News

For the first time, researchers have been able to track the behavior of triplons, a quasi-particle created between entangled electrons. They are very tricky to study and they do not form in conventional magnetic material. Now, researchers have been able to detect them for the first time using real-space measurements. Quasi particles are not real […]

In the last few weeks, papers have been published and uploaded on the ArXiv claiming that they hold the smoking gun for the end of the gravitational laws as we know it. A big claim for sure, but one that the researchers feel confident to have. So why could Einstein and Newton be wrong after […]

Is there a better way to start the day than with a cup of coffee? It turns out the IFLScience staff are somewhat divided on this question, but many of us are confirmed devotees of the stuff. Whether it’s a double espresso or a long, cold iced latte, plenty of people turn to coffee to […]

Some might think that having more fingers and toes could be, well, handy – we could type faster, or more importantly, stack even more Funyuns on our fingers. So why did evolution decide to leave us with 10 fingers and 10 toes? And could we get our old ones back? Fossil evidence has shown that […]

The curious way certain materials conduct electricity, which has led to them being labeled “strange metals” may have been explained after four decades. A team of physicists have proposed an answer they say is so simple it was overlooked by people expecting something more complex. Claims of a superconductor that works at room temperature and […]

On this day, August 24, 2006, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) made a decision that was going to change the Solar System forever. Members of the IAU voted on a long-drawn proposal that defined exactly what astronomers mean by the term “planet”. And thus Pluto was reclassified as a dwarf planet and our Solar System […]

It’s the longest nerve in the autonomic nervous system, stretching from the brain stem all the way down through the chest, neck, and abdomen. Its approximately 160,000 fibers connect it to multiple key organ systems, and it’s responsible for regulating many of the processes that keep us alive. It’s called the vagus nerve, and right […]

Long before the first Europeans arrived in the Americas, the ancient inhabitants of the Peruvian Andes conducted mysterious rituals upon purpose-built ceremonial platforms that rumbled and roared beneath their feet. Describing one such percussive dancefloor in a new study, archaeologist Kevin Lane from the University of Buenos Aires suggests that the platform was designed to […]

On March 8, 2014, Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 disappeared while flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, prompting the most expensive search in the history of aviation. A few pieces of debris washed ashore, but the main body of the airplane – along with the passengers and crew – remain missing. A new study, however, has […]

Diamonds are not just a girl’s best friend, they have long been the best friends of quantum scientists thanks to a wide range of useful properties. They make extremely good quantum sensors, by and large outdoing the competition. But diamonds are not perfect, and now a team has worked out how to give an alternative […]

Ever since we parted evolutionary ways, people have dreamed of one day creating a human-chimp hybrid known as the “humanzee”. And by people, we mean weirdos, but nevertheless, there have been a few attempts. Russian biologist lya Ivanovich tried in the worst way possible, and failed due to a mix of moral repulsion and a […]

The Sun is constantly releasing a stream of particles: the solar wind. While this can sometimes be increased by explosions and coronal mass ejections, the origin of the wind is not understood. Now, the European Space Agency’s Solar Orbiter has provided a new insight into this mystery. Observations from the spacecraft reveal the presence of […]

Two new studies have showcased progress in brain-computer interfaces (BCIs), helping two patients who were unable to speak to form sentences faster than previous technology could. In one study, a patient with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) had microelectrode arrays implanted in her brain in areas related to the production of speech. The device was trained […]

Join us for our first-ever virtual event, CURIOUS Live! Spread across three themed “stages” – Life, Death, and Creation, y’know, the small things – we’ve got a packed line-up of speakers with exceptional knowledge on some of the most CURIOUS questions in science. Expect laughs, wows, and the occasional ewww.  Taking place on October 21, […]

An archaeologist claims to have uncovered a famous dancefloor in Machaerus in Jordan, the supposed location of one of the whackier tales of death in the Bible. John the Baptist is a major player in all of the New Testament gospels, given his role of (spoilers) baptizing Jesus. For those who aren’t religious or curious […]

The Earth may appear to be a nice little closed system. We get energy from the Sun of course, but it seems that from the atmosphere down, all of the processes are terrestrial in source.  We know that this idea is not exactly true — the Sun is also spewing a constant stream of charged […]

When Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 CE, the ancient city of Pompeii was decimated and thousands of people died. Despite being one of the most famous, and best-preserved, natural disasters in human history, there is still much debate as to how these people perished. Now, a new analysis adds credence to the theory that some […]

Yesterday, India made history, becoming the fourth nation to land on the Moon and the first to land at the lunar South Pole. Now, we’ve got the first photos of the landing site and the plucky rover Pragyan, the Moon’s newest resident, has started exploring its new home. “The Ch-3 Rover ramped down from the Lander […]

Researchers in Australia have used spent coffee grounds to make concrete 30 percent stronger. Simply by replacing a percentage of sand with waste coffee, something common to many households, it is possible to make construction more efficient and greener.  As a household item, coffee grounds are everywhere. It is currently estimated that around 60 million […]

If we want to lower our carbon emissions, persuading people to switch to a vegan diet – or at least reduce their meat consumption – is a good place to start. Vegan diets have around half the climate footprint of the average diet, and if the world was to shift to a vegan diet, food-related […]