Category: Shorts

Pangea Ultima: The End of the Planet The supercontinent that will end all mammals? New research suggests that in about 250 million years, the existing continents will collide to form a supercontamerica, Pangea Ultima, which will make Earth inhospitable to land-based mammals and likely lead to a mass extinction. The authors claim that these changes…

Azulene Fluorescence Fluorescence Fluorescence Fluorescence Fluor Tomáš Slanina explains the remarkable blue color azulene, a molecule that scientists have puzzled for decades. Its chemical structure is similar to that of mothballs, but it has eight hydrogen atoms instead of seven. It also has a ring-shaped structure and is highly stable. However, its fluorescence is observed…

The Wholphin Whale Hybrid Whale The first known wholphin was born in a Tokyo SeaWorld park in 1981, but it died after just 200 days. Another female hybrid was born at another park in 1985, and that too died after 100 days. A wholphin is a hybrid born as a result of an unlikely canoodling…

The Squishable Part of the Mummy This guy died of Chagas disease, was unable to absorb proteins adequately in the months preceding his death, and was likely rendered immobile by his condition. This is significant because someone would have had to bring him food resources, as well as attending to his daily needs. An adult…

Highlighter, a light-based communication tool for plants Using a new light-sensitive tool called Highlighter, scientists have been able to activate the immune response of the tobacco plant Nicotiana benthamiana by using light as a stimulus. The team hopes that they can use this technology to warn plants of disease outbreaks and pest attacks in order…

Chandrayaan-3 Lunar Night Hopes are fading that the Chandrayaan-3 lander and rover will wake up after the lunar night, as the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) continues to attempt to establish contact. In August, India became the fourth country to touch down on the moon and the first to land near the lunar south pole.…

Animals Up Close: The Adventures of Petaka Bertie Gregory’s new series, Animals Up Close focuses on the lives of animals and includes never-before-seen behaviors. His honest portrayal of the highs and lows of wildlife filmmaking has made him a social media sensation. However, as Gregory told IFLScience, often it’s the humans that are the danger,…

White hydrogen, a carbon neutral fuel, has been discovered in the Lorraine basin When geologists explore ancient French coal mines, they find a tantalizing prospect: 46 million tons of hydrogen trapped in the subsoil. Wait, what? What’s that smell? It’s just white hydrogen, naturally occurring, and it could be a fuel for the future. But…

Rat Lungworms in Atlanta, Georgia A parasitic worm that can jump from one rat to another is becoming more common in rats in the southern United States, posing a threat to humans. The rat lungworm, Angiostrongylus cantonensis, moves between snails and rodents to complete its life cycle. Rats eat snails infected with worm larvae, which…

Stonehenge Bluestones: Stonehenge Bluestones More mystery surrounding Stonehenge. A new analysis of the Altar Stone reveals that it may not have come from the same source as the rest of the bluestones, which make up the monument’s inner circle. Originally thought to have been brought from a distant site in west Wales, the new study…