News

It’s something that many of us have experienced at one time or another. You head out on a winter’s day, ready to face the world… and then, seemingly out of nowhere, you need to pee. There has to be a scientific explanation for this irritating phenomenon, and we wouldn’t be IFLScience if we weren’t prepared […]

Wake up? Brush your teeth. Going to bed? Brush your teeth. The dental routine of being a human can be a bit monotonous, but it’s an important step towards maintaining a happy mouth. It can be slightly baffling, then, to spot a photo of a bonobo with a seemingly perfect grin. How are wild animals […]

The debate about whether (and, if so, how) animals think is an ancient one. Aristotle considered it important enough to write on the question extensively, and it’s a safe bet people were debating it long before we have written records. Unsurprisingly, it’s a major topic of research today, but one that tends to defy easy […]

Issue 30 (January 2024) of CURIOUS is out now, bringing you science highlights for the month plus deep dives into intriguing topics, interviews, exclusives, diary dates, and explanations for some of Earth’s most perplexing natural phenomena and landscapes. Read Issue 30 of our digital magazine now by clicking below! Use the arrows to navigate or […]

Current models do not measure gravity waves with sufficient accuracy, new research suggests. This is important, the study authors say, because it affects the accuracy of atmospheric modeling technologies, which are essential tools in our arsenal when it comes to predicting weather events and creating climate simulations. That means fixing these deficiencies could improve their […]

Scientists warn that the rapid rise of antibiotic-resistant bacteria could trigger a dramatic spike in deaths, and we are not prepared.  Researchers at Northern Arizona University took a hypothetical strain of E. coli resistant to all known forms of antibiotics (a state known as pan-resistance) and, using long-term data relating to sepsis cases in the […]

As you read this, some 13,000 satellites are hurtling through space, orbiting the Earth at breakneck speeds of 6 miles (or 10 kilometers) per second – which is more than 14 times as fast as a fighter jet. While it is an incredibly impressive feat that exemplifies the scientific progress humanity has made over the last century, […]

This week, a new discovery suggests Neanderthals may have mastered fire 270,000 years ago, for the first time, a baby conceived using a breakthrough IVF alternative has been born, and some teabags might be releasing millions of microplastics that could enter intestinal cells. Finally, we explore the biggest waterfall on Earth, which is surprisingly unimpressive […]

Yes, morning glory clouds are a thing and no, it’s probably not what you are thinking. In this case, morning glory refers to a rare but striking cloud formation found in northeastern Australia, near the Gulf of Carpentaria. Imagine remarkably long tubes of cotton-like clouds that stretch for hundreds of miles, appearing either solitarily or […]

Scientists have resurrected a strange seed that was discovered in a cave in the Judean desert during the 1980s. According to radiocarbon dating, the seed was over 1,000 years old when it was found, and its DNA links it to a genus of tree that, although lost today, was mentioned in the Bible. Named “Sheba”, the unknown […]

Wouldn’t it be great to look at a page of text, or a map, and immediately remember every detail? Many famous people – from Leonardo da Vinci to former US President Bill Clinton – have claimed to have some level of photographic memory. But is true photographic memory actually a real thing? Or are some […]

A patient in Louisiana became severely ill after contracting Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI), the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced in a statement on Thursday. This is the first serious case of bird flu affecting a human reported in the US since the outbreak began. An analysis of the virus revealed […]

In the Pixar film ‘Up’, old man Carl teams up with a boy scout in a quest to move his wife’s clubhouse to Paradise Falls, a spectacular waterfall in Venezuela.   Venezuela’s Angel Falls is the real-life inspiration for the fictional paradise and with a drop of 807 meters high (2,648 feet), it just so […]

Imagine an astronaut lost on another world when their communication systems fail. In most cases, they won’t be able to use a compass for directions, since that depends on magnetic fields. In this event, the traveler may need to find their way home by the stars, but how easy will that be? In particular, will […]

On May 1, 1976, a traditional Polynesian canoe called Hōkūleʻa left Honolua Bay in Hawai’i and began the 3,800-kilometer (2,400-mile) journey to Tahiti. However, unlike all other modern expeditions, this voyage was to be completed without compasses, maps, satellite navigation, or any other wayfinding tools, relying instead on traditional knowledge about the stars, swells, and […]

The European Space Agency’s (ESA) Proba-3 satellite pair are in orbit, but commissioning so one can create solar eclipses for the other is still incomplete. However, three weeks after launch most of the planet is in the dark about how the mission is going. When the JWST launched in 2021 it was in a blaze […]

This year will see (kind of) another rare astronomical event taking place across the night sky. On December 30-31, we will have a rare Black Moon to see out 2024. What is a Black Moon? You’ve probably heard of a Blue Moon; it’s a far more well known phenomenon that is different from a Black […]

The sandy landscapes of southern Utah are home to a bizarre geological phenomenon. Brown-black balls ranging in size from a pea to a grapefruit litter the deserts of the Beehive State (and other parts of the southwestern United States), congregating in large formations that have stumped scientists for decades. These strange shapes, known by various […]

Researchers believe they may have solved the riddle of Stonehenge’s Altar Stone, suggesting that the enigmatic megalith was constructed as part of an attempt to protect the identity of Neolithic Britain during a period of increasing immigration from Europe. By building the monument using colossal stones from hundreds of kilometers away, the creators of the […]

AI has smashed records on a program designed to test “general intelligence”, achieving a score on a level with those of the average person.  Historically, researchers have looked to the Turing Test to measure machine intelligence. To pass, a machine must convince a human that it too is a person. By some accounts, technology has […]