News

The concept of singularity, the moment when machines become smarter than humans, has been discussed and debated for decades. But as the development of machine learning algorithms has brought forth software that can beat the Turing test easily, the question has become more pressing. How far away are we from an artificial general intelligence (AGI) and […]

Indulge us for a minute: if you’ve got your phone to hand, pick it up and take a selfie. Which way did you turn your head? Results of psychology research indicate that it’s likely you chose to show off your left cheek, but you probably don’t realize you’re doing it. This is an example of […]

A new preprint study, which has not yet been peer-reviewed, has suggested that playing video games is associated with better cognitive abilities, but does not appear to affect measures of mental health; while exercise is associated with better measures of mental health but not cognitive ability. Over the last decade, various studies on preventative medicine […]

A team of physicists say they have created the first coherent picture of atomic nuclei from their composite particles, quarks and gluons. The 20th century was a pretty busy hundred years for particle physics. At the beginning of the century, it was believed by physicists that atoms were made up of protons and electrons. This […]

There is a 60 percent chance that a La Niña event may develop this year, which could last until March 2025. La Niña is part of a climate cycle that causes extreme weather shifts across the world, with its effects varying from place to place. It is the cool phase of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation that […]

Around 11,766 square kilometers (4,543 square miles) of ocean off the coast of Central California has now officially become the United States’ latest national marine sanctuary. Not only is the new protected area the third biggest of its kind in the country, but it’s also the first that will be led in partnership with Indigenous […]

Three new studies have revealed the common origin of most of the meteorites that hit Earth, linking them to collisions in the relatively recent past. Though the Earth doesn’t make a fuss about it, every day it is bombarded with around 44,000 kilograms (48.5 tons) of meteoric material. Most of it burns up harmlessly in […]

Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS is fading fast, but strange as it may seem, the best time to see it is probably still to come. Don’t wait too long, however; miss it over the next fortnight and it won’t come around for another 80,000 years. The comet officially known as C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) is setting later in the […]

Microplastics seem to be everywhere in 2024, with new studies revealing the tiny contaminants in human brains, penises, and even human placentas. Now, new research has looked at the impact of microplastics on free-ranging dolphins in the USA and has found that even these intelligent cetaceans are not able to escape, with their breath found […]

Ask most people getting on in years, and they will tell you that time seems to move more quickly as you slowly run out of it. Those summers that used to last forever or even drag on seem to fly by in seconds, and the years don’t seem to last as long as they used […]

There are warnings around Yellowstone’s hot springs for a reason, and no matter how tempted you may be to, for example, try to boil a chicken in one of them, we highly recommend that you do not. In 2016, one man ignored the advice and tragically demonstrated precisely why certain areas of the national park […]

Snakes are pretty weird guys – their mouths can disarticulate to accommodate some strange prey, they can have “virgin births”, they’re pretty great actors, and sometimes they’re born with multiple heads. But their quirks don’t stop there: they also have one of the most unique digestive functions in the animal world. Yes, we’re talking shit. […]

Scientists claim to have pieced together the most complete genome of a Tasmanian tiger to date – with the help of RNA from a head that’s been preserved in alcohol for over a century. The potential breakthrough is the latest chapter in an effort by Colossal Biosciences and the University of Melbourne’s Thylacine Integrated Genetic […]

Like everyone else, deaf individuals are capable of communicating both outwardly and internally in a number of different ways – therefore there is no single language or modality that all deaf people use when thinking. The nature of a person’s thoughts is likely to be influenced by various factors, including the age at which they […]

Pockets of ice on Mars could shield living organisms from radiation that is lethal at the surface, while allowing through enough light to provide the energy to grow and reproduce, a team of astrobiologists claim. Whether such conditions last long enough for life that evolved when Mars was wet to persist is an open question, […]

Pumpkins come in all shapes and sizes; they can be an array of autumnal colors; and, sometimes, they’re covered in weird little warts. So, what’s all that about? There are a few different reasons why your prize pumpkin might have a few lumps and bumps – let’s explore the warty world of winter squash. Advertisement […]

Since its inception in 1974, the Nikon Small World competition has given us the chance to see beyond the naked eye. Now celebrating its 50th anniversary, the winners of this year’s contest are no different in showcasing the beauty and complexity of the microscopic world in a whole host of amazing images. The first-place winning […]

The US Space Force has made a not-so-secret announcement about the top-secret X-37B space plane. In a rare public statement about the spacecraft’s mission, officials have said X-37B is set to perform a series of “novel maneuvers” known as aerobraking, a technique that uses atmospheric drag to help lower the height of a spacecraft’s orbit […]

It’s no secret that octopuses are intelligent – but are they sentient? And how is that reflected in the way that they’re treated? Host Rachael Funnell is joined by Sy Montgomery, author of Secrets of the Octopus, and Sophika Kostyniuk, Managing Director at the Aquatic Life Institute, to discuss the evidence for octopuses’ sentience, and […]

Sound spreads both forwards and backward in a space, meaning someone standing nearby can hear you as well as you can hear them (even if you’d rather they couldn’t). A team of researchers has found a way to make sound waves propagate in one direction only, which could help avoid unwanted reflections and possibly pave […]