News

“Drink more water” is something that’s drilled into us as adults partial to salty food and hangovers. There’s been a lot of debate of late as to how much water you should drink – but did you know that for babies, the life elixir can be dangerous? While most people are aware that babies need […]

What if you could find a way to speak to yourself as a child, without creating an unsolvable time travel paradox, of course? Well, one person has done the next best thing, creating an artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot of herself as a child by training it on her childhood diary entries. Twitter user Michelle Huang […]

Death metal fans just got a new mascot, as it’s been revealed that bats can vibrate folds in their larynx in a way similar to death metal singers to make sounds. Exactly what these roars are meant to communicate isn’t yet clear, but it demonstrates the vast range of these animals who are better known […]

Fashions rise and fall, styles change, but when it comes to looking good, one law has held depressingly strong throughout history: pain is beauty.  Whether it was 18th-century French noblewomen wearing dresses so heavy and restrictive that they needed a boot camp just to walk in the things, Naomi Campbell turning her ankle in a […]

Astronomers have discovered the farthest-ever tidal disruption event (TDE). A Sun-like star was ripped apart by the tidal forces of a supermassive black hole. This dramatic event was also the brightest ever TDE seen so far, by a fair bit. Its light came to us from 8.5 billion light-years away. Thanks to a chance alignment, the […]

Twitter announced it has stopped enforcing its COVID-19 misinformation policy on November 23, not taking action on any tweets breaking their rules in this area. The platform previously held a staunch anti-misinformation stance against the spreading of false information due to the inherent health risks – but under new direction from Elon Musk, Twitter is […]

The field of genomic science is rapidly advancing, with commercial genetic tests becoming affordable and popular. Taking these tests is simple. The company sends you a collection kit. You send it back with a saliva sample or cheek swab. The sample is sequenced and analysed, and before long you have your results. Advertisement However, upon […]

Attachment theory is almost everywhere. In magazines and books, in the news, on social media and in our conversations with each other. Originally rooted in developmental psychology, the theory explains how we form and maintain close relationships in order to survive and thrive in the environment we are born into. It was quickly picked up […]

The time fathers devote to child care every week has tripled over the past 50 years in the United States. The increase in fathers’ involvement in child rearing is even steeper in countries that have expanded paid paternity leave or created incentives for fathers to take leave, such as Germany, Spain, Sweden and Iceland. And […]

Anil Seth is a neuroscientist, author, and public speaker who has been conducting research into the brain basis of consciousness for more than 20 years. He is a Professor of Cognitive and Computational Neuroscience at the University of Sussex and Founding Co-Director of the Sussex Centre for Consciousness Science. He is also Co-Director of the […]

Spend too long on TikTok and you might come across a new trend; people extolling the virtues of taping your mouth shut before you go to bed. On top of the benefits of not being able to talk, proponents say that taping your mouth shut can promote everything from better sleep to weight loss. Though […]

The development rights for an Indonesian archipelago will be sold to the highest bidder in an auction in a few weeks. Some conservationists are not happy about the sale, and worry it could open up the “pristine” area to more environmental dangers.  The auction for development rights in Widi Reserve is set to kick off […]

From the outside, the Cemetery Church of All Saints in Czechia looks like a quaint but unassuming church perched on top of a graveyard. But beneath this Gothic building, you’ll find the final resting place of some 40,000 to 70,000 people whose bones are artistically exhibited in a bodacious display.  Scan your eyes across this […]

An ancient humerus recovered from Erralla Cave in the Basque Country, Spain, is thought to be the earliest domesticated dog remains ever found in Europe. Dating back to around 17,410 and 17,096 years ago, it topples the previous title holder remains that were found in Germany, and estimated to be nearer 15,114 to 14,237 years […]

In BBC Two’s new series, The Secret Genius Of Modern Life, mathematician Professor Hannah Fry uncovers the innovative technology and inventions hiding inside seemingly mundane things. From the food delivery apps created using tech designed for nuclear missiles, to the way in which X-rated websites revolutionized the way we pay for things online, the series […]

People who observe the five precepts of Buddhism may be more resilient to stress and less likely to experience depression, according to the results of a new study. An ethical code of conduct designed to banish suffering and help followers achieve enlightenment, the five precepts may promote inner calm and equanimity, which the researchers say […]

Your perception of time slows down when you are on a crowded train, a novel study using virtual reality (VR) has found.  A team of psychologists from Cornell University knew from previous studies that used visual stimuli or geometric shapes that experiencing social crowding could cause people’s sense of time to slow down. However, they […]

Your perception of time slows down when you are on a crowded train, a novel study using virtual reality (VR) has found.  A team of psychologists from Cornell University knew from previous studies that used visual stimuli or geometric shapes that experiencing social crowding could cause people’s sense of time to slow down. However, they […]

Now more than ever, it seems like the world is continuously changing. In positive news, this year has seen humpback whales leaping off Australia’s threatened species list, the first fully complete human genome has been published, and JWST has dazzled the world with extraordinary images of our universe. Despite these advances, 2022 has also been […]