News

Every small town has its local legend. In Inverness, Scotland, it’s Nessie; in Ocracoke, North Carolina, it’s Blackbeard. In Fredericton, New Brunswick, it’s… well, it’s a little different.  Advertisement It’s a massive, taxidermized frog. “People come from all over the world to see it,” said Penny Pacey, then manager of the Fredericton Region Museum in […]

Sweden’s annual brown bear hunt kicked off on Wednesday, with over 150 bears killed in the opening days. The country’s government has approved the killing of 486 brown bears – 20 percent of the wild population – between August 21 and October 15.  Advertisement By Thursday afternoon, less than two days in, 152 had already […]

New COVID-19 vaccines could soon be on their way to a pharmacy near you, as the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved updated mRNA shots from manufacturers Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna. Advertisement The vaccines have been approved and granted emergency use authorization, according to a statement from the agency. Changes have been made to […]

Coastlines are eroding under pressure from rising oceans and more powerful storms, but help could come in a surprisingly modest form; a gentle electric voltage applied to wet sand. Advertisement Sea level rise is among the greatest threats posed by human-induced global heating. However, the imagined problem of cities and farmlands permanently sunk beneath the […]

A universal flu vaccine – one that would protect against multiple strains and could spell the end of yearly shots – is something virologists have been striving towards for a long time. Now, one candidate has moved a step closer to fruition, showing positive results in ferrets. Researchers hope to begin human trials in as […]

It might be best known as a treatment for “the bends”, but recent years have seen hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) reclaimed by the rich and famous as something of a cure-all, used to tackle problems ranging from stress to autoimmune conditions. Advertisement But what actually is HBOT – and does it really do any of […]

Scientists at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider have discovered the heaviest atomic nucleus of antimatter ever found, and it’s a weird one. Even its matter counterpart is weird as it contains a particle made of a strange quark. But before we get into all that weirdness let’s share the name of this new peculiar particle: […]

For most of human history, we relied on the stars to navigate. Knowing the time and day and looking towards the polar regions where some stars appeared fixed provided us with cardinal directions. Today, we navigate using satellite information, which is used not only on maps and in traffic apps, but in countless other applications […]

We all know the ocean is full of deep dark surprises and wacky-looking creatures – and sometimes, we get to enjoy those animals in the moments that humans and sea creatures cross paths. While it might not go well for some, one snorkeler has recorded her magical experience with a sea hare in Mexico.  Advertisement […]

In a super-green offensive against carbon emissions, the world’s first commercial seaweed farm inside a wind farm is slated to open off the coast of the Netherlands. Advertisement The pioneering aquaculture plot will be located within Hollandse Kust Zuid (HKZ), a set of 139 wind turbines in the North Sea around 18 kilometers (11 miles) […]

When you have a good idea, it is never too early to try it out. That is certainly the case for 17-year-old Cesare Mencarini, an Italian high school student at Cardiff Sixth Form College’s Cambridge campus. As a project for the Extended Project Qualification, he built a nuclear fusion reactor, which not only made him […]

We come to you with an absolute gem of a news story. Quite literally – the world’s second biggest diamond has been discovered in a mine in Botswana. Advertisement The rough stone is a certified whopper at 2,492 carats – that’s nearly half a kilo or just over a pound – and was found amongst […]

Not all moths are dusty grey or dull beige. Take, for instance, the rosy maple moth, that rocks an incredible combo of colors that make it look like a super-charged flying marshmallow. The rosy maple moth (Dryocampa rubicunda) is a species within the Saturniidae family, which contains some of the largest species of moths in […]

A man is suing a hospital in Atlanta, Georgia after doctors allegedly lost a piece of his skull. Unable to retrieve the osseous omission, hospital staff ended up having to rebuild the patient’s cranium with a custom-made synthetic implant – and he was charged thousands of dollars for the procedure. Advertisement The incident occurred when […]

A new large predatory dinosaur with a bizarre brow has been unearthed in Central Asia, the first ever discovered in the region. The strange-looking species is a theropod – making it a distant relative of Tyrannosaurus Rex – and roamed what is now Kyrgyzstan approximately 165 million years ago. Advertisement Alpkarakush kyrgyzicus – named after […]

After 40 years of captivity, the last elephant in South Africa’s only national zoo has been freed and will live the rest of his life in a 10,000-hectare (24,700-acre) game reserve.  Advertisement Charlie (sometimes spelled Charley) was the last African elephant in the National Zoological Gardens in Pretoria, South Africa’s only national zoo.  He was […]

Sphen the gentoo penguin, best known as one half of a much-beloved same-sex power couple and parenting duo at Sea Life Sydney Aquarium, has died at the age of 11 – and left behind an impressive legacy. Advertisement “The loss of Sphen is heartbreaking to the penguin colony, the team, and everyone who has been […]

There are a few ways to answer the question, “What is the roundest thing in the world?”, and which one you go for likely depends on your level of scientific knowledge and nous. For those of us not too comfortable with physics, for example, the natural response will probably be along the lines of, “What […]

Our solar system is very stable. Planets, dwarf planets, asteroids, and comets go forth in their orbit without trouble. But it won’t be like this forever. The future of the solar system will have major changes in the Sun and in the planets. We spoke with astronomer Dr Jon Zink to cast our mind’s eye […]

The European Space Agency’s JUICE mission is on its way to Jupiter, but to get there it needs some help in the form of multiple gravity assists as it flies by various planets. Yesterday it successfully completed its first flyby, but it was not your standard gravitational assist maneuver. For the first time ever, a […]