Recently, the mission team behind NASA’s Perseverance announced the detection of an exciting rock formation. Nicknamed Cheyava Falls, the arrowhead-shaped rock is the most promising find in the search for ancient life on Mars yet. There are structures visible in the rock that are consistent with being modified by microorganisms – it doesn’t mean that […]
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Meet The Trilobite Beetles: Prehistoric-Looking Insects With Peculiar Sex Lives
Stumble upon a certain kind of beetle in South-East Asia’s tropical forests, and you’d be forgiven for wondering why there was a prehistoric ocean creature lurking in the leaves. But fear not, someone hasn’t been Jurassic Park-ing – it’s a trilobite beetle, and its bizarreness goes beyond looking like its namesake. Advertisement What are trilobite […]
Why Do You Feel It In Your Chest When Something Makes You Jump?
Ever had someone make you jump and find yourself clutching your chest? It’s like something just zapped behind your sternum, you feel a little shaky even. You lean against the wall as you recover, wondering why your friend is such a jerk, and why you can physically feel it in your chest when you get […]
Nutty Putty Cave Incident: John Edward Jones’ Death Shows The Grim Dangers Of Caving
Nutty Putty Cave has become synonymous with the tragic death of a caver who became trapped in its narrow tunnels in 2009. But while many people have learned about the cave through this accident, they are less familiar with the cave’s longer history. Advertisement For decades prior to the incident, the cave system was a […]
Paris Olympics’ Purple Track Is One Of The World’s Fastest – And Has An Unexpected Ingredient
The bright purple athletics track at the Paris Olympics has fast become one of the Games’ most recognizable features (besides Muffin Man, that is) – but there’s far more to it than a pleasing appearance. Not only is it thought to be the fastest Olympic track ever, but it’s also got a surprise ingredient: shells. […]
Uncontacted Tribe Attack Intruding Loggers With Arrows In The Peruvian Amazon
An uncontacted tribe has attacked loggers using bows and arrows in a contested part of the Peruvian Amazon, according to a local Indigenous coalition. The organization is sharing news of the incident to highlight how the government hasn’t done enough to protect the territory of the Mashco Piro from the extraction of forest resources. Advertisement […]
Unbothered Canada Lynx Poses Perfectly In Front Of Camera Trap
As technological capabilities grow we can use different methods to learn more about the world around us, including the secret lives of the animal kingdom. In Minnesota, USA, a sassy lynx has been recorded on a camera trap, and boy does it look good. Advertisement The Voyageurs Wolf Project studies the summer ecology of the […]
Heavy Rain Just Gifted Science One Of The Oldest Dinosaurs Ever Found
One of the oldest dinosaurs ever discovered may have just been delivered by torrential downpours in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Palaeontologists made the discovery after heavy rain sped up the process of erosion next to a reservoir dating back to the Triassic, meaning it’s estimated to be around 233 million […]
Family Of Henrietta Lacks Launch A New Lawsuit Over Her “Stolen” Cells
The family of Henrietta Lacks has launched a new lawsuit against two multi-billion-dollar pharmaceutical companies for using her genetic material without her consent. Advertisement The living relatives of Lacks are suing Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation and Novartis Gene Therapies, Inc., as well as Viatris, Inc. and its subsidiary Mylan Pharmaceuticals, in the US District Court for […]
World-First Mosquito Drone Deliveries Could Help Stop The Spread Of Diseases Like Dengue
In the latest step in the fight against mosquito-borne disease, scientists have sent in the drones. Field trials have seen uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs) flying over Fiji, dropping hundreds of mosquitoes infected with bacteria that stop them from spreading diseases like dengue among the human population. Advertisement Dengue is a viral disease that is spread […]
What Is Causing The Antihelium Detected On The International Space Station?
Attached to the International Space Station (ISS) is a state-of-the-art particle detector, tasked with searching for antimatter and dark matter, and performing precise measurements of the composition of cosmic rays. Advertisement The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS-02) has collected over 239,017,100,611 cosmic events in the decade it has been mounted to the ISS. Within this data […]
Climate Tipping Points Are Coming, But We Lack The Capacity To Tell When
As the Earth warms, it could cross several so-called tipping points that would turn the effects of climate change from disastrous to catastrophic for most of the planet. Naturally, many scientists have put a lot of effort into trying to find out how close we are to these points, but a new study claims we […]
39,000 Years Ago, A Siberian Unicorn Lived Alongside Humans
A beast that weighed in at around 3.5 tonnes once stomped across the grasslands of Eurasia, known as the Elasmotherium. It’s been coined the Siberian unicorn for the frankly outrageous horn atop its head, unsurprising as an ancient ancestor of the rhinoceros. Advertisement What is surprising is that this near-mythical beast may have walked the […]
We Might Not See The Solar Panels Or Dyson Spheres Of An Alien Civilization
There are multiple ways astronomers aim to look for aliens. One of them is to look for evidence of advanced technology. This takes a lot of forms, but one proposal that has been suggested many times is to find evidence of vast solar panel arrays on planets or around a star. New research argues that […]
Did The Egyptians Really Build Their Oldest Pyramid With A Hydraulic Lift?
The Egyptology world has had its feathers ruffled by a contentious new study that claims that a 4,500-year-old pyramid was built using jaw-droppingly sophisticated technology, including a spectacular “hydraulic elevator”. According to the authors, the mind-blowing system enabled enormous building blocks to be floated from the floor to the pyramid’s summit via a central shaft, […]
World’s Tallest Sand Dune, Caves With Early Human Tech Among UNESCO’s Newest World Heritage Sites
UNESCO has added 24 new and two expanded sites to its World Heritage List, ranging from areas with some of the earliest evidence of modern human behavior to regions rich in natural beauty and biodiversity. Keep reading to find out more about some of our favorites… Badain Jaran Desert – Towers of Sand and Lakes […]
The Hottest Place On Earth Just Recorded Its Hottest Month In History
Death Valley National Park, the hottest place on the planet, experienced its warmest month ever on record in July, reaching a sweltering 42.5°C (108.5°F) average 24-hour temperature. This beats the previous record of 42.3°C (108.1°F), set in 2018, the National Park Service (NPS) announced last week. Advertisement The record-breaking month also saw an average high […]
Think Challenging Tasks “Hurt” Your Brain? You’re About To Be Vindicated
Do you enjoy tasks that make you think really hard? Be honest – you probably don’t. You might do them anyway, but we’d bet it’s not always a pleasant experience. A new meta-analysis has looked at many published studies and found that these feelings are not all in your head: exerting mental effort really can […]
Can So-Called “Crystal Clocks” Help Predict Volcanic Eruptions?
Few natural phenomena catch our attention like volcanic eruptions. There is something staggeringly awe-inspiring about this primordial geological event. However, there is still much we do not know about them, especially when it comes to the behavior of magma before it emerges from the Earth. Advertisement In recent years, scientists have turned to so-called “crystal […]
Streetlights Are Making Nearby Trees’ Leaves Harder To Eat
Leaving streetlights on all night has an unexpected effect on the trees around them, causing them to sacrifice growth for better defense against insects. Advertisement Street lighting has many benefits, but there is a price to pay for the loss of darkness. It certainly interferes with our view of the stars, and animals are suffering. […]