News

Last November, astronomers saw a quick gamma-ray explosion lasting one-tenth of a second. Then, 13 seconds later, they knew it came from galaxy M82, which is just 12 million light-years away. Basically next door, as galaxies go. This suggested they had witnessed something quite rare, a flare from a magnetar. A magnetar is a special […]

Our Sun is currently around the mid-point of its existence, constantly creating energy (and helium) by fusing hydrogen atoms within its core. As the supply of hydrogen in their cores are depleted, stars like our Sun begin their red giant phase. Advertisement “In about 5 billion years, the Sun will start to run out of […]

Evidence has been found for bioluminescence having existed among animals 540 million years ago, more than doubling the previous record. Besides altering how we picture the oceans of the world in the Ediacaran era and thereafter, the finding could shed light (sorry) on the reasons bioluminescence evolved and is so widely used today. The capacity […]

Aussie scientists have uncovered three new species of giant extinct kangaroo that once skipped around the outback of Australia as well as the forested mountains of Tasmania and New Guinea.  The three new species are members of the extinct genus Protemnodon, which lived from around 5 million to 40,000 years ago. Advertisement The biggest of […]

A Bengal tiger and her cubs were spotted by tourists as they feasted on a crocodile in Ranthambore National Park in Rajasthan, India. The 6-year-old tiger T-124, aka Riddhi, had been spotted pursuing these scaly targets previously. A video shared in February shows her approaching a crocodile from the water’s edge – although that particular […]

NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) captured a rare phenomenon on Tuesday, April 23: four enormous regions of the Sun exploding simultaneously. Eruptions on the Sun are a common occurrence, especially as we are around the peak of the Sun’s activity cycle, known as the solar maximum. During this part of the Schwabe cycle, sunspots and […]

Finally – FINALLY! – the world’s first flame-throwing robot dog is available for the general public to purchase in the US. What could possibly go wrong?  Ohio-based company Throwflame is selling the “Thermonator” on its website with a price tag of $9,420 (with free shipping in the US, by the way).  Advertisement The remotely operated quadruped […]

Deepstaria looks like a cross between a ghost emoji and a floating plastic bag, but don’t be tempted to underestimate this shape-shifting jellyfish: it’s among the largest and strangest invertebrate predators of the deep sea.  There are two recognized species of Deepstaria – D. enigmatica and D. reticulum – named after the US research sub Deepstar 4000 […]

Astronomers taking a closer look at Uranus believe it could be filled with a lot more methane than we previously thought. Uranus and Neptune are often referred to as ice giants, with scientists believing that they are mostly made up of “icy” materials such as water, methane, and ammonia, surrounding a hot, rocky core. One […]

Tesla has recalled all Cybertrucks produced between November 13, 2023, to April 4, 2024 due to a fault with the accelerator pedals, increasing the risk of a crash. The firm, of which Elon Musk is CEO, recalled all 3,878 Cybertrucks sold during this period, estimating that 100 percent of these trucks were affected by the […]

An island made of gemstones may sound like the daydream of a rum-addled pirate, but if you sail around the Red Sea you might be lucky enough to find Zabargad Island. The small island is formed of a barren surface brimming in peridotite, a rock that’s laced with beautiful peridot gemstones.  Zabargad Island is located […]

If there are alien civilizations out there close enough to pick up our stray signals, there’s a non-zero chance that amongst the first transmissions, they could receive the opening of the 1936 Olympic Games, meaning our first contact with another species (in the unlikely event that they picked them up) could include a speech by […]

A Belgian man charged with drink driving has had the case against him dismissed after proving that he has auto-brewery syndrome (ABS), a rare condition that causes patients to brew alcohol inside their stomachs. In April 2022, the 40-year-old patient was charged after being breathalyzed by police, showing an alcohol level of 0.91 milligrams of […]

When would you say “old age” begins? It’s possible that the closer you think you are to that threshold, the later you’ll put it, but people’s general perceptions of old age have been changing over time. New research finds that nowadays, we think of old age starting later than we used to – but that […]

NASA’s STEREO A spacecraft has spotted a powerful eruption on the Sun ripping the tail off comet Pons-Brooks, although it quickly regrew. This is far from the first time STEREO A has spotted the Sun toying with a dirty snowball like this, but the images are particularly dramatic. Comet tails are wispy things caused when […]

You never know when your next dinner is coming in the deep sea. To ensure it never misses a meal, the black swallower fish has evolved a formidable jaw and a balloon-like belly that allows it to swallow prey much larger than itself.  The black swallower (Chiasmodon niger) measures just 25 centimeters (about 10 inches) […]

Movies and TV shows give the impression of space stations as aseptic and squeaky-clean environments. But wherever there are humans, there are all the bacteria that we bring with us. Bacteria have found niches in the International Space Station (ISS) and since they can evolve pretty quickly, a species was seen becoming distinct from its […]

A new study suggests that patients who are treated by female doctors have lower mortality rates and are readmitted less frequently when compared to their male colleagues. Although the study did not set out to explain this outcome, it is possibly because female doctors are better at communicating with patients. Is there a gender bias […]

Breathtaking prehistoric paintings have been discovered on the walls of caves across Europe, Africa and Australasia, yet the meanings and functions of these Stone-Age masterpieces remain a topic of fierce debate. Recently, a team of researchers proposed that some of the most iconic examples of rupestral art are in fact lunar calendars, marked out by […]