News

Few can resist the appeal of an adorable animal; from diddy chameleons to cute baby cows, the world is full of species that make you go “awww”. Now, it seems the ranks of impossibly small and incredible creatures have been bolstered by one new addition: a brand-new species of flea-toad that is the world’s second […]

When we think of the Jurassic, images of giants come to mind. Giant dinosaurs, giant pterosaurs, giant frogs… If the latter had never occurred to you, might we offer up the oldest known tadpole on record? And yes, it’s an absolute giant. A fossil tadpole has been found that dates back 161 million years, an […]

Animals are even more partial to fermented fruits than had been assumed, indicating ethanol has a big attraction to a great many of the creatures with which we share the planet. In particular, species for which fruit or nectar are a big part of the diet are more likely than not to indulge in a […]

The world’s oldest mine has been discovered in southern Africa by bombarding ancient materials with neutrons inside the reactor core. Dated at around 48,000 years old, the mine shows the colossal amount of significance that prehistoric humans placed on ochre. Ochre might be one of the most important materials in human history. It’s a natural […]

Many consider voting a civic duty, even in those countries where it is not compulsory. People go to great lengths to exercise their democratic right of choosing their representatives in politics, but sometimes circumstances don’t make it easy. Imagine if you want to vote but you are in space – your nearest drop-off location for […]

Do you find spiders a bit creepy? Are you considering putting conkers on your windowsill to keep the spiders away? We laud you for your efforts to tackle the issue in a humane way, but regrettably, it won’t work. You may have heard the same said for walnuts and Osage orange, but filling your house […]

Mount Fuji is still snowless, making it the latest time in the year that the picturesque mountaintop has been bare since records began over a century ago.  The snow on Mount Fuji’s peak melts in the summertime but typically returns in early October when temperatures start to drop. On average, the volcano’s snowcap begins forming […]

Among the many perks that came with being an ancient Macedonian king was the exclusive right to dress in purple, and Alexander the Great certainly made the most of this royal entitlement. The legendary ruler is believed to have to have donned his aubergine apparel at every opportunity, and a new study suggests we may […]

This spooky season, IFLScience is taking you on a journey between science and superstition, to a dimension of imagination akin to The Twilight Zone. For the next several hundred words, we are going to ask you to believe in ghosts. We will build a case for how ghosts can work within the natural laws of […]

From the Roman wonder-drug of, uh, cabbage, to the turn-of-the-century fad of Fletcherism, to today’s preoccupation with mostly-pointless vitamin pills, what we eat and how we eat it has long been an obsession for human societies.  And few things get people worrying about what they’re putting in their bodies more than (gasp) artificial foods. Whether […]

Many across the world have witnessed the spectacle of Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS. Some of us, due to constant clouds, were not so lucky. There was, however, hope for a second bright comet this year: Comet ATLAS (C/2024 S1). It was expected to get as bright as Venus by Halloween, but the Sun is a cruel mistress, […]

States in quantum superposition are notoriously fragile but researchers in China have reported creating such a state that lasted for a whopping 23 minutes and 20 seconds. This record-breaking result is exciting in itself but the team believes that it could open new ways to high-precision measurements and even information processing for quantum computers – […]

There are so many questions surrounding death: What happens? Where do we go? Burial vs cremation? What’s the greenest way to go? But today we’d like to tackle the perplexing issue of graveyard vs cemetery? Is there a difference? You may have heard that it all comes down to placement, with graveyards being specific to […]

Some “extremely rare” fossils that date back 450 million years have revealed a new-to-science species. They were retrieved from a famous fossil site in New York State, USA – and best of all? They’re preserved in glittering fool’s gold. The new species has been named Lomankus edgecombei, in honor of arthropod expert Greg Edgecombe of […]

Science Corporation, a rival to Elon Musk’s Neuralink in the development of brain-computer interface (BCI) technology, has just unveiled promising early clinical trial results for an eye implant that it claims can restore vision in some patients with sight loss. The PRIMA device is designed to be implanted just beneath the retina and works in […]

The nights are drawing in, the weather’s turning chilly, and spooky season is upon us – the Northern Hemisphere is fully in the grip of fall. But as well as all the cozy vibes and holiday fun, this time of year unfortunately brings with it a wave of respiratory viruses. The Centers for Disease Control […]

Often when people think “shark” the mind will immediately start playing the Jaws soundtrack. However the world’s oceans (and some lakes) are full of a wide variety of shark species, from the famous great white, to the hammerhead, the bull, and everything in between. Now it’s time to take a look at the world’s smallest […]

Every year, billions of capelins migrate to the Norwegian coast to spawn, and predators take advantage and feast. Scientists analyzing one migration witnessed the largest single act of predation humans have ever seen, as millions of cod attacked a giant capelin shoal over the course of four hours. In the process, they have gained insight […]

Cancer is not limited to us humans. Plenty of other species are also afflicted by it, but despite its pervasiveness, there’s still so much we don’t know. What animals are most likely to get it, for example – and why? This is the crux of Peto’s paradox. What is Peto’s paradox? Large-bodied, long-lived animals should […]

A huge new mine in southwestern Nevada has just been given the final thumbs up by the US government. While the mine could supply enough lithium to power 50 million electric vehicles, its construction threatens the existence of a rare wildflower, sparking debate about advancing clean energy and the protection of fragile ecosystems. On October […]