News

Love it or (more likely) loathe it, there’s certainly a routine to boarding a plane. Every day, millions of us line up in snaking queues, separate out our electronics from the rest of our luggage, take off our belts, shoes, and jackets, and desperately try not to make eye contact with the TSA agent who […]

Archaeologists have uncovered a sunken Roman room on the grounds of Leicester Cathedral, UK. The discovery of the chamber believed to date to around 200 CE may confirm an old folktale about the cathedral and how the grounds were used for worship (and possibly sacrifice) long before the cathedral was erected. The approximately 4-meter by […]

In March 2011, a magnitude 9.0 earthquake struck off the east coast of Japan, shifted the Earth’s axis, and shortened days on Earth.  The quake – the most powerful on record to hit the country – shifted the planet’s axis by about 17 centimeters (6.5 inches), and may have moved the main island by about […]

In a US first, a case of tickborne relapsing fever caused by a particular species of bacteria has been reported, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The pathogen in question is Borrelia lonestari, a distant relative of the bacteria responsible for Lyme disease, which has never before been found to cause […]

Researchers have discovered the earliest known runic inscription referencing the Norse god Odin, resident of the heavenly realm of Asgard and overseer of Valhalla. Etched into the surface of an ornamental gold disk, the engraving predates the next oldest mention of Odin’s name by around 150 years. The thin gold ornament – or bracteate – […]

Some bacteria are capable of producing electricity out of tiny atmospheric concentrations of hydrogen. Having identified the enzyme responsible, scientists have demonstrated it can do this without the rest of the organism, opening the path to long-lasting ways to charge devices that can run on small amounts of electricity. The discovery could also allow for […]

New research indicates that the average intelligence quotient (IQ) in the US has declined for the first time in nearly 100 years. But does this mean that the population of the US is actually getting dumber? Not necessarily. Researchers at Northwestern University and the University of Oregon looked at the results of online IQ tests […]

With the recent release of the movie Cocaine Bear, people might be more inclined to question just what is possible in the ursine world. Foremost on the list of what bears can or can’t do is the mystery of how bears create feces when they don’t eat for months at a time. North American bear species […]

Cyclone Freddy first came into the world on February 6 and has since been causing carnage across the Indian Ocean, making landfall in Madagascar and Mozambique. The deadly tropical storm has already broken some grim records, including being the only storm in the Southern Hemisphere ever to have intensified more than three times, and is […]

A new mechanism by which toxic substances are metabolized by an enzyme, mitigating their harmful effects and considerably lengthening lifespan, has been discovered. Experiments in the model worm Caenorhabditis elegans and in yeast revealed that increasing the expression of the adh-1 gene was enough to delay aging, and the researchers suspect that the same could be […]

Rats can be infected with SARS-CoV-2 and those within the New York City sewer system may already be carrying the virus, according to new research. The study is among the first to demonstrate that rats, both laboratory and wild, can be infected by the coronavirus, and that it may present a second way for humans […]

The latest issue of IFLScience’s free digital magazine 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. Join us as we put curious questions to top experts, share excerpts from the […]

If you’re trying to build muscle, you’ve probably come across a slew of videos online by influencers and so-called experts discussing all the things you need to do outside of the gym to help your progress. One popular piece of advice is to avoid alcohol entirely if you want to build muscle, with many suggesting […]

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is working on a drug that could temporarily raise people’s body temperatures, making them resistant to cold environments. A bioengineer has won a funding grant from DARPA and the Pentagon to explore any drugs that could do this, which will utilize the body’s own machinery of breaking down […]

Among the many natural wonders that call Yellowstone National Park home, there’s a bubbling hot spring that researchers have recently discovered has a very special ability. Known as the Doublet Pool, the hydrothermal pool lets out a bold thump every 20 to 30 minutes, vibrating the near-boiling water and the ground around it.  As per […]

There are now over 171 trillion pieces of plastic floating around in the world’s oceans, according to a new estimate. The news comes less than a week after the signing of the historic United Nations (UN) High Seas treaty, which sought to safeguard the world’s oceans. By the looks of this new study, they’ve got […]

Lake Tahoe has reportedly flipped, and while we’d love to report that it’s just stuck the landing on a very wet 360, the realities of lake turnover are a little more nuanced. Lakes flipping like this can happen episodically each year and are a natural and normal phenomenon that comes with the added benefit of […]

Superconductivity is an incredible property of certain materials with exciting consequences. Once reached, for example, said materials can conduct electricity without resistance, so no loss of energy. But most materials are superconductive at extremely low temperatures. The quest for a room-temperature superconductor is ongoing, and is not without a bit of scientific drama. A few […]

If you’ve been using social media over the last ten years, you may have come across a dubious and stomach-turning claim about the origins of vanilla flavoring. According to this recurrent trend, the popular flavoring – in anything from ice cream to lattes, and a host of other sweet treats – comes from the anal […]