Whether you prefer briefs, a thong, or even a jockstrap, the garments with which you furnish your undercarriage may descend from an ancestral pair of undies that were first worn in a chilly Siberian cave 40,000 years ago. At least, that’s the conclusion of a new analysis of the world’s earliest eyed sewing needles, which […]
News
In Certain Rare Circumstances Your Blood Type Can Change
At some point in your life you have probably learned your blood type, before forgetting it and guessing the most-common blood group (O). But even if you know your blood type, in very rare cases it can change. Advertisement Sometimes, the change can be temporary. People with rare blood types may receive blood transfusions from […]
Denisovans Survived For 160,000 Years In One Of Earth’s Harshest Places
A bone from Baishiya Karst cave in Tibet indicates Denisovans were living there roughly 40,000 years ago, well after modern humans had expanded over much of Asia. Combined with previous evidence of their presence in the area 190,000 years ago, the finding reveals extraordinary persistence in the face of exceptionally difficult conditions. It also increases […]
“Crypto Bros” Are More Likely To Have Psychopathic And Narcissist Traits
Imagine a “crypto bro” and what do you see? Well, according to a new study, cryptocurrency zealots are more likely to be argumentative guys who spend a lot of their time in fringe social media communities and reading up on conspiracy theories. As for their personality, the findings suggest crypto investors are more likely to […]
Physicists Suggest “Nuclear Life” Could Explain Strange Dimming Of HD 139139 Star
When searching for signs of extraterrestrial life, we have for the large part focused on carbon-based lifeforms. It makes sense that we would do so, as the only lifeforms we have found (here on Earth) are carbon-based. Advertisement It has been suggested that silicone could also provide a base for life, though nothing matches carbon’s […]
Lasers With “Unmatched” Performance Made Smaller, Cheaper, And More Intense
As pretty much every sci-fi movie ever has taught us, the future is going to be full of lasers. They will power our quantum computers; probe microscopic nooks and crannies in scientific experiments; we’ll use them in medicine, for surgeries, or to assess eye health – the possibilities are endless. There’s just one problem: so […]
Protein Linked To COVID-19-Related Memory Loss, And Prior Vaccination Could Reduce Its Impact
Brain fog, trouble concentrating, and memory loss have become common complaints for many people who have contracted COVID-19. In fact, between 10 and 30 percent of the general population has experienced at least one of these post-infection conditions. Now researchers have not only pinpointed a specific protein that may drive it, but have also shown […]
Oldest Narrative Rock Art Discovered With Mind-Blowing Age Of 51,200 Years
Among the towering rock walls of an Indonesian island, archaeologists have discovered the earliest known example of artwork that tells a story, highlighting a “key development in art history” and a major milestone in the history of humankind. Advertisement The rock art is one of many found around the lowland karst landscape of South Sulawesi […]
From Orcas To Ducks – The Surprising Animals That Can Mimic Human Speech
Animals mimicking different sounds is nothing new in the natural world: some birds can mimic the sounds of car alarms and camera shutters with surprising accuracy, while some predator species may have learned the calls of their prey to lure them to an untimely end. However, some species have gone a step further and learned […]
First Traditional Use Of Magic Mushrooms For Spiritual Healing Reported In Africa
For the first time ever, researchers have documented a traditional healing practice involving the use of psychedelic mushrooms on the African continent. Performed by Indigenous diviners and spiritual curers in Lesotho, the ritual involves a species of mushroom that is brand new to science. Advertisement Discovered growing on a cow manure-covered pasture in the Free […]
New Record Set For World’s Most Precise Clock
Precision time-keeping is moving on from atomic clocks and embracing the revolution that is optical atomic clocks. Over the last few years, these instruments have gone further and further in the precision timekeeping they can demonstrate. Their level now is outstanding, well beyond the capabilities of regular atomic clocks. Advertisement Atomic clocks use cesium atoms […]
Hippos Can’t Swim, But It Turns Out They Can Fly
New research has discovered that the bodacious bodies of hippos go airborne when they trot, building up enough speed to get all four of their trotters off of the ground simultaneously. They might not be giving Superman a run for his money, but the discovery has revealed that these animals are more athletic than we […]
Radiation Is Changing The Songbirds Of The Chernobyl Exclusion Zone
Life ain’t easy being a songbird in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone (CEZ). New research has looked into the birds inhabiting the irradiated wasteland and found a link between radiation levels and their gut microbiome, suggesting their health is being impacted by their troubled homeland. Advertisement The CEZ is a highly contaminated area in Ukraine surrounding […]
Hooray! One Of The World’s Weirdest Dolphins Is On The Rise
It feels like every other day a new species is in peril, so at IFLScience we like to celebate the wins – most recently, we’re excited about some good news for one of the world’s weirdest dolphins. The Mekong dolphin, also known as the Irrawaddy dolphin, plummeted from 200 to 89 from 1997 to 2020 […]
There Used To Be 27 Letters In The Alphabet, And People Are Only Just Finding Out
Thanks to a video by TikTok creator @zachdfilms3, people are learning that there used to be 27 letters of the English alphabet, rather than the current 26. Advertisement The video explained that the 27th letter of the alphabet is “ampersand”, as denoted by “&”. Advertisement “This is an ampersand and believe it or not it […]
Przybylski’s Star Is Probably Our Best Candidate For Advanced Alien Civilizations
In recent years, we have observed some stars acting seriously strangely. The classic example is KIC 8462852, better known as Boyajian’s star, or just the “alien megastructure” star. In 2016 and 2017, the star dimmed in unusual ways, leading some to suggest it could have a “Dyson sphere” around it, created by some advanced alien […]
Baby Star’s Dramatic Eruptions Seen In Celestial Hourglass By JWST
Protostar L1527 has been observed by the JWST in near-infrared, revealing in fiery colors how this fledgling star is literally carving a space for itself in the nebula from which it formed. However, those wavelengths were not enough to penetrate the thick dust that surrounded the protostar – to finally see the protostar, the telescope […]
Antiaging Secrets? The World’s Longest-Living Vertebrate Reveals A Big Surprise
Longevity has got the world in a right tizz of late, as everyone scrambles for the right goop to slather on their face as they wild swim their way to eternal life – but can we learn secrets to long life from nature? And if so, what does the world’s longest-living vertebrate have to say […]
How NASA Solved The “Pogo Problem” And Got Humans To The Moon
When NASA first began launching rockets into space – barely half a century after the first airplane took flight – it encountered what it calls the “pogo problem”. Advertisement During the launch of Saturn V rocket’s first stage burn, part of the uncrewed Apollo 6 mission, the rocket experienced oscillations along its length, like springs […]
To Make A Better Solar Cell Consult A Giant Clam
Giant clams have a thin light-scattering layer that covers symbiotic photosynthetic algae, allowing their companions to capture more sunlight. This and other unexpected tricks probably make the clam-algae combination the most efficient sunlight harvesters on Earth. Since holding onto more sunlight is among the major technological challenges of our age, the clams might have a […]