News

Pound for pound – or, rather, gram for gram – a short-haul flight is one of the least environmentally friendly ways to travel. Long-haul flights are barely better; domestic ones are worse by far. Which, for anybody hoping to live on a planet Earth that’s still habitable in the near future, is kind of a […]

North Atlantic right whales – a critically endangered species – are shrinking. According to new research, this reduction in body size, induced in part by stressors such as climate change, is impacting their ability to reproduce. It’s not good news for a species already at risk of extinction. Measuring up to 16 meters (52 feet) […]

A path has been sketched for how molecules needed for life could have formed on Mars in the days when it was wet. We don’t know if this happened, or that it led to life, let alone whether any survived. Nevertheless, the work suggests that anyone thinking of giving up on the prospects of a […]

There’s an old joke about homeopathy, which goes something like this: A man overdosed on homeopathic medicine. He forgot to take his pills. Homeopaths believe (mistakenly) that substances that cause specific symptoms in healthy people can be used to treat those symptoms in unhealthy patients. According to homeopathists, the more the substance is diluted, the […]

A groundbreaking bill to prohibit octopus farming could soon be passed in Washington state. If signed into law, it will be a world-first ban on the deeply controversial aquaculture practice that’s started to emerge.  The bill, HB 1153, passed the Washington State House of Representatives earlier this month and passed the Senate with a 29-20 […]

Scientists in China have successfully cloned two Tibetan goats for the very first time, according to Chinese media. It is hoped the feat will help to support wider breeding efforts of the animal breed, which is prized for its luscious cashmere wool. The pair were recently born in Qinghai, a province of northwest China that […]

Space around Earth is polluted. For 70 years, several nations around the world have been sending stuff up, caring very little about what would happen after their work was done. This space junk includes massive satellites, rocket pieces, and, for a time, even a spatula and a camera. Removing this stuff is seen as crucial […]

“I laughed so hard, I peed myself!” is not a sentence that’s likely to even raise an eyebrow with most of us. Stress incontinence – temporary loss of bladder control linked to actions like jumping, coughing, and laughing – is an issue that affects thousands, for reasons including having given birth or having an enlarged […]

A romantic walk along the coast or an intense sandcastle-building contest might be how most people spend time near the waves. You might even be lucky enough to spot a dolphin from the water’s edge – but what should you do if you come across a stranded one? Advice from the Institute For Marine Mammal […]

The blue whale was knocked off the top spot for the heaviest animal ever to live on Earth back in 2023, but now, the almighty slab is back reigning supreme thanks to a brand new study. It argues that the recent claim the ~39-million-year-old Perucetus colossus – an ancient whale – was heavier than the […]

According to the Internet, there are all manner of tricks that casinos in Las Vegas supposedly employ to keep you gambling.  These range from “temporal distortion” to pumping oxygen into the casino floor to keep gamblers alert and focused on losing their money on the slot machines. The latter is, of course, not true, given […]

Researchers have found an innovative way to test a suspected connection between air pollution and suicide. Their results not only confirmed the relationship is real, they suggest it’s clearer than anyone expected. If all the other reasons to stop burning fossil fuels were not enough, here’s another one. The link between atmospheric pollution and physical […]

Heads up, UFO hunters: If you want to catch sight of one in the US, your best bet is to head west or hop over to New England. Oh, and steer clear of the south. That’s according to a new scientific project that looked to understand the local environmental factors that determine the geographical distribution […]

In 1967, the Soviet Union celebrated its 50th anniversary. As well as events on the ground, part of these celebrations involved a stunt to be carried out in space, which ultimately ended in the unnecessary death of cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov, who became known as “the man who fell from space”. The plan was to send […]

Few water crossings instill more fear than the Drake Passage, the notorious body of water between South America’s Cape Horn and the South Shetland Islands of Antarctica. Its vigorous currents, freezing waters, ferocious winds, and enormous waves have endowed the passage with a reputation for being among the most treacherous in the world.  What is […]

In school, you were probably taught that to make a baby you need an egg cell and a sperm cell – and if we’re talking about human reproduction then you would be correct. However, in the wider animal kingdom, this isn’t necessarily the case. Plenty of animals reproduce asexually, and a select few experience what’s […]

Pasteurization is right up there with hand-washing and vaccines as one of the greatest public health achievements in human history. But just like the other things on that list, it has its detractors. Loud ones.  Fact-checking organization Full Fact recently responded to an Instagram post that has totted up over 70,000 likes at the time […]

People who are unable to generate any mental imagery are less capable of recalling key events from their life history, new research has revealed. After scanning the brains of volunteers with aphantasia – a condition characterized by a lack of a “mind’s eye” – the study authors found that this impaired autobiographical memory is underscored […]

New research has analyzed tattoo inks from major and small American manufacturers and has found that 90 percent contained ingredients that were not listed on the label. In some cases, the unlisted ingredients are known to be harmful to humans. Tattooing is an established industry these days, and it’s big business. Around the world, societal […]

Imagine you have just observed something that is going to revolutionize science. The first thing you’d do is probably check everything multiple times – is this correct? Is it really happening? And if you were in a big international collaboration, you might even want to ask around to check if this is a prank or […]