In 1954, Egyptian archaeologist Kamal el-Mallakh made a remarkable discovery when excavating beneath the southern side of the Great Pyramid of Giza. Within two huge rock-cut pits, carefully sealed with limestone blocks, lay a pair of spectacular ships resembling the mythical “solar barges” that the sun god Ra was believed to have traveled on as […]
News
Quantum Cat Shown To Also Exist In Hotter States In World First
The quantum cat state is probably one of the most famous – the idea that a quantum system can exist in the superposition of two different states. It was exemplified by Erwin Schrodinger’s famous thought experiment where an imaginary cat is trapped in a box with a vial of poison activated by a quantum process. […]
Dead Stars Dancing in Our Galactic Backyard Will Eventually Make A Supernova
Two white dwarfs are trapped in a decaying orbit that will eventually turn them into a Type Ia supernova. It’s a common enough story in the universe, but this pair is around 160 light years from Earth. That’s outside most estimates of the danger zone, but within some more cautious ones, and would certainly make […]
Antiviral Chewing Gum Made Of Beans Could Help Stop Spread Of Herpes And Flu
From “atomic editing”, to “lasso antibiotics”, to mining the remotest forests and deepest oceans, the search for new drugs is endlessly fascinating. But even we have to admit, this is a new one on us: antiviral chewing gum. A new study unveils this marvel of mastication, which the authors say can significantly reduce viral loads […]
First-Ever Intersex Southern Right Whale Discovered Among 36-Year-Old Crossbow Skin Samples
In 1989, a team armed with specialist crossbows collected skin samples from whales that would lead to a remarkable discovery three decades later. Those skin swatches came from southern right whales (Eubalaena australis), and when study author Carla Crossman of Saint Mary’s University, Canada, got the chance to analyze their genes, she discovered something science […]
Earth’s Geomagnetic Pole Flips Are Written In Giant “Zebra Stripes” On The Seafloor
Every quarter of a million years or so, Earth’s magnetic field “flips” direction. North effectively becomes south, and south becomes north. You don’t have to take our word for it; physical evidence of geomagnetic reversal is built into the seafloor in the form of “zebra stripes”. These vast stripes appear next to underwater mountain ranges […]
Why Do These Two People Represent All Humans On Wikipedia?
You’ve been tasked with representing the whole of humanity in an image. What do you do? If you’re anything like Carl Sagan, who was asked to design such an image to be launched with NASA’s Pioneer spacecraft, you would draw an image of a male and female human in the nude, as was etched onto […]
Scientists Think Cave Spiders Build Tripwire-Like Mechanisms To Ensnare Prey
Spiders have a reputation for being cunning – just look at the Ghanaian folktale Anansi. Now, research suggests that a species of cave-dwelling spiders have cleverly adapted their weaving style to form intricate tripwire-like mechanisms that trap unfortunate prey. The European cave orb spider (Meta menardi) inhabits the caves of western and central Europe, though […]
When Did Mammals First Appear On Earth?
Were you to take a time machine to the Triassic Period (252-201 million years ago), not only would you meet ancient dinosaur species but some of the earliest known mammals to roam (or, should we say, scuttle) across the planet. There are over 5,000 species of mammals alive today inhabiting all regions of the Earth–from pink river dolphins […]
6 Bizarre New Spiders Found Chilling On Rocky Cliffs In China – And There Could Be More
Spiders seem to hang out in all kinds of places, from those that build trapdoors, to some that live in caves or even in your back garden. Now, six new species have been described after being discovered in a mountainous region of China. The six new spider species in the Pholcus phungiformes species group have […]
Critically Endangered Tortoise Becomes A First-Time Mom At The Age Of 100
Mommy, a centenarian resident at Philadelphia Zoo, has officially lived up to her name – she gave birth to four hatchlings, becoming a mom at the grand old age of 100 (or thereabouts). The births are a cause of celebration as this marks the first time in the zoo’s 150-year-plus history that a critically endangered […]
Naturally-Formed Sharp Stones May Have Been Key To Early Humans Learning Knapping
A new proposal offers an easy route for our ancestors to have made one of their earliest and most important technological advances. Instead of some australopithecine genius coming up with the idea of carefully striking stones to produce sharp blades, early humans may have begun by using those they found precut. The idea might refashion […]
Why Do They Weigh Formula 1 Drivers After A Race, Like Market Pigs?
If you’ve ever watched a Formula 1 race through to completion, you may have a few questions, such as “What happens if they need to pee?”, “Why do the drivers get weighed after a race?”, and “Why am I essentially watching traffic?”. Well, there are good answers to the first two questions, while the third […]
Eastern US And Europe Set To Feel The Sting Of A “Major Disruption” To Polar Vortex
A “major disruption” has recently rocked the Arctic polar vortex, causing it to weaken and reverse direction from west-to-east to east-to-west. Amid the chaos, the vortex shifted off the pole and drifted down towards Northern Europe. For a bit of context: the polar vortex is a swirling mass of cold, low-pressure air that forms high […]
How The Epstein-Barr Virus Causes Multiple Sclerosis – And Where Science Is On A Cure
The Breakthrough Prize has announced its 2025 Laureates in Life Sciences, Fundamental Physics, and Mathematics. Among them are Professors Alberto Ascherio from Harvard University and Stephen Hauser from the University of California, San Francisco, who won the prize for their work in understanding multiple sclerosis (MS) and how to treat it. It was established by […]
Man Attempts To Bring Cola “Offering” To Isolated Sentinelese Tribe, SpaceX Makes History By Orbiting Over Earth’s Poles, And Much More This Week
This week, a study has revealed a biological basis of near-death experiences, a Loch Ness monster trap that’s been lost underwater for 55 years has been recovered, revealing some eerie images, and scientists have drilled to the bottom of the Great Blue Hole and uncovered 5,700 years of history. Finally, we ask the experts why […]
Russian Military Satellites Release Mystery Object Into Orbit After Acting Strangely
Three Russian satellites launched into space on February 5, 2025, appear to have released a mystery object into Earth orbit. It’s not clear what the purpose of the satellites nor their new companion is, though US officials speculate that they are demonstrating “attack and defense tactics”, showing that they are capable of surrounding and targeting […]
Quantum Structure Thought Impossible Created By Merging 2 Synthetic Materials
Humanity has been creating new materials since the age of bronze (which does not occur naturally) and since the breakthrough in modern science, we have been able to make some truly peculiar substances. Now, two materials that possess properties that are truly extraordinary have been sandwiched together into a new quantum structure with very unusual […]
What Might The Next Big Particle Accelerator Look Like? We’ve Seen The First Glimpse
The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) does what it says on the tin. It accelerates protons and ions to a speed never achieved before by humans, allowing them to probe new energy realms in particle physics. It will undergo upgrades to increase the number of collisions, but ultimately, it won’t reach any higher energies. To do […]
Robots Explored A Giant Iceberg In Antarctica And Found The Deep Ways It’s Impacting Earth
Robot gliders scouted the waters around one of the world’s largest icebergs, A-68a, before it melted and broke apart into obscurity. This was the first time such a feat had been achieved, providing scientists with an unprecedented glimpse into how icebergs impact the ocean. A-68a was sliced off from Antarctica’s Larsen C ice shelf in […]