News

It’s probably not that often that you pore over the US Treasury’s daily reports of financial transactions and come away with anything other than a feeling of intense boredom.  But looking at data from February 28, 2023, associate director of budget analysis at the Penn Wharton Budget Model John Ricco found something intriguing: a payment […]

Stunning videos shared on Twitter have revealed three new-to-science hydrothermal vents found on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. At a depth of 3,740 meters (12,270 feet), the Schmidt Ocean Institute’s new research vessel Falkor (too) came across the vents, and videos were shared by biologist and deep-sea explorer Joan Alfaro. It’s the first scientific mission for Falkor […]

Does the human lifespan have a limit? New statistical research looking to answer this age-old question has concluded that if there is a maximum limit to the human lifespan, we’re currently not close to reaching it.  Estimations of the maximum human lifespan have been growing throughout recorded history. The Hebrews of the late Bronze Age […]

One of the largest dinosaurs ever to walk the Earth was discovered by chance. In 2010, a worker at La Flecha Ranch in Patagonia, Argentina, spotted an enormous dinosaur bone poking out of the ground. Flash forward 13 years, and that pivotal dig site has given rise to the star of Titanosaur: Life As The […]

California is about to be hit by a mushroom superbloom (step aside, poppies) as the heaviest rains of the region’s winter get fungi feeling frisky. Soon, the Golden State will be the Moldy State, as the fruiting bodies of many fungi species push through the dirt following heavy showers brought on by atmospheric rivers. Hikers […]

Doctors have reported the first case of a human infection by Chondrostereum purpureum. The fungus causes the disease silver leaf in plants, which causes the leaves of an infected tree branch to turn a silvery color, before killing the branch.  A 61-year-old patient from the eastern region of India sought medical attention for a number […]

Legend has it that the rugged land of Patagonia in the southernmost strip of the Americas is home to a long-lost kingdom known as the City of the Caesars. Like many of the tales of mysterious ancient cities in the Americas, there’s no substantial evidence this place ever existed. With that said, new imaging technology […]

A recent tweet by author JK Rowling, suggesting that receiving transfusions of blood from donors of the opposite sex leads to poorer outcomes (and higher numbers of fatalities), has been met with criticism by several scientists and members of the medical community. “It was recently discovered that those given transfusions of blood from the opposite […]

High energy photons probably originating from the birth of a black hole briefly changed the Earth’s upper atmosphere last year, despite occurring billions of light years away. A set of papers delving into the explosion astronomers dubbed the BOAT (Brightest Of All Time) reveal it far outshone anything we’ve seen before, and was accompanied by […]

Most of us have heard the one about if you cross your arms over your chest you’re feeling defensive or if you’re fiddling with your hair while talking you feel nervous – but is there really any truth to some of these body language stereotypes? Reading body language can be a useful skill in understanding […]

An Aussie bloke armed only with a budget metal detector has come across a gigantic gold-filled rock worth a cool AU$240,000 (US$160,000). It was recently discovered in the Australian state of Victoria in an area known as the “Golden Triangle” – between Ballarat, Bendigo, and St Arnaud – by an amateur gold hunter.  He took […]

You may think you’ve heard the term “gaslighting”, but it’s actually just your mind playing tricks on you. You might even be going crazy. Better to just let us explain to you what the phenomenon really means. Those are all the kinds of things we might say if we really were trying to gaslight you […]

From measuring the number of steps you take in a day to analyzing your heartbeat and sleep patterns, fitness trackers have become increasingly popular in recent years. But what are they and why are they so useful? Physical activity has significant benefits for our bodies and our mental health. Aside from helping prevent and manage […]

When it comes to the surfaces of the other rocky worlds in the Solar System, Mars is probably the best photographed, from both orbit and by several landers and rovers that have mapped and snapped its rocky terrain from the surface. Mercury has been pretty well mapped and imaged too. However, we only have a […]

Dogs may be able to go vegan if the meatless food provided to them contains the right mix of nutrients, new research has revealed. After feeding two carefully formulated vegan diets to 12 adult dogs, the study authors found the pooches to be no less healthy than those that ate meat. In fact, those that […]

When does seemingly harmless behavior cross the line and become cheating? People in relationships will have different ideas of where the boundary lies, but the more obvious types of cheating are usually pretty easy to spot – sleeping with someone else, unless previously agreed with your partner, is going to be difficult to explain away! […]

Carnivorous plants are some of nature’s most fascinating species. From evolving to count, to winning competitions, these species have specialized in digesting everything from mammals to reptiles and insects. Now two new species of carnivorous plants have been discovered high in the mountains of Ecuador.  These particular species belong to a genus of insectivorous plants […]

At the center of the Abell 1201 cluster resides a huge elliptical galaxy, and at its center sits a supermassive black hole. Previous analysis suggested that the object was big – bigger than most known black holes. The latest one places among the biggest objects in the universe, bigger than certain galaxies. It has an […]

As the US starts to heat up due to climate change, the country can expect to endure more dangerous hail storms and killer tornadoes caused by supercells, according to a new study. The new research indicates that lethal supercells are likely to increase in the late winter and early spring months, especially in eastern parts […]

April 25, 2019 was an exciting day for different groups of astronomers. The second-ever detection of a neutron star collision was reported, being picked up by one of the two LIGO detectors. Two and a half hours later, the CHIME observatory picked up a Fast Radio Burst (FRB), a very brief powerful release of radio waves. […]