News

Translating someone’s brain activity into written words may sound like a science fiction dream, but a new artificial intelligence (AI) model developed at the University of Texas at Austin has been able to achieve just that. Using only noninvasive scanning methods, the model can be trained to decode complex language from someone’s thoughts for extended […]

An analysis of old newspapers in the USA has highlighted the persistence of the enslavement and indentured servitude of Native Americans into the 19th century.  Two researchers from the Annenberg School for Communication and Brown University searched through newspapers from 1704-1804, souring for references to Indigenous Americans (largely termed “Indians” by the papers) being sold, […]

A small reserve of backup power has been pressed into service to keep all Voyager 2’s scientific instruments operating until 2026, postponing a shutdown planned for this year. The operation will mean humanity maintains two eyes outside the heliosphere – the region where the solar wind dominates the interstellar medium. There’s a strong argument Voyager […]

This article first appeared in Issue 7 of our free digital magazine CURIOUS.  In issue 5 of CURIOUS we mentioned HALO Space, an ambitious company with big plans to send people into space in a balloon. Well, more of a capsule suspended by a balloon. The curious contraption gives passengers a 360-degree view of Earth as […]

Every now and then, an old painting resurfaces online after people reassess it years later and believe it to contain a time traveler.  It never is, of course, but that hasn’t stopped people once more believing that figures in a painting from centuries ago were walking around the woods and reading updates on a smartphone. […]

For a time, Twitter CEO Elon Musk entertained himself by telling people complaining about changes to the platform to pay $8 for their “verified” blue ticks, as advertising revenue for the site crumbles. A new “hack” has given people a way to give themselves a blue tick for free, should they wish to be associated […]

News came out on Friday that the European Space Agency’s JUICE mission has got a little problem. Its Radar for Icy Moons Exploration (RIME) antenna can’t be fully extended from its mounting bracket, which has created a bit of concern. This is an important instrument for the mission which will reach Jupiter and its icy […]

Enthusiasts of a flea market or carboot sale are always on the hunt for a steal, but one man got far more than he bargained for in 1991 after he bought an “ugly” painting. At just $4, a collector picked up the painting purely because he liked the picture frame, despite thinking the painting was […]

Mushrooms have been found to exchange electrical signals that some scientists consider a form of communication. However, a new study suggests, the fungal telephone lines go quiet when their environment dries out. Just as some birds like to celebrate the arrival of rain with song, it seems mushroom chatter also comes to life with a […]

Liquid water may have been widespread on Mars as recently as 400,000 years ago, perhaps in the form of snowmelt in the planet’s iconic sandy dunes, according to new data from China’s Zhurong rover. Zhurong has already transformed our understanding of Mars since the rover landed on the Red Planet back in early 2021. While […]

Issue 10 (May 2023) of CURIOUS is out now, bringing you science highlights for the month plus deep dives into intriguing topics, interviews, exclusives, diary dates, and explanations for some of Earth’s most perplexing natural phenomena and landscapes. In This Issue… Advertisement OUR COVER STORY: How To See Impossible Colors? “Imaginary” colors are real and […]

Have you ever been so engrossed in a task that you just … lose yourself in it? No awareness of time or outside influences; no inner criticism of yourself or your performance – just pure focus and enjoyment from exploring the job at hand. There are a number of terms for this phenomenon: you might […]

Fathers drinking alcohol prior to conception could be linked to brain and facial defects in their offspring, new research suggests, putting the onus not just on mothers to quell their alcohol consumption but on fathers too. The findings suggest that research needs to examine fathers’ roles in fetal alcohol syndrome as opposed to just mothers’, […]

Sourcing human tissue samples for biological investigations isn’t always easy. While they are ethically obtained through organ donation or from tissue that’s removed during surgical procedures, scientists are finding them increasingly difficult to get hold of. And it’s not just because there’s a limited supply of human tissue samples. There’s also restricted availability of the […]

The Sea of Galilee, also known as Lake Tiberias, Kinneret, or any of quite a few other monikers, is Israel’s largest freshwater lake, and the lowest freshwater lake on the planet. But like so many landmarks dotted around the area, it has long been much more than that: over the years, it’s been a source […]

This week, a new paper argues our Ice Age ancestors were eating some pretty nasty things as a source of carbs, men might be more likely to stick to a meat-based diet in order to feel more ‘manly’, and you may have seen the incredible image of a full nervous system but you may not […]

Plummeting 91 meters (300 feet) and landing on solid rock is generally not conducive to survival. Against all odds, however, one climber survived the “unsurvivable” after a rope slid through her harness and she entered freefall downwards, escaping with severe but non-fatal injuries. Scientists then tried to understand just how she managed it.  As described […]

A new theory is gaining traction among Renaissance Art scholars, which suggests that Michelangelo, the famous master behind the ceiling fresco of the Sistine Chapel, may have portrayed himself as God. If this is true, then this sneaky selfie tells us a lot about how fond he was of himself.  The “Creation of Adam” is […]

Scientists have discovered a previously unknown biochemical change that occurs in the brain cells of patients with motor neurone disease (MND), contributing to the rapid neurodegeneration that characterizes this devastating disease. Though still in the early stages of investigation, it’s hoped the discovery could be pivotal in developing treatments that could “change the course of […]

A select few of Easter Island’s giant heads have an especially strange choice of headwear. Just a handful of these famous volcanic rock statues have a red “hat” placed on top of their head. Not only are these hats made out of a red stone from a quarry on the other side of the island, […]