News

Ancient inhabitants of the Basin of Mexico used it as a precise solar observatory in order to keep track of the time of year, a new study has concluded. Using the landscape as a calendar, the ancient people were able to plant crops at the correct time of year, and feed a large human population […]

On February 22, 2021 a fireball (bright meteor) streaked across the sky over Alberta, Canada, 100 kilometers (62 miles) north of Edmonton. A network of cameras, established in the hope of finding where meteorites might land, tracked it. In this case no pieces reached the ground, but that didn’t stop the event having major scientific […]

Coyotes are troublesome for farmers and their livestock, but generally don’t pose much of a threat to humans – that is, until one tragic event in 2009 in which a pack of coyotes attacked and killed a 19-year-old hiker in Canada’s Cape Breton Highlands National Park. It marked the first time coyotes have ever killed […]

Archaeologists have put on protective clothing and opened two unusual lead sarcophagi found buried beneath Notre-Dame. After the famous Notre-Dame cathedral burned to the ground in 2019, a number of incredible finds were made beneath the scorched ruins. Among them were two unusual lead sarcophagi, buried beneath the cathedral hundreds of years before, and separated […]

“Kneading” is when cats massage an object with the front paws, which extend and retract, one paw at a time. This massaging action, named for its resemblance to kneading dough, is repeated rhythmically. You may have spotted your cat kneading and wondered how on Earth they developed such a behaviour. Advertisement So, why do cat’s […]

Are you ready for the romantic Christmas tradition of kissing under the dung-on-a-twig? No? We don’t blame you – the probable origins of mistletoe’s name aren’t particularly alluring. The parasitic plant has been with us for thousands to even millions of years, weaving its way into trees and traditions alike on every continent apart from […]

Google “trophy hunting” and you’ll be met with a mixture of press coverage. Some demonstrates the ethical issues involved in hunting for sport, as well as highlighting species we expose to extinction through trophy hunting. Elsewhere, it’s argued that regulated practices can actually benefit conservation over time as the profits allegedly flow from trophy hunting […]

A team of researchers have discovered a link between people who believe in conspiracy theories and opposing wind farms, which may help explain why such staunch opposition arises when renewable wind turbines are installed. The results also showed that changing peoples’ minds is possible, but only when you don’t frame it as a debate and […]

The great American pastime of competitive eating is not for weak stomached. In a medical case study from 2017, doctors in Singapore report how a 30-year-old man was hospitalized after chomping down a 3.2 kilogram (7-pound) burger in 30 minutes at a competitive eating event.  The doctors explain how the man came to the hospital […]

A newly explored site in the Fezouata Shale reveals creatures similar to those found in nearby sites, but even larger, showing how big the ancestors of modern arthropods once grew. Today, arthropods, which include spiders, barnacles, and millipedes, are known mostly for their abundance and extreme diversity, but few are very large. Once, however, they […]

Did you know that in addition to capturing innumerable selfies and pictures of your meals, your iPhone camera works as a translator, too? While the march of technology is truly marvelous, we all know innovation and easy access to a software boost are no substitute for actual knowledge. So if you want to really know […]

Seals get a good rap as one of the cutest marine predators swooshing through our oceans, but did you know that they have nails? Zookeepers become occasional manicurists for their seals and sea lions, many species of which have nails similar to those on our toes and fingers on their flippers. Curiously, the seal nails […]

Proteins have been used to generate a material able to absorb supersonic impacts, a new study shows. The research, which is yet to be peer-reviewed, reports on how the material can absorb shots at 1.5 kilometers per second (3,355 mph) while preserving the projectile so that it can be easily removed. The protein in question […]

Elon Musk has made a lot about how he is going to rid his newly-acquired social media site Twitter of the bots. On Sunday, part of that clean-up happened according to Musk, who triumphantly tweeted in emoji form that the bots were now dead. For a test of his own personal Twitter feed, Musk asked […]

The U.S. Department of Energy and scientists at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory are expected to deliver a big announcement related to nuclear fusion. It appears that the NIF has finally created nuclear fusion ignition, producing more energy than is put in by the lasers. The news of the successful […]

Take a look a look through a telescope this week and there’s a chance you might make out a glowing dot edging across the night sky. Could it be a certain Saint prepping for his annual trip across the globe? Or perhaps the celestial omen of a new messiah?  Unfortunately, there’s nothing supernatural going on […]

On December 11, the Artemis I mission concluded with the successful splashdown of the Orion capsule in the Pacific Ocean. The end of this mission came on the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 17 moon landing – the last time humans walked on the surface of the Moon. The Artemis program aims to land humans, […]

The Northern White Rhinoceros is a subspecies on the very edge of existence. Just two individuals remain alive after catastrophic poaching has wiped out the population. The last two surviving rhinos are both females; 33-year-old Najin, and her daughter, 22-year-old Fatu. You might think this would mean the end of the species entirely – but […]

A lone moose was spotted wandering around Mount Rainier National Park in southwest Washington for the first time last week, some 563 kilometers (350 miles) from where large numbers of the species can be found in the Selkirk Mountains. Rangers from the Mount Rainier National Park shared a photo of the moose as it trampled […]

Two years and one week ago, the Japanese spacecraft Hayabusa-2 delivered to Earth a special cargo: samples of material collected on Asteroid Ryugu. Analysis of the precious few grams of soil from the surface and subsurface of the asteroid has revealed new insights into the past of our planet and the whole solar system. An […]