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Picture the scene: you’ve huffed and puffed your way to the top of the local trig point as part of your New Year’s resolution. While the view from the top is worth the effort, the summit of the footpath is also covered in loads of stacked rocks, or cairns. The word “cairn” comes from the […]

The clever clogs of dogs has been named in a new study that put pooches through a battery of tests to score points and ascertain who is the most cognitively capable of canine breeds. Second place went to border collies, dogs that have featured heavily in studies about intelligence – but first place was snagged […]

Along the Little Colorado River, in the Navajo Nation of Arizona, sits an enormous waterfall that appears to be churning out pure chocolate. Looking like a scene straight out of Willy Wonka’s factory, the Grand Falls, also known as the Chocolate Falls, is a disappointingly inedible 57-meter (187-foot) tall wall of water that appears following […]

Thanks to the combined power of the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) and JWST, researchers could see the complex interactions happening within the famous multi-galaxy collision event known as Stephan’s quintet. The ensemble has four galaxies actively interacting (the fifth galaxy is just nearby) and the intergalactic medium around them is experiencing some violent activities. […]

Scientists are looking to create a vault that will hold samples of human poop from around the world. Through building this “doomsday vault,” they hope to protect the world’s microbial diversity and foster a deeper understanding of how global health is influenced by the trillions of bacteria living inside the human gut. Dubbed the Microbiota […]

A team of scientists from 13 institutions tested 373 compounds produced by plants, fungi, and invertebrates seeking those capable of killing or stopping the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. It’s a long way from petri dish to pharmacy, but three performed remarkably well, one of them coming from a marine organism that lives not far […]

NASA has announced the Earth Radiation Budget Satellite (ERBS) reentered the atmosphere at 11:04 pm EST on Sunday, January 8. The timing put it over the Bering Sea, so even if any pieces survived re-entry, the chance of damage to people or property was minimal. However, this was pure luck. The uncontrolled nature of the […]

The ozone layer should be completely recovered in the next four decades, according to a United Nations (UN)-backed report. The findings confirm that bans on ozone-depleting substances are having the desired effect, and could avoid an estimated 0.3-0.5°C (0.54-0.9°F) of global warming by the year 2100. The Montreal Protocol was adopted in September 1987, and […]

Spider scientists are an optimistic crowd. Perhaps it’s just that we see things from a different angle to arachnophobes. If you don’t believe me, look up Theridion grallator. Researchers from my field call this Hawaiian species the happy-face spider because of the smile-like curves on its back. Spiders have a reputation for inspiring fear. But […]

An Artificial Intelligence (AI) lawyer is gearing up to make history as the first AI to defend a case in court. Dubbed the world’s first “robot lawyer”, the bot will give prompts to the defendant on how to best argue their case against a speeding ticket when the hearing takes place next month.  Created by […]

A freshly released map is believed to mark the spot where Nazi soldiers hid a treasure trove of gold and jewels potentially worth millions of dollars. The World War 2-era document was recently released to the public by the National Archives in the Netherlands as part of their annual Open Access Day.  The map suggests […]

The sharp rise in parental age, particularly in the industrialized world, has been one of the most noticeable demographic changes of the last century, reflecting our greatly increased lifespans. Yet the shift is not quite as unprecedented as people may have assumed, new evidence suggests. During the Ice Age, parents, particularly fathers, were much older […]

This New Year why not take some time to train your brain with some scientific brain training? Did you know that with as little as 15 minutes of brain training you can make problems diminish and give your brain new momentum. What is brain training? Well, it is a variety of activities and games that […]

This week, the discovery of a bird-like creature with the skull of a dinosaur leaves scientists scratching their heads, a study into ancient cave art depicting some of the earliest “written” language comes under scrutiny, and we get a grisly peek behind the autopsy room doors with forensic pathologist Dr Judy Melinek. Advertisement Discovery Of […]

Many believe our particularly large brain is what makes us human – but is there more to it? The brain’s shape, as well as the shapes of its component parts (lobes) may also be important. Results of a study we published today in Nature Ecology & Evolution show that the way the different parts of […]

March and August seem to be the most popular months when it comes to filing for divorce. Researchers from the University of Washington have analyzed the divorce filings in Washington state between 2001 and 2015 and discovered a biannual spike, at the end of winter and at the end of the summer holidays. The researchers […]

An anatomical structure, which has never before been described, has been discovered in the brain. The layer of tissue, called the subarachnoid lymphatic-like membrane (SLYM), plays an important role in both the brain’s waste disposal and immune systems, acting as a protective barrier as well as harboring immune cells. The newly-discovered membrane was first characterized […]

The age of stupid dinosaurs is over, according to new research that claims that theropods like the “tyrant lizard” Tyrannosaurus rex actually had the same number of brain neurons as modern primates. By comparing the brains of these animals to modern birds, the study mathematically calculated how many neurons could feasibly be stuffed inside theropod […]

Ancient Mesoamerican cultures were using complex 260-day calendars based on knowledge of the solar system far earlier than previously realized. Understanding how these early cultures kept track of time has proved tricky due to the lack of written sources from the time, but researchers discovered the use of this advanced calendar system by looking at […]