News

An intruder has been detected in the Canadian Arctic for the first time, and it’s not good news for the health of our planet. The bay barnacle is a known invasive species that’s been making its unwelcome mark on European waters and the Pacific ocean, disrupting ecosystems as it spreads. There was a time we […]

Sometimes when you’re a professional, the tools used by regular folks just won’t do. Formula One racers have those games console-looking steering wheels; award-winning photographers depend on more than the lens on their smartphone; and housekeepers, maids, cleaners, janitors, and other professional tidier-uppers use microfiber cloths.  But what actually are these special towels, and why […]

This is the story of a stowaway rat, who hopped on a transatlantic flight, caused mass panic, had its travel plans rudely interrupted by a one-way trip to a scientific facility, and is now teaching the world a whole lot about global disease transmission. Sit back, relax, and let us tell you a tale.  In […]

Every year, for the last 17 years, the Royal Observatory of Greenwich has awarded the ZWO Astronomy Photographer of the Year, and we are stunned by the sheer amount of photographic talent and celestial beauty that can be combined in this selection of images. The rest of this article is behind a paywall. Please sign […]

Global warming is a tricksy beast. In some places, it’s transforming once-lush environments into barren deserts; in others, it’s doing essentially the opposite – albeit through an irony-fueled, monkey’s paw kind of interpretation of “re-green the Earth’s deserts”. Now, a new set of photos from NASA has laid bare a striking example of the latter […]

Researchers at The Jackson Laboratory (JAX) may have just cracked one of medicine’s biggest challenges: how to stop influenza in its tracks, no matter the strain. A carefully designed triple antibody cocktail protected mice from nearly every flu strain tested, including highly dangerous avian and swine variants. Current approved flu drugs target viral enzymes. Sounds good, […]

Analysis of a bear skull found at a Roman amphitheater east of Belgrade reveals that while the bear was brown, its fate was grizzly, probably dying from an infected wound. In the process, it provides the first direct confirmation of widespread accounts that bears and gladiators fought to the death for the Romans’ entertainment. The […]

Mine spiders have seen a surge in popularity recently as many are realizing for the first time that some of the planet’s most impressive arachnids live their whole lives in dark and remote places. While there isn’t just one genus of cave-dwelling arachnids, there’s a host of impressive spiders to be found in caves and […]

Compasses were the trusted companions of sailors, explorers, and travelers for centuries, offering a simple way to find north. A small magnetized needle is set on a tiny pivot, allowing it to move and align itself with the invisible force of Earth’s magnetic field. But this simple tool has a major flaw. In certain places […]

According to several surveys, a large number of people (66 percent, in one conducted on students) have experienced getting “blackout drunk”, where chunks of time are forgotten after consuming alcohol – yet this is a topic that, until relatively recently, we didn’t understand a lot about. One of the problems with finding out about the […]

Great news for koalas in Australia: a new chlamydia vaccine has officially been approved by Australia’s Veterinary Medicine Regulator (yay!).  Developed over more than a decade at the University of the Sunshine Coast (UniSC) as part of a global collaborative effort, the vaccine is designed to protect the tree huggers from chlamydia, a bacterial infection […]

Black holes can lose mass and energy over time. They release Hawking radiation. The smaller they are, the more radiation they emit, so the hotter they get. The end scenario is the black holes exploding into nothing. Could we observe such an exploding black hole? Maybe, if a bunch of conditions are met. If they […]

When our prehistoric ancestors mated with Denisovans, they may have picked up some highly advantageous genes that continue to benefit our health today. According to a new study, some human populations may even carry Denisovan DNA that enhances their resistance to a range of parasitic diseases, including malaria. The rest of this article is behind […]

Beware the Kellas cat! That’s what you might’ve heard back in the 1980s when some people in Scotland started to attribute large cat sightings and the violent deaths of sheep to an elusive predator. The rest of this article is behind a paywall. Please sign in or subscribe to access the full content. The Kellas […]

If you live in or visit an area with mosquitoes, you are probably well aware that the little bastards insects have a tendency to snack heavily on some people, whilst leaving other individuals unscathed. Scientists have attempted to figure out if this is true, and why this might be the case. There have been suggestions, […]

When looking at a towel, you may have wondered a few things, such as, “Why do I have to wash my towel when I only use it when I’ve literally just been cleaned?” and, “Huh, what the hell are those lines for?” The rest of this article is behind a paywall. Please sign in or […]

Take a deep breath of air. Seems fresh, right? Unfortunately, air isn’t just oxygen and other gases. Every lungful of air contains tiny, suspended particles called aerosols. Some are harmless, but some… not so much. Thanks to advances in air sampling and filtration technology, we have techniques to detect aerosols and reduce their presence indoors, […]

What could be more exciting than finding a dinosaur egg? The tiny shells from which some of the largest animals ever to walk the Earth emerged, incredible stuff! Thing is, it’s not always easy to work out what you’re dealing with when all you have to study is the egg itself. In fact, it’s not […]

They say it takes a village to raise a child, and that village is very excited when a newborn comes into the world. Friends and relatives will flock to see the baby bearing gifts, hugs, and kisses – some of the popular ways we humans like to show our affection. Only problem is, can we […]

The total number of quasi-satellites of our planet has gone up by one. There are now 8 small asteroids going around the Sun at the same time as our planet, acting almost like moons, hence the term quasi-satellite or quasi-moon. Meet the newest entry, 2025 PN7. The rest of this article is behind a paywall. […]