News

Is it a snake? Is it a fish? No, it’s a northern snakehead! This bizarre creature – technically a fish, though someone should tell its face – is an invasive species capable of breathing air and slithering like its reptilian doppelganger. Last month, one was caught in Missouri by an astonished angler. Captured on May […]

In the early hours of Tuesday, the US Air Force test-fired a Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile “to provide confidence in the lethality and effectiveness of the nation’s nuclear deterrent.” Advertisement To flex their muscles, the military also released video footage (below) and images of the missile as it blazed into the sky of California, […]

Australian magpies are renowned for their intelligence, but they’re not all equally smart. A new study shows you can spot a stupid magpie by looking out for the ones who are nasty to their neighbors. Far from aggression being a survival trait, it might even be a response to being too stupid to know how […]

Malaysia has announced a plan to send orangutans to its major palm oil trading partners, in an effort to demonstrate its dedication to conserving the endangered species – but the strategy is being called out before it’s even begun. Advertisement The announcement was made by Malaysia’s Plantation and Commodities Minister Johari Abdul Ghani at a […]

In recent years skywatchers have been increasingly fascinated by the phenomenon known as STEVE, initially thought to be a type of aurora, but now recognized as being a sort of cousin. However, all STEVEs have been spotted before midnight – and not just because that is when amateurs are out taking photographs. A mirror image […]

Astronomers have discovered a planet that has made them question both what we know about hot Neptunes and what the future of Earth might be like – not bad for a single object. The world is smaller, hotter, and older than scientists expected for its class.   Advertisement It is called TIC365102760 b, but nicknamed […]

Fears of the death of the Hubble Space Telescope have turned out to be greatly exaggerated, with plans announced for it to go on, operating on a single gyroscope. Practical observing time will be reduced, as it will take Hubble longer to move from one target to another, but there are no plans to shut […]

The tallest mountain in the world is named after George Everest, a British geographer of India who has very little direct connection to the mountain. Some doubt whether he had even laid eyes on the towering landmass. Advertisement Although no doubt honored, even he thought it was a bad idea to name the mountain after […]

While snapping photos of the surface of Mars in 2011, the HiRISE instrument aboard the robotic Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spotted a very unusual feature. Advertisement On Pavonis Mons – a large shield volcano in the Tharsis region of volcanic mountains – the camera saw a giant hole, appearing to lead into a large underground cavern. […]

Lurking in the snow and frost of Greenland’s ice sheet, mysterious giant viruses has been discovered. They share the ice with an abundance of algae, which means this is the first time these viruses – about which we know relatively little – have been found in such a habitat. But it’s not bad news (unless […]

A pair of bronze cauldrons from Mongolia were used to collect the blood of animals around 2,700 years ago, new research has found. According to the study authors, the blood was probably processed into sausages that may have resembled black pudding or morcela, which continue to both delight and disgust diners around the world today. […]

SARS-CoV-2, the virus whose name we all wish we didn’t know, can hang around in sperm for 110 days after infection according to a new study. There’s long been a suggestion that COVID-19 could have a negative impact on sperm, but the authors believe their study is the first to show just how long the […]

The curious case of Florida’s sawfish is continuing to evade explanation. Researchers have been working hard to find the reason why sawfish in the Florida Keys are erratically spinning around and dying en-masse, but their tests have yet to uncover a culprit. Advertisement Since the fall of 2023, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission […]

Black holes are weird. Predicted as a result of Einstein’s general theory of relativity, they contain an outer region known as the event horizon – from which nothing, even light can escape. As well as this, they are predicted to have an infinitely dense point where our understanding of physics breaks down, and nothing makes […]

On June 5 at 10:52 am ET, Boeing’s Starliner Calypso took to the sky carrying NASA astronauts Barry Wilmore and Sunita Williams to the International Space Station (ISS). This was the third and final test for the commercial vehicle and its first crewed test to demonstrate that Starliner is a safe way to ferry astronauts […]

R/P FLIP, the FLoating Instrument Platform, was a true one-of-a-kind, but it now lies in pieces at a undisclosed scrapyard. Advertisement Measuring 108 meters (355 feet) long, FLIP was an oceanic research platform designed to be towed out to sea horizontally, just like any conventional seafaring vessel. Upon command, it would be partially flooded and […]

A whopping great spider of an invasive species is believed to be on its way to New York, which is bad news for arachnophobes but really not that big of a deal for everybody else. The joro spider is a regular in the news for its United States tour, but despite its impressive size, it’s […]

A titan arum (Amorphophallus titanum) specimen at Kew Gardens, London, England, has bloomed for the first time in years, releasing its trademark almighty stench.  Advertisement The plant was first described in 1878 by Italian botanist Odoardo Beccari, who found it in Sumatra, Indonesia. Beccari sent seeds to several botanical gardens, including Kew, where these strange […]

Going for a family hike might not be everyone’s idea of a good time, but for three children in North Dakota, their outing led them to discover a juvenile T. rex skeleton, which is now on display at a museum.  Advertisement Jessin and Liam Fisher, their dad, Sam Fisher, and their cousin, Kaiden Madsen were […]

Many scientists believe that sperm counts across the world are on a general decline, with potentially serious ramifications for fertility and male health – but what if they’re wrong? A new study from researchers in the UK, Canada, and Denmark suggests the true situation may not be so straightforward, and that sperm quality, rather than […]