News

Clams and cockles have been succumbing to a contagious form of cancer for centuries, two new studies have found. The analysis is reshaping our understanding of cancer and could lead to new approaches to tackling the human form of the disease in the future. We don’t typically think of cancer as being something that can […]

A new Netflix documentary series, named Encounters, has explored eyewitness testimony of unidentified flying objects (UFOs) and supposed encounters with alien species, including one from 1994. But what really took place on that day? On September 16, 1994, 62 students at the Ariel School in Ruwa, Zimbabwe, claimed to witness an unknown craft descend from the […]

There is much we do not know about the nomadic peoples who lived in Saudi Arabia before the Neolithic era. We know there are amazing monumental stone structures and accompanying cave art from this time, as well as the remains of hearths that indicate temporary habitation, but not a lot else. Now, researchers have uncovered […]

From adding a bit of warm sweetness to baked goods to spicing up meats, sausages or sauces, nutmeg can be found in many kitchen cupboards across the world. But this household spice has a lesser-known effect if consumed in high quantities – it can be a dangerous hallucinogen.  For centuries, nutmeg was highly prized throughout […]

New research has revealed the existence of a brand new organelle within mammalian cells. The never-before-described “mini organ” is called the exclusome, and is made up of DNA rings called plasmids. The team responsible for its discovery believe it could be involved in autoimmune disease and may help further our understanding of how nuclei evolved. […]

Study math for long enough and you will likely have cursed Pythagoras’s name, or said “praise be to Pythagoras” if you’re a bit of a fan of triangles. But while Pythagoras was an important historical figure in the development of mathematics, he did not figure out the equation most associated with him (a2 + b2 […]

Researchers in Russia have investigated the strange case of a female orca (Orcinus orca) whose body was found on a beach and contained seven otters that had been swallowed whole. Not only is this an unusual meal for this type of marine mammal, but the orca was washed up far away from its normal territory.  […]

The boundary between planets and stars is a bit muddled up. Sure, it is clear why the Earth is different from the Sun – but when you have gas giants like Jupiter and stellar objects like brown dwarfs with the same composition but different masses, it is difficult to make a clear dividing line. There […]

Zoologists have recorded the adorable cooing sounds echidnas occasionally make during the mating season, as well as some others that might be described as grunts. This comes as something of a surprise since the spikey monotremes were previously thought to make no sounds besides a little snuffling and wheezing as they walk. Combined with the […]

If you’ve ever wondered what a crocodile sounds like, we’re willing to bet you weren’t imagining this. One fun-size, West African crocodile inexplicably sounds just like a cow – and the revelation could be useful for conservationists trying to keep tabs on the tiny reptiles. The African dwarf crocodile (Osteolaemus tetraspis) is the smallest extant […]

The Orion Nebula is one of the brightest nebula visible to the naked eye and the closest star formation region to Earth. Observations with JWST have brought forth stunning pictures and incredible discoveries such as the presence of Jupiter-Mass Binary Objects that challenge the current theories of how planets and stars form. But something even […]

According to a video going around the Internet, there is a “carrot tan skin hack” that can give you tanned-looking skin without soaking up those UV rays. The video posted to TikTok suggests that eating three carrots a day can make you “glow from the inside out”. Advertisement ⓘ IFLScience is not responsible for content shared […]

A new weight-loss drug has shown some promising results in mice, sparking hopes it could be developed for use in humans. We’ve heard a lot about these types of drugs recently, but this one works very differently. It doesn’t affect appetite or how much food you eat – instead, it tricks the body into thinking […]

Pizzlies are hybrids born as a result of inter-species romping between a grizzly bear (Ursus arctos horribilis) and a polar bear (Ursus maritimus). Although rare, some scientists believe they could become more common due to climate change meddling with bear habitats in the northernmost stretches of our world. Polar bears are significantly larger than grizzlies, […]

Languages evolve over time, prompting a great question: How far back in time could you go and still understand English?  If you were to speak to someone from the 1800s, or read a book from the same period, you would likely be fine. Sense and Sensibility (1811) remains comprehensible, for example, with some even claiming […]

A new weight-loss drug has shown some promising results in mice, sparking hopes it could be developed for use in humans. We’ve heard a lot about these types of drugs recently, but this one works very differently. It doesn’t affect appetite or how much food you eat – instead, it tricks the body into thinking […]

The winners of the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine are Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman. The award was given for discovering “nucleoside base modifications that enabled the development of effective mRNA vaccines against COVID-19.” The prize is worth 11 million Swedish kronor (around 1,002,000 US dollars at the time of publishing), which will […]

On August 30, something moved in the background of a series of images taken by one of the Perseverance Rover’s Navcams. On a planet with no life (at least not large enough to see) and little in the way of meteorological activity, that’s unusual. The movement came from a dust devil seen over a rise […]

This article first appeared in Issue 12 of our free digital magazine CURIOUS. Luck, a phenomenon that has fascinated and perplexed humans since time immemorial, has often been attributed to chance, fate, or supernatural forces. But is there more to this supposed phenomenon than mere chance and happenstance? Could there in fact be a rational and […]