News

An experiment has visualized a prediction about objects traveling at the speed of light known as the Penrose-Terrell Effect, first made over 60 years ago. When objects approach the speed of light (let’s call it a spaceship, for ease) a number of strange things take place. According to our best classical model of the universe, […]

Orange cat lovers rejoice! Scientists might not be convinced that “orange behavior” is really a thing, but after over a century of suspicion, they’ve finally pinpointed the genetic mutation that makes our favorite Garfield-lookalikes so delightfully ginger. Researchers already had a rough idea of where in the cat genome to look: the X chromosome. That’s […]

The film Limitless introduced many to the concept of nootropics: pop a pill and, just like magic, your brain can suddenly work unimaginably quickly and efficiently. It’s an enticing idea that such a drug could exist in real life – and now, some are claiming that it does, although perhaps not quite to the same […]

You might have heard of the three-body problem, how there is no exact solution to predicting the behavior of three interacting gravitational celestial bodies under Newton’s laws. The best you can do is to have solutions for specific cases or work with numerical solutions and approximations. But if you are working in general relativity, not […]

Titan, the largest moon of Saturn, is the only other world in the Solar System with rivers, lakes, and seas on its surface. They are not made of water, as it is far too cold there, but hydrocarbons, mostly methane. Earth has a water cycle that moves the liquid around between the ground and the […]

Tokyo is often called the largest city in the world because of its gigantic population, with over 37 million inhabitants within its grasp – that’s almost one-third of Japan’s entire population and around the entire population of Canada. While the Japanese capital is undoubtedly an urban giant, these statistics may be a little bit misleading. […]

NASA engineers have just performed an incredible feat. Voyager 1 is now almost 25 billion kilometers (15 billion miles) from Earth, but the mission team was able to fix the spacecraft’s thrusters even though they have not worked since 2004. They managed to do it before the antenna we communicate with it and its twin, […]

Losing a loved one, either through a breakup, divorce, or death, is a pretty traumatic experience for most people. However, in some cases the loss can result in actual health problems. This can include experiencing chest pain and shortness of breath. Although most people recover quickly, a small number can actually die from these symptoms […]

A “copy” of Magna Carta bought for under $30 has been found to be a genuine surviving artifact from 1300 CE by British historians who happened upon it. In 1946, the Harvard Law School Library spent $27.50 (around $440 in today’s money) on a document known as “HLS MS 172”. According to the auction catalogue […]

It is undoubtedly true in conservation circles that things that are cute and fluffy get the most attention. After all, who can resist something as adorable as Madame Berthe’s mouse lemur? The slimier inhabitants of Earth typically have to do something a little more interesting than just looking cute to get headlines. Enter Powelliphanta augusta, […]

In the days before television (anyone remember that?) and TikTok, being a radio announcer was one of the most sought-after jobs in the analog world. But landing the role wasn’t easy. Applicants had to prove they had the voice, clarity, and command of language to carry a broadcast. One of the ways stations tested them […]

In his first Congressional hearing since his confirmation, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr has avoided sharing his beliefs and defended deep cuts to health institutes. Specifically, Democrat members have been pushing for answers on the impact of the Trump budget on health as well as what Kennedy really believes in terms […]

A tiger at Melbourne Zoo has received three root canals on damaged teeth in a dental procedure that started challenging and ended up extravagant. Fortunately, Hutan, the tiger in question, has awoken no worse for wear, and the vet and keeper have all their limbs intact. Teeth are important for most of the animals that […]

Pencils; we’ve all held them. At some point in your life, you may have wondered why they come in the shapes and sizes that they do, and in particular why they are hexagonal. There are a few reasons why most pencils ended up with a hexagonal shape to them, though they weren’t like that to […]

There are some people who look down into the bowl of their toilet and just think, “Wow, this stuff is magical, I must immediately drink it to receive all the remedies to my ailments”. This odd practice is called Urophagia or Urine therapy.  Urine therapy has made the headlines, with some celebrities like Ke$ha, supposedly […]

Since the first observation of the far side of the Moon in the 60s, it has been clear that there are major differences between the side of the Moon that we always see and the one that is always pointing away from us. The newest analysis has revealed that this difference is not skin-deep, but […]

Some 506 million years ago, a three-eyed predator hunted in Earth’s oceans. Described by its discoverers as a “sea moth”, the new-to-science species was a kind of radiodont, one that had a feature not seen in any other member of this group. It was discovered by palaeontologists at the Manitoba Museum and Royal Ontario Museum […]

Scientists have discovered that a common type of bacteria that causes infections in hospitals can break down biodegradable plastics that are often used in medical devices and packaging. The bacterium in question, known as Pseudomonas aeruginosa, is a gram-negative (a classification based on the color the bacterium turns after it has undergone a Gram staining test), […]

Astronomers have reported an incredible new observation: Mars not only has the bizarre proton aurorae that have been detected from orbit, it also has green aurorae like those here on Earth, generated by charged solar wind particles hitting the very scarce oxygen atoms in the thin Martian atmosphere. This is not only the first detection […]

Poison dart frogs are some of nature’s most colorful amphibians, with their classic coloration serving as a warning to those that might want to gobble a few frog-based snacks. Recently, new species in the Ranitomeya genus have been surveyed, leading to a new species with copper colored limbs and a blue striped body. Now, another […]