News

Ok, the last few years haven’t been the best. Whether it’s COVID-19 and the resulting lockdowns, or the war taking place in Europe, or any of the resulting economic problems raging across the world, it’s fair to say that the 2020s so far haven’t been as roaring as we were hoping for. But is there […]

The story of how Oklahoma’s borders ended up looking like a cooking pot with a handle is one steeped in the state’s unique history and the legacy of slavery. Take a look at a map of the US and you’ll see the shape of Oklahoma is relatively rectangular-shaped except for a 106-kilometer (66-mile) strip of […]

As extreme heat brought on by an anticyclone in southern Europe sees temperatures reach upwards of 40°C (104°F) in places, the life-threatening conditions have been unofficially dubbed “Cerberus” after the underworld’s three-headed watchdog.  In Greek mythology, Cerberus is described as a three- (or sometimes 50-) headed dog with a serpent’s tail who stands guard at […]

Your chances of getting hit by a meteorite and incredibly slim, but never zero. Just ask Ann Hodges (figuratively speaking, she died in 1972) who became the first documented case of someone being hit by a meteorite in 1954 and survived. A fresh meteorite strike story is currently doing the rounds about a woman in […]

Hawaiian bobtail squid (Euprymna scolopes) are known for their bioluminescent glow, which is thought to be used to camouflage them as they attack from the direction of the Sun. Unlike fireflies or jellyfish, however, the squid do not produce the light themselves, instead having outsourced luminescence to bacteria that make a home in a specialized light […]

Here’s an odd fact to get your head around: the wreck of the Titanic was first found by people who were only pretending to look for the wreck of the Titanic. This isn’t a situation where they were meant to be looking for the Titanic, but did a lot of goofing off and pretending that […]

Courtship, mating behaviors, and parental care of offspring are some of the most energetically draining moments in the life of any animal species but the cost is usually outweighed by the fitness benefit. It, therefore, seems counterproductive that some species that provide parental care to their offspring sometimes cannibalize their young. In the eastern hellbender salamander, […]

With summer storm season continuing to bubble up in the planet’s northern hemisphere, you might be unfortunate enough to come across a derecho.  A derecho – which means “straight ahead” in Spanish – is loosely defined as a widespread, long-lived wind storm that has a strip of rapidly moving thunderstorms that can prove devastating for […]

On July 17, the Earth may have witnessed the hottest midnight ever recorded, at a stifling 48.9°C (120°F). The potential new record was set in Death Valley, California, which is notorious for record-breaking temperatures. This latest milestone was reached between the hours of 12 and 1 am, per recordings from Badwater basin weather station. While the readings […]

One character that’s hard to miss in the trailer for the upcoming movie Oppenheimer is Albert Einstein, the wild-haired, paradigm-shifting theoretical physicist who needs no introduction. Rest assured, Einstein’s cameo in the movie is not just fanciful Hollywood storytelling (such as Archimedes’ unlikely appearance in the latest installment of Indiana Jones).  While Oppenheimer and Einstein never […]

Here’s a weird question: does your phone weigh more when it’s “full” than when it’s “empty”? It sounds almost ridiculously naïve – of course, a phone isn’t like a jug of water, with each photo or contact adding an extra few milliliters to the total. How could information have weight? But like many apparently simple questions, this […]

Though many people associate hypnotism with second-rate magicians, the practice is in fact supported by a large number of clinicians and neuroscientists who see it as a powerful tool to hack the minds of patients suffering from psychological and psychosomatic disorders. Yet in order to get the best results out of this strange yet apparently effective […]

Giant centipedes can be found in several habitats across the globe, but none are as impressive as Scolopendra gigantea, also known as the Amazonian giant. It’s the largest centipede species in the world, stretching to over 30 centimeters (12 inches) in length, and has an appetite to match. Armed with a powerful venom, these giant […]

It’s easy to like someone simply because they’re into the same music as you are, or to hate a person because of their views on the shape of the Earth. According to new research, there’s a simple psychological mechanism behind this tendency to judge a person based on a single characteristic, highlighting how the rules […]

If you’re familiar with the work of Charles Dickens, in particular his 1853 novel Bleak House, you may also be aware of a strange phenomenon termed “spontaneous human combustion”. In arguably the most famous literary case of this curiosity, Dickens details the grisly demise of junk merchant Mr Krook, who meets a fiery end, leaving […]

TikTok has found a new flirting technique to pine over, the so-called “Triangle Method”. Videos about the technique have wrapped up millions of views so far and many commenters appear to be happy with the results. While you’ll be hard-pushed to find any clinical trials investigating the effectiveness of the method, there are a handful […]

Over the last two decades, the number of people diagnosed with and prescribed medication for ADHD has significantly increased in the UK, a new study has found. Though interestingly, this rise has not included children under five. ADHD, or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, is a neurodevelopmental disorder that is usually identified in childhood but that […]

After a successful launch on Friday, July 14, India is on its way to achieving its goal of becoming the fourth nation ever to land on the Moon and explore its surface, setting down near the lunar South Pole towards the end of August. This is the third mission to the Moon for the Indian […]

Earlier this year, Eli Lilly and Company announced positive results from a Phase 3 clinical trial of their new Alzheimer’s drug, donanemab. The statement was compelling, detailing how almost half of the trial participants had not seen their disease worsen in the year since beginning the treatment. However, experts called for caution until the complete […]

A classic conspiracy theory is being discussed on social media this week, after Twitter user Rod Mason asked his followers how lunar landers returned astronauts to Earth. ⓘ IFLScience is not responsible for content shared from external sites. Advertisement Of course, people were quick to call the question stupid, or question why Mason posted it to […]