This week, the Milky Way may not collide with Andromeda in 5 billion years after all, two of the world’s only freshwater porpoise species have been returned to the wild for the first time in China, and, in the first-ever evidence of the environment affecting mammalian sex determination, male mice embryos have developed ovaries due to changes in iron levels. Finally, we ask why it’s so damn hard to tell the sex of a dinosaur.
Create an IFLScience account to get all the biggest science news delivered straight to your inbox every Wednesday and Saturday.
Gaia18cdj: The Biggest Explosion Event Since The Big Bang Seen By Astronomers
Astronomers using data from NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), and other observatories around the world have discovered the most energetic explosions to occur since the Big Bang 13.8 billion years ago. Twenty-five times more powerful than the most energetic supernova ever observed, Gaia18cdj easily outshone every star in its host galaxy. Read the full story here
Dead Sea Scrolls May Have Been Written By Original Authors Of The Bible
A new artificial intelligence (AI) model has helped researchers determine the age of the Dead Sea Scrolls, revealing that some of these manuscripts are considerably older than previously thought. Most significantly, it now appears that a few of the ancient documents may even have been written by the very people who composed the Bible. Read the full story here
Good News, The Milky Way May Not Collide With Andromeda In 5 Billion Years After All
The Milky Way and Andromeda are traveling towards each other; this is a fact that we have known for a long time. Over the decades, estimates of the speed and simulations have suggested that the two are going to collide within 5 billion years. But new research argues quite the opposite. A team found that there is about a 50 percent chance that the two galaxies will miss each other over the next 10 billion years. Read the full story here
Two Yangtze Finless Porpoises Have Been Returned To The Wild For First Time In China
The Yangtze finless porpoise (Neophocaena asiaeorientalis asiaeorientalis) is the world’s only freshwater porpoise, known for its cute “smiley” face and marvelous melon-shaped head. Now, two Yangtze finless porpoises have been returned to the wild for the very first time, offering fresh hope for this deeply troubled species. Read the full story here
Male Embryos Develop Ovaries In First-Ever Evidence Of Environment Affecting Mammalian Sex Determination
Researchers have just shown that pregnant female mice with low iron levels can lead to the development of male embryos that develop ovaries, regardless of their genetics. This discovery could have significant implications for our understanding of sex determination, and it’s thought to be the first time environmental factors have been documented to influence the process in mammals. Read the full story here
TWIS is published weekly on our Linkedin page, join us there for even more content.
Feature of the week:
Why It’s So Damn Hard To Tell The Sex Of A Dinosaur
“The female of the species is more deadly than the male,” wrote Rudyard Kipling in the early 20th century, and indeed it was once proposed that female T. rex may have been larger and more terrifying than their opposite sex. However, more recent research has suggested that this probably wasn’t the case, and in fact it’s currently impossible to identify the sex of most dinosaurs. Read the full story here
More content:
Have you seen our e-magazine, CURIOUS? Issue 35 June 2025, is available now. This month we asked, “Are There Colors That Only Exist In Our Brains?” – check it out for exclusive interviews, book excerpts, long reads, and more.
PLUS, the We Have Questions podcast – an audio version of our coveted CURIOUS e-magazine column – continues. In episode 8, we ask, “Why Don’t Animals Have To Brush Their Teeth?”
The Big Questions podcast returns this month for season 5. Catch up with season 4 here.
Source Link: The Biggest Explosion Event Since The Big Bang, Dead Sea Scrolls May Have Been Written By Original Authors Of The Bible, And Much More This Week
