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Archaea, hardy single-celled organisms that form the third domain at the top of the universal tree of life, have survived for billions of years in some of the most extreme environments on Earth. Now, scientists have taken a big leap forward in explaining how that is possible, discovering how these organisms use hydrogen as a […]

A hidden camera has caught extremely rare footage of a family of endangered Bornean clouded leopards (Neofelis diardi borneensis) as they scamper and prowl around the rainforest. Advertisement Orangutan Foundation, together with Tanjung Puting National Park, recently captured the adorable video (below) using a camera trap in the dense lowland forests of Indonesian Borneo. While […]

Tiger sharks are voracious predators that will eat pretty much anything they can get their jaws around – but even they can’t stomach an echidna. Advertisement Scientists from James Cook University in Australia witnessed a bizarre animal interaction after seeing a tiger shark throw up an echidna, a small and spikey monotreme that is a […]

Being born a twin was bad news if you happened to live in ancient Mayan times, as the iconic civilization apparently had a thing for sacrificing relatives, including identical siblings – and especially if they were boys. At the world-famous site of Chichén Itzá in southern Mexico, researchers have just identified the remains of 64 […]

Just over a year ago, people across this planet received a challenge from the heavens: Solve an encoded message. The message was created by Daniela de Paulis, Artist in Residence at the SETI Institute. The goal was to simulate an alien signal – and despite its earthly creation, it really came from another planet. Advertisement […]

Many species in the natural world have a certain little something that goes beyond the striking patterns visible on their fur and feathers. From fungi to wombats, many species have been found to be fluorescent – and now a whole range of glowing sea creatures from the Banda Sea in Indonesia and the Red Sea […]

The Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN), António Guterres, has warned the world not to allow artificial intelligence (AI) a role in the decision to launch nuclear weapons. Advertisement Speaking at a meeting of the Arms Control Association (ACA), Guterres warned that “humanity is on a knife’s edge”, with the risk of nuclear weapons use […]

The results of the 2024 Vaquita Survey are in, and it’s a mixed bag for the world’s rarest mammal. According to Sea Shepherd, who conduct the annual survey, the data shows 6 to 8 vaquita porpoises were sighted during the survey, a decline from 2023 when 8 to 13 individuals were observed. There were no […]

South Australia’s Yorke and Fleurieu Peninsulas host some unusually colored beaches. The pink color was already known to be pulverized garnet, but an attempt to find the source has revealed a very unlikely location buried in ice and thousands of kilometers away. Advertisement South Australia is known for pink things, including its famous lakes and […]

The battery revolution would see humanity move away from burning fossil fuels in favor of electric power, but in order to get there, we need metal. A lot of metal. Vast crops of “deep sea potatoes” have been located in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone bursting with crucial battery ingredients, but what do we know so far […]

If you were hoping the next invasion of New York would be somewhat less eight-legged, we’ve got bad news: invasive crabs that harass fishers, alter food webs, and even shut down power plants have made it to the state’s waters. On the upside, they do have very cute little mittens. Advertisement Describing it as “anything […]

Piranhas’ vegetarian cousins are known as pacus, and you’ve likely seen photos of their curiously human-like teeth circulating online. Now, a knew member has joined the ranks after being identified in the Amazon, and it’s been named Myloplus sauron after the Dark Lord of the same name in J.R.R. Tolkein’s The Lord Of The Rings […]

NASA has confirmed a grim, albeit expected, milestone with the release of global average temperatures for last month. The year 2024 has set a new record for the hottest May since global record-keeping began, just like April, March and every month back to June 2023. The last time a month didn’t set a global record […]

We at IFLScience love an illusion (as apparently does Mars). So, naturally, we were thrilled to hear about a new twist on the visual rabbit illusion – also called the visual saltation illusion. Advertisement Typically, the illusion involves two dots flickering in quick succession at one point and a third dot flashing at a different location. Thanks […]

One hundred million years ago, a fierce predator soared over the waters of what we now know as Queensland, Australia, using its formidable jaws to scoop up fish and cephalopods. The new-to-science species has now been described following the retrieval of a fossil from dig pits outside of Richmond, which represents the most complete pterosaur […]

It’s all been popping off on the Oregon coastline as of late. Last week was no different, as a massive sunfish thought only to live in the Southern Hemisphere washed ashore in the north of the Beaver State. Advertisement According to a Facebook post from the local Seaside Aquarium, the 7.3-foot (2.2-meter) fish was spotted […]

Can the first letter of your name predict your profession and the city you live in? If that were the case, I should probably be a magician living in Milan – which, regrettably, I’m not. But, according to a recent study, I may be the outlier here, and our names really might influence our life […]

In a shocking step backwards, whaling is set to continue in Iceland. The Icelandic government has announced today that the country’s last remaining whaling company, Hvalur hf., will be issued an annual license to kill 99 fin whales in the Greenland/West Iceland region, as well as 29 whales in the East Iceland/Faroe Islands region. Although […]

With their large, dark eyes, elusive nature, and unusual sounding calls, it’s no wonder European nightjars (Caprimulgus europaeus) are steeped in folklore. While they’re probably not as supernatural as they seem, there’s still an air of mystery surrounding them – so what do we actually know about the nightjar? Advertisement Masters of camouflage We would […]

Jesus of Nazareth, the principal figure of Christianity, is both an incredibly influential figure and an obscure one. Although he probably existed (proof outside of biblical texts is limited to a few references), historians and theologians know very little about him, especially his early life. Advertisement There are apocryphal accounts, such as the Infancy Gospel of […]