News

New research argues that 64 Viking shields, previously assumed to be ceremonial in nature, were actually used in battle. A reanalysis of the iconic wooden round shields suggests they may have been covered in rawhide and used in combat. In 1879, two farmer’s sons decided to dig up a large burial mound located on the […]

An amateur gold prospector in Victoria, Australia, recently discovered a gold nugget big enough to hold in two hands, worth around A$240,000. It was a lucky find, but he had chosen the right place to look. Central Victoria was home to one of the world’s great gold rushes in the 19th century, which was focused […]

A new study has found a potential link between the amount of lithium within the water supply and higher rates of autism in the population, marking one of the first times lithium has been associated with autism risk. The study of data from Denmark suggested that pregnant women whose tap water had more lithium showed […]

In the latest version of The Climate Change Performance Index 2023 (CCPI), Chile is ranked as the country with the best climate protection performance in Latin America, and the third best in the world. Chile has now committed to achieving net zero emissions by 2050, with specific policies relating to greenhouse gas emissions, renewable energy, […]

These days, checking whether you’re pregnant or not is as simple as peeing on a stick and waiting a minute or two. In fact, it’s now so quick and straightforward to get procreative peace of mind that it’s easy to forget what a modern invention these little disposable tests really are – yet for most […]

The amount of sea ice surrounding Antarctica fell to the lowest level ever detected in the modern era this Southern-Hemisphere summer. This is the second year in a row that the record for the minimum sea ice extent has been broken, although it’s still too early to say if this downward trend is likely to […]

Cocaine usage is on the rise in the UK and America, and it can cause a range of serious adverse health conditions, including significant sinus and nasal damage. But a new study suggests that this consequence is routinely misdiagnosed as a rare but otherwise nonthreatening nasal disease. Cocaine is a stimulant made from the leaves […]

A new testosterone patch to alleviate symptoms of menopause is being developed. Researchers state that the testosterone patch may help the loss of sex drive that many women experience during menopause, with clinical trials set to begin in Autumn.  Professor David Haddleton, founder of the company behind the new therapy, Medherant, has announced that the […]

Scientists performed the famous magic trick known as the French drop for three species of monkeys and found one saw right through it. Crucially, the difference was not in the animals’ eyes, but in their hands. Those with opposable thumbs like our own were taken in by the performance, sharing our expectations of how the […]

Discovered in the year 2000, the Cave of Crystals sits some 300 meters (984 feet) below the surface of the Sierra de Naica Mountain in Chihuahua, Mexico. Home to some of the largest known crystals on the planet, this vast, otherworldly cavern is both beautiful and deadly. Occupying a U-shaped cavern in the depths of […]

A team of students is about to beat NASA to a lunar first: sending a rover to the Moon before they have. The team of students from Carnegie Mellon University expect the Iris rover, and an additional sculpture project named MoonArk, to launch on May 4.  “Hundreds of students have poured thousands of hours into […]

A team of researchers may have found a way of improving large language model (LLM) chatbots, including improving ChatGPT-4’s accuracy by around 21 percent. In a new preprint paper, yet to be peer-reviewed, the team explains how they achieved it: allowing artificial intelligence (AI) agents to reflect on their own mistakes. The team used a […]

Research into a tiny cat that lives in the Moroccan desert has revealed big things for the Felis genus. Not only are sand cats the title holders for the largest range in the genus, living a seemingly nomadic life, they’ve also exhibited a behavior never seen before in wild cats. The nocturnal sand cat, Felis […]

An uncontacted tribe in Indonesia is under threat of being wiped out due to a colossal mining project that’s looking to harvest metals in their ancestral land for electric car batteries, according to tribal rights group, Survival. Mining companies and governments are being blamed, but the finger is also being pointed at electric car makers […]

Inside the caves of Mount Baigong, and in the surrounding area, there are dozens of strange pipe-like structures, subject to all sorts of conspiracy theories and rumors.  Known as Baigong Pipes, the first references to the structures appear to be from the Chinese state media affiliated news site Xinhua News Agency. According to the article, […]

In response to IFLScience’s recent article about the announcement of the Artemis II crew, author Dr Alfredo Carpineti received an email claiming: “Before we can go BACK to the moon we would have had to have gone there before. WE DID NOT.” Plenty of comments under the article on social media carried similar messages, although […]

Walking past Central Park’s waterways in New York City often involves some turtle gymnastics as these freshwater animals pile on top of one another to get the best spot in the sun. Basking during the day is well recognized, but it seems that nocturnal basking is more popular than expected, as new research has discovered […]

Star Trek envisions a world where humanity has branched out past the confines of our home planet in the name of exploration and peace. LunarCrush, a crypto and NFT stock trading platform founded in 2018, has chosen a more prosaic motivation: cold hard cash. A stash of 62 Bitcoin, currently worth approximately $1.5 million (although […]

A chess opening refers to the first moves that take place in a game, which among professionals usually adheres to one of a handful of “book” openings that have been studied and are well-known. While the uninitiated start shifting pawns with beads of sweat on their brow, competitive players often lean on a tried and […]

The Gaia satellite from the European Space Agency (ESA) is busy creating the most detailed map of the stars in the Milky Way. This has led to the discovery of the two closest black holes to Earth and they may even be a new class of black holes. Named, respectively, Gaia BH1 and Gaia BH2, […]