News

For the first time, strong helium emission lines have been found in the spectrum of a Type Ia supernova, proving that the white dwarf that exploded had a helium-rich companion. After decades of debate about what causes this type of explosion, the findings prove that despite the famous consistency in their brightness, they can have […]

The extreme temperatures and pressures produced when a space rock slams into the Earth can create distinctive materials, such as the shocked quartz used to identify the remains of such events. Arizona’s Canyon Diablo contains diamonds with unusual structures, but scientists have been misinterpreting what makes them special. Very different processes can lead to the […]

You’ve probably heard somewhere that siblings share half of their genes with one another. That’s, like, Genetics 101, right? Actually, not quite. Thanks to the randomness of chromosome segregation and a process called recombination, siblings’ genomes are not always 50 percent the same. This figure is actually an average, as Our World in Data researcher […]

Feathers, scales, spines, and hair are all examples of keratinized skin appendages developed by vertebrates. They are very different from each other, but they share early developmental processes during the embryonic stages. Researchers at the University of Geneva have now worked out that it is surprisingly easy to grow feathers where there should be scales, […]

In the deserts of the Middle East, you can find vast megastructures known as desert kites that were carved into the rocky landscape over 8,000 years ago. In a new study, archaeologists have discovered the world’s oldest architectural plans detailing how ancient humans managed to construct these colossal structures. Desert kites were only identified in […]

Artificial intelligence is kind of a big deal. While taking the media and workforce by storm this year with ChatGPT — raising endless debates over the future of creative productivity with image generators like DALL-E 2 and inspiring one startup after another — it’s arguably the most important by humanity to date and some even […]

You might assume that taking drugs is a uniquely human behavior, but there are many members of the animal kingdom that go out of their way to fill their brains with psychotropic substances with the apparent aim of distorting their perception of reality. Getting on it, as scientists like to call it, is a ubiquitous […]

Nuclear power is a significant source of energy that has been around for several decades. It is considered a sustainable and low-carbon option, making it an essential tool in the fight against climate change. The secret to nuclear power lies in uranium, a naturally occurring element used to fuel nuclear power plants – but it […]

It’s time to use it or lose it: Google has announced they will be deleting any accounts that have been inactive for 2 years as part of their recent security push. The announcement was made in a blog post outlining how they are attempting to protect users by removing accounts that they deem likely to […]

We are moving closer to crossing the 1.5 °C (2.7 °F) threshold above pre-industrial levels for the global temperature mean, 66 percent likely be exceeded during at least one year of the next five. This is the latest prediction from the World Meteorological Organization – another alarm bell showcasing the seriousness of the climate crisis. […]

There’s no two ways about it: jorō spiders look pretty scary. Even if you’re not a confirmed arachnophobe, the sight of this brightly colored beastie with its leg span of up to 10 centimeters (4 inches) would be enough to send shivers up the spine. But what if we told you that these guys are […]

Immersion in cold water is definitely an activity that divides people – some love it others hate it. But many now practice it weekly or even daily in the belief that it’s good for their mental and physical health. Cold water therapy, as it has come to be known, can take the form of outdoor […]

Have you ever had the feeling that you’ve zoned out while driving? Ever looked up and seen a sign telling you you’re a few miles closer to your destination, with no memory of how you got there? You could have been experiencing “highway hypnosis”, and it’s worth brushing up on what causes it – and […]

It’s well established that our moods and behaviors can impact our relationships and the other people in them, but their moods and behaviors can impact us right back, which in turn impacts them, and so on. It’s a vicious cycle. That’s the conclusion of a new study, which has found evidence that such a cycle […]

During excavations of a bathhouse in Ashkelon, Israel, archaeologists came across a grim discovery. Beneath the bathhouse – built in the 4th century CE and used until the 6th century CE – in the sewer, they found the bones of nearly 100 male infants, mixed in with animal bones. A study of the bones, carefully […]

Two new skeletons of men who perished at Pompeii have been uncovered, adding to the victims of the fateful Vesuvius eruption. Found crushed underneath an ancient Roman wall, it looks like this pair died as a result of the accompanying earthquakes that rocked the city as the volcanic hellstorm raged.  The latest two victims were […]

A new execution method could potentially soon be used for the first time in the US: nitrogen hypoxia. While its proponents argue it is a humane and effective means of capital punishment, its critics say there’s simply not enough evidence to justify its use. Nitrogen hypoxia involves forcing a person to breathe pure nitrogen gas, […]

When celestial objects have a strong magnetic dipolar field, as the Earth does, you end up with bands of electrically charged particles captured and held by said magnetic field. Jupiter and Saturn too have radiation belts such as this. The Sun gets them temporarily. And now astronomers have discovered the first example of radiation belts […]

We know death caps are extremely dangerous, accounting for 90 percent of the deaths caused by mushroom ingestion, but we still don’t know exactly how it is they cause such catastrophic damage in the human body. This gap in our knowledge has slowed the development of an antidote, but new research has identified a protein […]

There is a place in Honduras where something extremely unusual and miraculous happens each year, so the residents claim. In the farming town of Yoro, in the north-central part of the country, when the conditions are right, a storm of “biblical” proportions will blow through and then the impossible will happen – fish will fall […]