group of ancient humans with shades of Neanderthal in their physical appearance may have forsaken their home of 300 years following the death of a young member of their clan. As researchers piece together the events surrounding this prehistoric tragedy, it’s beginning to look as though a social taboo may have kept people away […]

In recent years, the internet and social media have become awash with various conspiracy theories, especially during times of crisis. In an effort to understand what drives the belief in such bogus narratives, two psychologists have pinpointed the role spite plays in how people engage with misinformation and hold onto conspiracy theories. ADVERTISEMENT Conspiracy theories […]

Scientists have struck gold while searching for fish in a Chinese cave, having discovered a brand-new species that’s not only got a gilded exterior, but also appears to still be evolving. ADVERTISEMENT The fish, which was identified during surveys carried out in southwestern Guizhou Province, has been named the Xingren golden-lined fish (Sinocyclocheilus xingrenensis), after […]

Stonehenge may be the most famous example of the “huge stones arranged in a circle” genre, but it’s a reputation that arguably isn’t deserved. After all, it’s far from the largest henge in Europe, or even the British Isles – and as a new analysis and redating of an ancient circle in Dorset, England, has […]