This article first appeared in Issue 6 of our free digital magazine CURIOUS. Astrology (not to be confused with astronomy) still has plenty of fans, some of whom even base major life decisions on planetary movements. Yet it’s also so widely disreputable it’s the most common point of comparison to dismiss something as baseless. However, […]
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With 16 Sunsets A Day, How Do Muslim Astronauts Observe Ramadan In Space?
This week was the beginning of Ramadan, the holy month for Muslims around the world. And even out of this world. Emirati astronaut Sultan Al Neyadi is currently on the International Space Station (ISS) and this had many people wondering if, and how, the astronaut was going to observe the important period in the Islamic […]
There’s A Depressing Reason For The “Orgasm Gap” Between Heterosexual Women And Men
Women have got the wage gap and the pink tax; are way more likely to die from things like car crashes or medical negligence; and to top it all off, often don’t even get to orgasm the frustration away with any reliability. There’s already plenty of research on the so-called “orgasm gap” – the depressingly […]
Green Disease: Another Illness Laced With Past Misogyny
Between the mid-16th and early 20th centuries, the green disease (also known as chlorosis, lover fever, or virgin disease) was a gendered condition that was placed on young teenage girls who had numerous symptoms and sometimes a greenish tinge or paleness to their skin. It was originally associated with virginity in 1554, when physician […]
Once-In-A-Decade Event As Asteroid Flies By Earth Tomorrow
Discovered just three weeks ago, asteroid 2023 DZ2 is going to fly past our planet tomorrow. It is estimated to have a size between 40 and 90 meters (130 to 295 feet), putting it in the “city killer” size range where an impact could wipe out a city. But worry not, the asteroid will fly […]
1,700 Tons Of DDT Dumped In The Ocean Isn’t Breaking Down
DDT dumped in the ocean between 1940–1960 shows no signs of slowing down as recent investigations have revealed that a layer of the toxic chemical endures on the seafloor off the LA coastline. It dredges up fresh fears about the environmental disaster, as scientists are concerned that the contaminant could shift and move back to […]
Earth Just Got Hit By The Strongest Geomagnetic Storm In 6 Years
A few days ago, the Sun released a massive stream of particles straight at our planet. Space weather experts were expecting a sizable geomagnetic storm following the event, and they lowballed it a bit. The storm is stronger than first anticipated. Actually, it is the strongest in six years, making it the strongest in this […]
Listen To The Sound Of A 9,000-Year-Old Flute Made of Bone
Bone flutes discovered in the early Neolithic site of Jiahu in Henan Province, China in 1999 are thought to be the earliest complete playable musical instruments ever found. The seven-holed flutes are made from the hollow wing bone of a large bird and date to around 7000 BCE. Advertisement Credit: YEAP! Deborah BloomfieldSource Link: Listen […]
Ancient Bison Found In Permafrost Is So Well Preserved Scientists Want To Clone It
Discovering a preserved specimen of any species in the permafrost is always exciting, but now researchers want to take their findings to a new level. A team in Russia has recently performed a necropsy on a bison thought to date back 8,000 years, and now they are hoping to clone the specimen. The bison was […]
Space-Time Crystals Have Been Caught On Camera Doing Their Thing
A German-Polish team of scientists managed to capture the first-ever video recording of a space-time crystal, helping to illuminate some potential applications for these curious objects. A crystal is, by definition, a material whose constituents are arranged in a lattice, a highly ordered microscopic structure. A time crystal is the same but the order is […]
Trinitite Is Atomic Rock Forged By The Fireballs Of Nuclear Bombs
If you want to make trinitite, all you need is a few things: a bucket of sand and the intense heat of a thermonuclear weapon. Scientists first noticed this strange green-red glass after dropping some of the very first atomic bombs in the dying days of War World Two. As it turned out, this material […]
Why Sitting With Crossed Legs Could Be Bad For You
Are you sitting comfortably? Just pause for a moment and without adjusting, notice your posture. What are your legs doing? Are they crossed? And are you a right or left crosser? Some 62 percent of people cross right over left, 26 percent go the other way and 12 percent have no preference. There are typically […]
In US First, Utah Kids Are Banned From Social Media Unless Their Parents Consent
Utah children and teens will require parental consent before joining social media platforms, a new law has ruled, making the state the first in the nation to pass such legislation. Under 18s will need permission to use apps such as TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook, and will face an overnight curfew, unless this is adjusted by […]
Frozen Bubbles Form In Canada’s Abraham Lake
This article first appeared in Issue 6 of our free digital magazine CURIOUS. If you can brave the freezing temperatures of Abraham Lake in January, you’ll be rewarded with one of nature’s great curiosities as you walk above thousands of frozen bubbles. The diaphanous spheres are beautiful, but they also pack a punch, formed from […]
Gold Literally Grows On Trees In Australia
Gold hunters need only consult the trees if they want to track down some of that sweet Au. Why? Because when certain trees strike gold with their roots, the chemical element ends up in their leaves. It seems in Australia, gold quite literally grows on trees. The gold leaves are found on eucalyptus trees that […]
There’s A Jellyfish In The Ocean That Looks Just Like A Fried Egg
This article first appeared in Issue 6 of our free digital magazine CURIOUS. A lot of money has gone into blasting off to space of late, but if your astronomical interest piques at the prospect of alien life, you needn’t look any further than Earth’s oceans for some wacky species. Case in point: the fried […]
Misophonia, The Hatred Of Specific Noises, Is Way More Common Than We Thought
Crunch. Chew. Slurp. Are you getting goosebumps? Feeling stressed or angry? Fighting the urge to close this article altogether? You may be experiencing misophonia – a condition where certain sounds provoke an extreme negative reaction. Misophonia is little-known, but it’s more prevalent than you may think: according to a study published today, nearly one in five […]
The Entomologist Who Grew Botfly Larvae In His Arm, And Filmed It
From the doctor who pumped hydrogen gas into his own anus to save lives, to the surgeon who inserted a catheter into his own heart after fighting a doctor, history is replete with people willing to experiment on themselves in order to advance science and medicine. When you aren’t working in medicine, the self-sacrifice can […]
Does Eating A Fig Always Involve Eating Dead Wasps? Yes And No
If you like figs then it could be argued that you have a taste for wasps. The relationship between figs and fig wasps is arguably the most interdependent pollination symbiosis known to science, and it ends with a lot of dead wasps going missing inside figs. By the time you come to eat the fig […]
Google And Bing’s AI Chatbots Appear To Be Citing Each Other’s Lies
Bing’s artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot appears to have cited lies originally made by Google’s rival chatbot Bard, in a worrying example of how misinformation could be spread by the new large language models. It’s been a tough week for AI chatbots, so it’s probably a good thing they don’t have feelings. Google launched its new […]
