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If you’ve ever called someone “dumb as a block of rubber,” you may wish to upgrade your insults, because it turns out a lump of rubber with some holes punched in it can count. It doesn’t even need fingers and toes. If this sounds like a remarkable, but useless, achievement, the designers think it might […]

Under a set of church structures in Mexico, archaeologists have uncovered evidence of an underground labyrinth that they suspect was once believed to be an entrance to the underworld.  The discovery was made at the archaeological site of Mitla near the city of Oaxaca by a team from the Mexican National Institute of History and […]

Last week, a spectacular image of Saturn was published by the JWST team. It shows the sparkling rings of the giant planet almost floating by themselves. Saturn itself doesn’t really shine in infrared. A different release shows a little bit more of the ringed planet this time around, as well as showing more details in […]

From Ancient Egypt to Mesoamerica, the great civilizations of the past had a shared love for building giant pointy things. However, while tourist hotspots like Giza and Chichen Itza may be the first sites that spring to mind when pondering pyramids, the truth is that neither of these iconic locations is home to the oldest […]

The speed of light in a vacuum is the absolute speed limit of the universe. Nothing will go faster than 300,000 kilometers per second (186,000 miles per second), according to Einstein’s work, as it would require an infinite amount of energy to do so. However, that doesn’t mean that light can’t be beaten in terms […]

From 1630 to 1900, the western Pacific experienced El Niño-like conditions, demonstrating that the phenomenon about to play havoc with global weather is not always brief. The finding is also a reminder of how Eurocentric views of historical climate patterns can lead us badly astray. El Niños affect weather worldwide, but their core feature is […]

For many people, the start of a year is a time for new health resolutions – be it eat more vegetables, consume less sugar or drink more water. Keeping hydrated is essential for body functions such as temperature regulation, transporting nutrients and removing waste. Water even acts as a lubricant and shock absorber for joints. […]

If you saw Orion before it disappeared behind the Sun this year, you may have noticed Betelgeuse’s unusual brightness. Astronomers are unsure of what to make of this brightening, but one team has reinterpreted long-standing patterns in its variability to conclude it is not only in the carbon-burning stage of its life, but nearing that […]

The devastation of tornadoes has been well documented through history, but did you know that every day there are miniature versions of these rotating columns of air happening all around us? However, though they be small, they are still deadly, capable of spreading spores in a way that can devastate surrounding plant species. One such […]

If you look up at the sky on a clear day, you might notice little cobweb-like structures drifting across your field of vision. They are known as floaters or, more formally, muscae volitantes – Latin for flying flies. Like regular flies, muscae volitantes are rather pesky, so it’s not surprising that people want to banish […]

When it comes to dairy products do you tend to buy full-fat or low-fat products? For many people, going for low-fat options can seem like the “healthier” choice. Indeed, a 2020 survey in the US found that out of 1,000 people questioned, one in three sought out “low fat” or “reduced fat” foods or drinks, […]

The fifth Indiana Jones revolves around the so-called “Dial of Destiny,” a time-twisting device supposedly crafted by the ancient Greek mathematician and inventor Archimedes. While its time-traveling credentials are pure nonsense, the titular object is based on a genuine archaeological artifact: the Antikythera mechanism.  This remarkable relic was found by sponge divers among a shipwreck […]

Hyenas are quite an unusual member of the animal kingdom, with powerful bone-crushing jaws and downright weird sex lives.  There are four species of hyena in the family Hyaenidea that all live in Africa; spotted, brown, striped, and aardwolf. In spotted hyenas (Crocuta crocuta), society is run by females, who are significantly bigger and more […]

Every Indiana Jones movie has its own MacGuffin, an object of importance that has the main good guys and bad guys busy searching and getting into wacky adventures. In the latest film – Dial of Destiny – that object is, you guessed it, an ancient object called the dial of destiny. The movie refers to […]

Australia has become the first country in the world to officially legalize the use of psychedelics to treat specific mental health conditions. From July 1, authorized psychiatrists are allowed to prescribe MDMA for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and psilocybin, the active ingredient of magic mushrooms, for drug-resistant depression.  Following a decision made in February this […]

Cross a bloodworm and you could be in for a nasty surprise. Stretching to 35 centimeters (14 inches) in length, their narrow bodies and fleshy-pink coloration might not make them look all that threatening, but their metal teeth tell a different story. Bait diggers and fishers are the most likely to fall victim to the […]

A monkey was recently seen carrying the body of her dead baby for some time after it died. However, she later ate the corpse in a case of primate cannibalism. As unpleasant as this sounds, this unusual behavior may have evolutionary benefits that impact the mother’s chances of reproducing in the future.  The monkey in […]

Variations in the brightness of quasars from the early universe have been used to measure time dilation back to only a billion years after the Big Bang. The findings reveal an era when clocks moved five times slower than they do today – or would have, if there had been anyone to make clocks. It […]

A team of scientists thought they had struck gold when they discovered the only known natural antibiotic that contains arsenic and showed its ability to treat tough bacterial infections. But its potential did not end there. Now, new research has found that it could be a game-changing treatment for another serious infectious disease: malaria. Antibiotic […]