News

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 […]

If you’ve ever had the misfortune to witness a fire or just watch Fireman Sam, you may have wondered whether the water fire brigades use to extinguish the flames is in any way different, or special, when compared to ordinary water. Well, it is. Since the first fire brigade in 6 CE, fire brigades have […]

A dusty old group of nerves just got a sexy makeover in a preprint paper that’s suggested the long-known Krause corpuscles found in mammalian genitals may do a lot more than sense temperature changes. Instead, the mouse study suggests they act as vibrotactile sensors that are crucial for normal sexual functioning of the penis and […]

Wildlife rescue stories always tug at the heartstrings. From chimps seeing the sunshine, to seals exploring the local town, helping animals in distress is as rewarding as it is tricky. Never more so than when dealing with marine life, as the latest rescue of two dolphins after more than two years has revealed. Thought to […]

Have you ever looked at a body of water and thought: is this a pleasant pond or a luscious lake? Just exactly what is the difference? Well, it all depends on who you are asking. If you are asking from a regulation point of view, there really is no difference between a lake and pond, […]

The Longyou Caves are among the most mysterious ancient sites in world history. Built around 2,000 years ago, these human-crafted caverns lay in obscurity for centuries until they were accidentally discovered by farmers in the 1990s. The sandstone caves are located near the village of Shiyan Beicun on the Qu River in Zhejiang province, eastern […]