Shorties

Yep, spiders eat bats all across the world – except for Antarctica that is. Bats rank among the most successful groups of mammals, with the more than 1,200 species of bats comprising about one-fifth of all mammal species; aside for humans, they have very few natural enemies, and usually, their numbers are large enough to [...]

It’s a good day to be Irish! The Irish government this morning outlined details of a €300-million package of research funding that will establish seven new hubs where industry will collaborate with academic researchers. Areas which will receive the most funding will be data analytics, marine renewable energy, biomaterials, perinatal research, nanotechnology, functional foods, photonics [...]

Research into the new wondermaterial graphene and the neurochemistry of the human brain will be given up to two billion euros ($2.68 billion) in funding – the largest research grant in official, recorded history, the European Commission said on Monday. The two areas are the beneficiaries of the Future Emerging Technology (FET) Flagship programme, described [...]

Gold coins found in Iraq Archaeologists working in the area unearthed 66 magnificent gold coins that are at least 1,400 years old, dating back to the Sassanid era that extended from 225 BC to 640 AD. The coins were sent to the lab for age analysis which will better pinpoint their origin in time. The [...]

For the past 10.000 years, humans and pigs have had quite a close and complex relationship – though to be quite honest, the benefits were pretty one sided. From domestication to modern breeding practices, humans have shaped the genomes of domestic pigs. Now, researchers have sequenced the genome of a female domestic Duroc pig (Sus [...]

The earthquake that struck southern Maine was felt in New England as well as Connecticut, but as far as reports tell us, there’s no significant damage, and not even a single injury. According to USGS, the earthquake had a meager magnitude of 4.0, despite initial estimates of 4.0, but this doesn’t necessarily mean it couldn’t [...]

Gray wolves are just one of the emblematic species found on the endangered list in many parts of the world. But not in the US – they were removed from the endangered list. Now, as expected, it turns out this was a bad move, and the state of California wants to put it back there. [...]

The disappearance of raccoons and bobcats from the Everglades National Park can be credited to one single event, according to a new study: a python invasion. Sightings of medium sized mammals are down by 99 percent in areas where giant constricting snakes from Asia have been spotted. The growing concern is that the snakes, which [...]

You can’t really put a price tag on education – it’s inestimable. Here’s what the kids in Lebak, Indonesia, have to go through every day in order to get to school. Just think a moment about this, and think that there are many, many more like them in the world.

A couple of days ago Hubble released a picture that will blow your mind! Click on the picture to make it big, and trust me, you really want to make it big. This baby is about 15 times heavier than our Sun, but it is over 10.000 times brighter! It’s still in the process of [...]