Category: Shorts

Silkworm silk spider spider spider spider spider spider spider spider spider Genetically modified silkworms have succeeded in making a silk fiber stronger than Kevlar in bulletproof vests. Not only could the product save lives and have a host of industrial uses, but it could also be more environmentally friendly than existing manufacturing techniques for high-strength…

The U Shape of Happiness: The Psychology of Happiness A team of psychologists from Germany and Switzerland recently published a new study that looks at how happiness varies over people’s life course and across different age groups. They studied three major components of subjective well-being, including life satisfaction, positive emotional states, negative emotions, and negative…

Space Shuttle Rubio’s Space Shuttle Rubio Frank Rubio has spent the longest time in space, surpassing the previous record set by Scott Kelly. Now, he has broken another record, becoming the first US astronaut to spend a whole year in space. During his stay on the ISS, a capsule was hit by a meteorite leading…

Chilobrachys natanicharum nov. A new species of tarantula has been discovered in Thailand, one of the rarest colors found in nature. It’s blue-violet with metallic blue hairs on its legs, chelicerae (the fang-like mouthparts) and top of its carapace. And it looks electrical-blue. Wait, what? Did someone say sparkly purple? Yeah, this thing is blue.…

The Map Is Not The Territories Africa is far bigger than you may think. Credit: IFLScience Dispatches From external sources, fact checkers, and links may be edited, removed, or added to at a later date to keep information current. All explainer” articles are confirmed by fact-checkers to be correct at time of publishing. Context This…

The Mariana Trench bacteriophage In a new study, scientists discover a previously unknown bacteriophage residing in the deepest part of the ocean, the Mariana Trench. A kind of virus that infects and replicates inside bacteria, phages are thought to be one of the most abundant organisms on the planet. This new isolated phage, called vB_HmeY_H4907,…

Horizontal Vertical Flushing Technique (AHVFT) New research shows that a new technique for flossing teeth is better than traditional fluffing methods because it removes more plaque from the gums. It’s called AHVFT and it involves moving the toothbrush back and forth slightly up into the gum and pushing it away from the teeth. Plaque removal…

ShadowCam: The Moonshine Project On the south pole of the moon there are some craters that never see sunlight, such as Shackleton Crater. These areas will be explored by astronauts when humans return to the moon later in the future. A new mosaic was recently made using data from two different telescopes: the Lunar Reconnaissance…

Black-footed Cat (African Black-footed Cat) The African black-footed cat has a reputation as the deadliest cat, but if you saw one on a suburban street, you’d probably mistake it for an extremely cute tabby kitten. Felis nigripes is also Africa’s smallest cat. Weighing between 1 to 2 kilograms (2.4 to 4.2 pounds) and measuring 35…

The Devil’s Egg Egg Sponge A big phallic mushroom put on quite a show in eastern Germany, where its life cycle was captured on camera. The mushroom, called Phallus impudicus, looks as NSFW as its species name would have you believe, and the video is really something. It is part of a fungus that lives…