News

Have you ever wondered what would happen if you were in space without protection? Aside from the obvious lack of oxygen and slowly choking, you will also be subjected to extreme temperatures which might not kill you altogether, but might make your final seconds in the universe very unpleasant. There is an assumption that space […]

French philosopher René Descartes’ skull may have been filled with peas, in an old practice known as “skull blasting”, according to one group of researchers. Descartes, of “I think, therefore I am” fame, didn’t have the best of times shortly following his death. It’s not a great time for anyone, but when Descartes passed away […]

The winners of the 2022 Nobel Prize in Chemistry are Carolyn Bertozzi, Morten Meldal, and Barry Sharpless. The award was given “for the development of click chemistry and bioorthogonal chemistry.” The prize is worth 10 million Swedish kronor (about 896,000 US dollars) and it will be shared among the winners.  Click chemistry is a very simple […]

Step aside, Paddington. Your services are no longer required, Pooh. A new movie is in production and it makes both of you look like kid’s films. Which, to be entirely fair, you are. Nevertheless, the true story of Cocaine Bear – AKA Pablo EskoBear – is being released as a movie, with Elizabeth Banks directing. […]

On the evening of November 2, 1988, in a quiet computer lab at MIT, a student majorly screwed up. Robert Tappan Morris, a 23-year-old computer science student at Cornell University, had written 99 lines of code and launched the program onto the ARPANET, the early foundation of the Internet. Unbeknownst to him, he had just […]

There is renewed concern that this winter may see a “twindemic” of skyrocketing COVID-19 cases combined with a resurgence of influenza. On September 29, leaders from 10 health systems across the US met with officials in the White House to discuss strategies to deal with the possibility of a severe flu season coinciding with a […]

A new theory of consciousness (that is, how we perceive ourselves and the world around us) has been proposed, in which our brains aren’t actually actively aware of our surroundings, instead processing subconscious memories developed just half a second ago. A team of researchers from Boston University believe their new theory could explain why dieting […]

Getting those squats in, straining for those planks, and going on a stimulating jog (along with other exercises) help people lose weight. But what are the cellular mechanisms that underlie this process? Well, scientists were perplexed due to the number of cells and tissues involved – until now. Obesity is steadily growing around the world. […]

In the most detailed supercomputer simulation yet, an alternative theory has been proposed surrounding how our Moon was first formed. Conducted by researchers from Durham University’s Institute for Computational Cosmology, the simulation suggests Earth’s collision with Theia 4.5 billion years ago may not have been the cause of the Moon’s formation. Previous simulations have suggested […]

Chimpanzees and gorillas can both recognize individuals of the other species and relate to them in the wild on an individual level, observers claim. Not all the interactions were positive, but generally, they appeared to be positive for both. One might say, Apes together strong. Last year, horrific accounts were released of chimpanzees killing gorilla […]

The FDA recently approved a drug for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) that partially owes its existence to the viral Ice Bucket Challenge from 2014. While this may be a rare bit of good news for social media campaigning – you remember Kony 2012, right? – some doubts hang over the effectiveness of the drug.  Late […]

You might have heard that forecasters are predicting this winter will see La Niña weather conditions peak for the third year in a row – something that’s only been reported two or three times since records began.  In a new study, scientists suggest this unusual turn of events may have come about, at least in […]

Quantum mechanics is weird. And don’t take our word for it. Einstein was less than pleased with it. In particular, with the concept of entanglement, which the famous physicist called “spooky action at a distance”. He believed this spookiness could be explained away but the work of the three latest Nobel laureates and many others […]

In case you weren’t aware, plants can control robots now. Like anything else with nerves, plants produce tiny electrical signals, and intricate sensors can capture these and turn them into inputs. Now, with a bit of imagination, you could see how the leafy cyborg uprising could begin.  Looking to kickstart that uprising, artist and researcher […]

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has taken a brief bit of time away from fighting a war against the invading Russian army to absolutely ratio Elon Musk on Twitter.  Musk, who has already challenged Putin to hand to hand combat and been threatened by the head of Roscosmos since the invasion began, weighed in on Twitter […]

You know how it is – something gets stuck to your foot, and when it comes loose you can’t work out what it was or if your shoe needed it. Some problems follow humanity everywhere, and perhaps this is one of them, with the Ingenuity helicopter dropping something unidentified on the surface of Mars during […]

It’s been a big few weeks for cheating scandals and allegations in fringe sports. As well as a few bizarre allegations of cheating in chess, there is now a police investigation into cheating allegations in professional fishing. A video that surfaced online from the Lake Erie Walleye Trail fishing tournament shows a heated argument ensuing […]

Serial killers have been dwindling in numbers since hitting their peak in the 1980s, the world’s leading serial murderer database has shown.  In the 1990s, forensic psychology teacher at Radford University Michael G. Aamodt began setting his class a task: creating a profile of serial killers, including a timeline of their murders, their life history, […]