News

OpenAI’s ChatGPT, though it still continues to make up plausible-sounding nonsense when it is fresh out of factual information, remains an impressive tool. Despite concerns over copyright, the model (and others) has impressed users with its ability to generate roughly the text you are looking for (albeit, again, likely with a few factual errors). Researchers […]

We’re right in the peak of tick season, but if you’ve been feeling like this year has been worse than usual, you’re not wrong. Parts of the US are seeing record numbers of emergency room visits for tick bites, so it’s a good time to remind ourselves about the risks of tickborne diseases and how […]

When Egyptologists excavated the site of Deir el-Bahri in Luxor in the 1920s, they were shocked to find that the statues of Hatshepsut, a revered female pharaoh, were defaced and shattered into pieces. This was no accident, nor an act of mindless vandalism; it was as if someone were trying to actively remove her image […]

Neanderthals living in what is now Belgium made a kind of prehistoric Swiss Army Knife from the bones of a cave lion some 130,000 years ago. Found in the hugely significant Scladina Cave – which once yielded the remains of a well-preserved Neanderthal child – the ancient utensils provide the first evidence that our extinct […]

Even arachnophobes must reluctantly admit that jumping spiders are the cutest of all arachnids. With their fuzzy bodies and puppy-dog eyes, they look less like something from a horror film and more like a cutesy character from a Pixar movie. Beyond their charming appearance, there’s also some fascinating science behind this highly successful family of […]

Getting accurate information on animal species can be quite a challenge, especially when they live deep within the sea. One of those animals is the Pacific sleeper shark (Somniosus pacificus), which, despite its widespread distribution, remains quite elusive – so it was a surprise to scientists carrying out an experiment in the South China Sea […]

Humans once lived among enormous, wingless birds in New Zealand, but within a few hundred years of our species arrival, they were wiped out. Now, Colossal Biosciences has announced its plans to functionally de-extinct the moa, building complete genomes for all nine species as part of a Māori-led initiative. “When humans first arrived on Aotearoa […]

The first experience that an alien civilization might have of us may not be telecommunications – no ETs watching early The Simpsons episodes. Astronomers have found that up to 200 light-years away, the strongest radio emissions that Earth emits come from airport radar, especially that used by the military. Alien astronomers with similar radio astronomy […]

Scientists were puzzled as to why it was that the electric rays of Guadalupe Island, Mexico, were so confident in the face of pretty sizable sharks. Turns out, they can zap these would-be predators – and the message is very effective, as demonstrated in footage of the behavior. “I believe this highlights the incredible defensive […]

Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) affect a staggering number of people, with the World Health Organization estimating that more than 1 million curable STIs are acquired in people aged 15 to 49 across the globe each day. While many of these infections won’t show any symptoms, they can still spread, and may have devastating effects on […]

Though our telescopes have become pretty darn good over the last century, there’s nothing quite like seeing a planet from the point of view of an approaching spaceship.  In 1979, 1980, and 1981, humanity got our first brief glimpses of Jupiter from close up, as Pioneer 10, Pioneer 11, Voyager 1, and Voyager 2 flew […]

Why wasn’t this ever mentioned in The Very Hungry Caterpillar? It turns out, some caterpillars aren’t content with eating through apples, salami, and a piece of cherry pie – they’re insatiable gluttons of plastic bags too. The caterpillars of the greater wax moth (Galleria mellonella), known as waxworms, are one of the few animals that […]

The Earth is predicted to increase its rotation speed in July and August, once again bucking the trend of a slower rotation over time. Tomorrow on July 9, the first of three especially short days, it is expected to be 1.30 milliseconds shorter than usual. Though there are clear reasons for the increased rotational speed […]

It may be Paris Haute Couture Week, but the French capital isn’t the only place that fashionistas are making waves: In Zambia, a group of avant-garde chimpanzees have been sporting blades of grass protruding from their ears… and rears… It’s called fashion, look it up. The cutting-edge chimps appear to be doing this for no […]

Europeans first discovered Antarctica in the early 19th century. An old Māori legend potentially suggests they were beaten by Polynesian explorers sailing over 1,000 years before them. Other than at a research station or occasional expedition, humans have never settled in Antarctica. While the evidence suggests the continent was once home to rainforests, swamps, and […]

Astronomers at the Planetary Virtual Observatory and Laboratory (PVOL) are appealing for help, after an image taken by NASA’s Mario Rana appears to show an object slamming into Saturn. Saturn, like Jupiter, is a gas giant. With their impressive masses, you would expect these giants to attract their share of asteroid impacts. Unlike terrestrial planets, […]

Science can’t resist a long, hard-to-get-it-out-in-one go name. Case in point: prosopometamorphopsia (which we will now call PMO to save me from wearing out the “p” on this keyboard).  “Prosopometamorphopsia is this exceedingly rarely diagnosed condition,” said neuroscientist Dr Austin Lim to IFLScience. “It essentially causes a person to see other people’s faces progressively transform […]

The universe is undergoing an accelerated expansion, but the rate of that expansion has been a very controversial topic over the last few years. Different methods suggest slightly different numbers. It is possible that our model of the universe is wrong, or that one or both of the main methods are underestimating their uncertainty. A […]

Over 100 endangered woylies have been set free from a fenced-off area of Mt Gibson Wildlife Sanctuary, marking an energetic leap in their return to life in Western Australia’s Wheatbelt region. Never mind kangaroos or koalas, woylies have to be up there with the most audaciously Aussie of all animals. Picture a mouse crossed with […]

A single deposit has produced a wealth of fossils revealing the late Triassic ecosystem, where giant amphibians cohabited with newcomers, including turtles and pterosaurs. The 12 million years leading up to the end-Triassic extinction have been relatively poorly represented in the fossil record, making this find particularly precious. Almost 209 million years ago, Arizona was […]