News

The history of cryonics – the attempt to freeze the bodies of the recently deceased in the hope that they can be revived and cured at some far-off point in the future – is pretty grim. In an article originally published in Cryonics in 1992, early attempts at cryonics were documented in great and horrific […]

Through one of history’s more morbid games of telephone, the myth of the vampire, and how to contain it, was born. A culmination of medical ignorance and re-interpreted religious practises meant the threat of spooky ghoulies used to be very real – at least in the minds of the public. Seeking protection against what we […]

A recent and troubling trend has seen heart attacks in people under 40 move from “practically unheard of” to making up around one in five cases. We all know what a heart attack looks like, right? It’s when an old guy, probably heavier than average, with a history of things like alcohol and tobacco use […]

There’s a blood type so rare that fewer than 50 people in the world are known to possess it. Scientifically known as Rhnull (Rhesus null), it’s often referred to as “golden blood” due to its extreme rarity – and its value to others. To understand why Rhnull is so rare and precious, you need to quick […]

Everything we see, from galaxies to capybaras, is made of matter. But matter has a mirrored version of itself known as antimatter. If the two come into contact they annihilate one another, turning into pure energy. Why does the universe prefer one over the other? This is a fundamental mystery of the universe, and at […]

Your risk of contracting a rare eye infection increases almost four times if you use soft reusable contact lenses compared to using soft disposable ones. That’s the grim findings from research led by the University College London (UCL) Institute of Ophthalmology and Moorfields Eye Hospital, where researchers have been investigating what factors can increase a […]

The humble raccoon was practically built for a life of crime, having evolved a bandit mask to give the Hamburglar a run for his money. Famous for raiding bins and breaking into banks, these animals are well versed in navigating city life – but new research has found that when it comes to nailing the […]

The Milky Way is orders of magnitude larger than the other galaxies in the local group, Andromeda aside. It got that way by cannibalizing smaller galaxies. The GAIA space telescope has allowed us to identify stars of common origin, based on their movements and ages, revealing many of the conglomerations of stars that got consumed.  […]

New research that has used a biologic drug to treat infants and kids with severe eczema has shown huge promise in an early trial. By using this monoclonal antibody treatment in kids, the researchers even speculate that it might be able to save them from developing other allergies beyond eczema. After a 16-week course of […]

A landmark new study has shown once and for all that patience really is a virtue – at least if you’re hoping to change the world. After a slow start, tofersen – an experimental drug being investigated as a treatment for motor neurone disease (MND) aka amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) – has turned out to […]

The cat flap may not be the most sophisticated of inventions – a tiny flap in a door that a cat can get through is not Nikola Tesla territory – yet they have still been around a surprisingly long time. They even make an appearance in churches dating back to the 16th century, though it […]

In a clinical trial, the first patient has received a single dose of a new human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) gene editing therapy, researchers at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University and Excision BioTherapeutics, Inc have reported. In a collaborative effort, the researchers are currently running a phase 1/2 clinical trial to evaluate the […]

The taste of kale is so repulsive to fetuses that it causes them to screw up their faces in disgust while in the womb, a new imaging study reveals. Researchers used 4D ultrasound to observe the reactions of 100 fetuses to the flavors ingested by their mothers, and found that they respond favorably to carrot […]

New 3D renders created by a team of amateur scientists from Juno data show the “frosted cupcake” clouds of Jupiter in all their glory. As pretty as they may appear, however, you certainly don’t want to get caught up in this astronomically powerful storm.  The stunning results were presented by a team of citizen scientists […]

A new law will make Connecticut one of the first US states to mandate the teaching of climate change.   For all public schools within Connecticut, the curriculum must now include how the climate is changing and how humans are directly responsible, how this shift will impact populations, what is being done to prevent it, […]

Look, a lot of the traditions that go on in Britain are a bit weird. Every year at the opening of Parliament, a hostage is taken by the monarchy until the ceremony is complete. A search is then carried out for gunpowder under the Houses of Parliament, in case Guy Fawkes has pulled off some […]

The winners of the 2023 Breakthrough Prizes in Fundamental Physics, Life Sciences, and Mathematics have been announced together with several other early career awards given by the Breakthrough Prize. Of the five main prizes, three are awarded in Life Science, one in fundamental Physics, and one in Math, each worth $3 million for a total […]

In Canada, until 2008, “retirement” came at age 65. We don’t mean that 65 was the default, or age at which it was assumed a person would retire – we literally mean that once you hit 65, you could legally be forced to give up working. Nearly a decade and a half later, and the […]

A new island has sprung up in a patch of the southwest Pacific Ocean riddled with underwater volcanoes, according to NASA Earth Observatory.  It began with the eruption of an underwater volcano found in the Central Tonga Islands on September 10 – and within just eleven hours, a landmass emerged from the watery depths, created […]

On September 26 or 27, depending on your timezone, Jupiter will reach opposition. This means it is directly opposite the Sun from our perspective, rising around sunset and setting close to sunrise. That alone makes it a good time to view the Solar System’s largest planet, but this will also be the closest Jupiter has […]