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It’s an iconic piece of imagery: an astronaut plonking down a flagpole with the Stars and Stripes on the lunar surface. But decades after those flags were first placed, many are curious to know – have they stood the test of time? Advertisement Keeping an eye on the flags on the Moon is easier said […]

Dropping someone a quick DM on Instagram might be a much more efficient way to communicate in the modern day, but there’s something to be said about the longevity of much older ways of sending a message, none more so than a good ol’ message in a bottle – of which the oldest ever found […]

IFLScience needs the contact information you provide to us to contact you about our products and services. You may unsubscribe from these communications at any time. For information on how to unsubscribe, as well as our privacy practices and commitment to protecting your privacy, check out ourPrivacy Policy Deborah BloomfieldSource Link: Why Does It Feel […]

Element 116 has been made with a new method – a step towards synthesizing element 120, a hypothetical element hypothesized to be in the long-predicted “island of stability”, in the lab. Advertisement Elements are defined by the number of protons in their nucleus, with hydrogen having one, helium having two, and uranium has 92 protons. […]

Brazil’s Ministry of Health has just confirmed the deaths of two women as a result of Oropouche fever, a viral illness that is spread by midge and mosquito bites. While over 7,000 cases of the infection have been reported in the country in 2024 alone, these are the world’s first recorded deaths. What is Oropouche […]

Ever since New Zealand was finally discovered in about 1300 CE – a mere 47,000 years after its larger neighbor Australia – humans have been the ultimate cosmopolitan species. Comfortable, or at least able to survive, in every habitat from the Arctic circle to the Sahara Desert, there’s not a continent on Earth that hasn’t […]

Carbon dioxide. CO2. It fills the air you breathe out. It is the product of the violent oxidation of carbon that we call burning – and we’ve been burning a lot of carbon. The CO2 accumulated in the atmosphere is one of the main greenhouse gasses responsible for global warming. Carbon fixing is the process […]

This week on Break It Down: deep-sea potatoes just shook foundational ideas about life on Earth, NASA plans to launch an artificial star, elephants sing “let’s go” like a barbershop quartet, the most complete Neanderthal skeleton has sprouted cave popcorn, the record for hottest day ever gets smashed twice in one week, and who would […]

A joint Egyptian-French archaeological mission has uncovered stone inscriptions and other artifacts while conducting photographic survey work in Lake Nasser, Egypt. Advertisement The discoveries were found on submerged rock formations around the islands of Philae and Konosso, both of which are situated near the Nile’s First Cataract. These are basically shallow lengths of the River […]

Four snakes found buried together are shedding new light on our understanding of snake evolution. The specimens – which represent a brand new species – lived in North America around 38 million years ago and could help explain how boas and pythons evolved.  Advertisement The new species has been named Hibernophis breithaupti and the four individual […]

In the late 1940s, Indiana residents were gripped by rumors of a “500-pound turtle” allegedly spotted by two men as they were fishing in a lake. Curiously, it wasn’t the first time the giant turtle had been seen, with a previous sighting having been reported at the same lake. So, what on Earth were all […]

Archaeologists investigating the “Tomb of Cerberus” in Giugliano, Naples, have unsealed a 2,000-year-old sarcophagus. But while this may sound like the introduction to a Hammer horror story, the researchers actually found a remarkably well-preserved body wrapped in a shroud.   The archaeologists had been examining the tomb with microcameras before they found a passage that […]

As an undergraduate at the University of New South Wales, Dr Erica Barlow picked up a rock that would change her life, and quite possibly how we see the history of life on Earth. It took a long time to work out what she had, however, and even today no one can be sure the […]

Officials in Pierce County, Washington State, have announced that a woman who initially refused to be treated for tuberculosis (TB), even spending three months evading the police in order to do, has successfully been cured of the disease. Advertisement Staff from the local health department had been attempting to persuade the Tacoma resident, known only […]

The National Park Service (NPS) has released more details following the surprise hydrothermal explosion in Yellowstone’s Biscuit Basin earlier this week, providing further insight into how events unfolded and their aftermath. Advertisement “[A]t about 10:19 a.m., a localized hydrothermal explosion occurred near Sapphire Pool in Biscuit Basin, located just north of Old Faithful,” said the […]

Looking for your next summer getaway? There are plenty of beach destinations where you can get your fix of sun and the sand between your toes in safety, but if you fancy a walk on the wild side, the world’s most dangerous beach might be the place for you. Advertisement Danger is a difficult thing […]

A beautiful marble floor has been discovered on the seabed where the sunken city of Baiae now rests. This ancient settlement was once a luxurious holiday spot for the elite, now known as the “Las Vegas” of Rome, but over time it was eventually lost to the sea. Baiae was located in the Gulf of […]

A team of experimental archaeologists has set sail in a replica of a Bronze Age boat, built using instructions, materials, and techniques from 4,000 years ago. During two days of sea trials, the 18-meter-long (60-foot) vessel traveled 50 nautical miles (92.6 kilometers; 57.5 miles) in the Arabian Gulf, reaching speeds of 5.6 knots (10.4 kilometers […]

Two groups of microbes have been found living in hot water in Yellowstone National Park. The existence of the groups was known previously, because their DNA had been detected and it was clearly unlike anything we knew, but this is the first time the organisms themselves have been seen and described. Advertisement Cows are said […]

Physics is a complicated topic. There’s no shame in not completely understanding the black hole information paradox, for example, or the nature of dark energy and dark matter. Physicists don’t fully understand these topics either. Advertisement But sometimes the misunderstandings of non-scientists can be painful to scientists, as demonstrated in a recent Reddit thread that […]