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Evolutionary biologists often face the question: “If humans evolved from monkeys, why are there still monkeys?” Alternatively, one might question why the world doesn’t have any half-chimp, half-humans that show the transition from primitive apes to Homo sapiens? However, these questions are loaded with a bunch of presumptions and misconceptions about how evolution works.  The […]

Thousands of planets have been discovered orbiting other stars, but only a few are referred to as Earth-like. None of these worlds are an exact match for our home planet, which raises the question: how similar does a planet have to be to get called Earth-like? Also, how can we tell? And who even gets […]

Crime in Antarctica is relatively rare, given the lack of humans to commit crime against and the lack of legislation against penguins that can be used to punish them for their terrible crimes. However, with the extreme monotony and isolation of life at research stations on the continent, there have been a few incidents. This […]

In the waters off the Colombian coast, a super rare video of a huge humpback whale mother feeding her calf has been recorded.  Filmed in August 2022 in the Gulf of Cupica by scientists from Macuáticos Colombia and Madre Agua Colombia, this is only the second video report of a calf being fed. It was […]

Over the years, more than one famous thinker has had a crack at defining the stages of growth we all go through to reach adulthood. Shakespeare outlined the “seven ages of man” in As You Like It. Freud himself had a go, with his famous five stages of human development. In the modern era, though, we […]

Twenty-five years ago, neuroscientist Christof Koch and philosopher David Chalmers were attending the Association for the Scientific Study of Consciousness (ASSC) when, after a few drinks in a German bar, they placed a bet. Koch suggested the bet to his friend, staking a case of fine wine that within the next 25 years science would […]

Scientists do a lot of important work, from tackling Parkinson’s disease to trying to figure out when Betelgeuse will go supernova. But sometimes they also try to figure out how to roll your joints in order to get you highest, as was the case from one team who presented their findings at the Canadian Chemistry […]

Monday, July 3, was the hottest day since measurements began, and almost certainly long before then. The break from the previous record, set seven years ago, was unusually large in a category where advances usually come in hundredths of degrees. Sadly, however, it is very unlikely this record will stand for long, and may even […]

This article first appeared in Issue 9 of our free digital magazine CURIOUS. Jungle living can be treacherous, and if The Never Ending Story taught us anything it’s that horses and wet floors don’t go well together. In the jungles of Meghalaya in Northeast India, the Indigenous Khasi and Jaintia tribal communities have come up with […]

This article first appeared in Issue 9 of our free digital magazine CURIOUS. The BBC’s Spy In The Wild demonstrated the unique insights into animal behavior that can be observed when we hoodwink wildlife into thinking that a hidden camera is just one of their own. More recently, Spy In The Ocean applied this concept to sea-dwellers, […]

Cannabidiol (CBD) is well-known as an active ingredient in cannabis that’s derived from the hemp plant, but scientists have now discovered this potentially useful compound is also produced by a plant that grows wildly in the Americas: Trema micrantha blume. Molecular biologists at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro managed to obtain CBD from […]

This article first appeared in Issue 9 of our free digital magazine CURIOUS. In the murky waters of the Amazon lurk strange, toothed whales with long, narrow snouts and pink skin. Advertisement They start their lives gray but as they age more blood shows through, deepening the color, which also flushes pink when they’re excited. Subscribe […]

Astronomers spotted an unusual signal while hunting for the counterpart of gravitational wave event S190930t. They were looking for the collision of a neutron star with another object, which should result in a kilonova. Instead, they stumbled upon a completely different type of transient event. While kilonovae redden and fade over a few days, this […]

“Sounds are much louder and time contracts so everything feels like it is happening faster.” That’s the description of tachysensia given by a Reddit community formed as a gathering place for people who experience this mysterious, once-nameless, sensation. That community now has over 5,000 members, and research is only just beginning to catch up and […]

Astronomers have found a new and unusual way for planets to form, potentially explaining why planets such as Mars and Uranus end up forming sandwiched between much bigger neighbors. And “sandwich” is the name of the game: The team are calling the method “sandwiched planet formation” and it is about the formation of smaller planets […]

It’s barbecue season, and just the thought of the distinct smoky scent of sizzling food is enough to get many mouths watering (mine is watering as I write these words). And while the idea of cooking food on the grill may seem straightforward, there is actually a lot of chemistry taking place that results in […]

Well, we’re halfway through 2023, so in keeping with increasingly terrifying tradition, the Northern Hemisphere is melting. As several southern states – including nearly all of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Arkansas – as well as some states in the Midwest, have reached “wet bulb temperature” and received an “extreme threat” level designation, you may be wondering: […]

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 […]

In 2015, a 69-year-old woman was reported missing by her son, after she hadn’t been heard from for the past four days.  When police investigated, they found her inside the crawl space on the outside of her own house. She was wearing nothing but white shorts and a t-shirt, pulled up high and exposing much […]