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The population dropped sharply from over 5,000 individuals fifty years ago to less than 150 cats ten years ago. However, thanks to recent efforts, the population has grown to 400 individuals, and there are good signs for the species.
A federal judge has approved the $20.8 bn settlement for BP’s oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. This fine will account for civil claims against the company set forth by the Department of Justice and five Gulf states. US Attorney General Loretta Lynch previously called the settlement “the largest with a single entity in American […]
British paleontologists have identified a tiny, ancient animal that carried around its young tethered in capsules around its body, like kites.
Biological engineers have created a programming language that allows them to rapidly and efficiently program and design DNA-encoded circuits, giving new functions to living cells. There are already a myriad of programming languages. Fortran and C++ allow for rapid computations, PHP is a scripting language for web development, Ruby is a popular object-oriented language – […]
For centuries, chocolatiers have been trying to develop the perfect chocolate coating for bonbons, honing their skill to the point of artistic performance. But scientists believe they can take things even further.
It's not who you think it is.
Researchers from Poon University in Seoul have figured out why some of the plants in Korea’s capital seem to grow much better than others, despite living in the same conditions and being given the same nutrients. It’s all about the dirty talk, they report. “There’s something about swearing which motivates plants to grow better, it’s like […]
Scientists have identified several new species of spider in the southern United States which can pose dangers to citizens – one species especially, Arachnia Donaldrumpfus is believed to be extremely dangerous. Biologists have suspected for quite a while that potentially dangerous wildlife lurks in urban and sub-urban North America, so Michigan Circular University researcher Christian Aucus […]
An investigation undertaken by the Huffington Post and Fairfax Media has revealed that billions of dollars of government contracts were awarded as the direct result of bribes. The company names which pop up on this list include British icon Rolls-Royce, US oil-service company Halliburton, Australia’s Leighton Holdings and Korean heavyweights Samsung and Hyundai. The bribe factory If […]
You know those maps of the world with horizontal lines across the ocean, “this is what you see when you look across the ocean”? Well yeah, they’re no good. As cartographer Andy Woodruff indicates, they’re way, way off. When you look at the ocean, what are you seeing on the other side? It would be tempting to […]
Scientists have confirmed what deep down, we already knew: dark chocolate makes you feel better.
Scientists have identified a 1.5 cm creature that predates the dinosaurs by 100 million years. While not exactly a spider, the tiny beast is the closest relative to spiders, but its lineage is extinct. Spiders are basically ubiquitous. They can be found on every continent except for Antarctica and in every environment ever – except […]
A survey of a major oil and natural gas-producing region in Western Canada founds evidence that hydraulic fracturing or "fracking" does indeed cause earthquakes in the region.
It pains me that studies like this have to be made.
As any pet owner will tell you, cats are great at manipulating us.
We've all gone through it at one point: not knowing is simply killing you.
Last week, a team published results showing that some areas in South-East Asia carry significant Denisovan DNA and now, another team has published a map of that DNA spread.
A London-based customer of Whole Foods tweeted a photo of peeled oranges, packed in plastic. Her photo and comments are on point.
They say you can’t fold a paper seven times, because its resistance gets too strong. The Hydraulic Press Youtube Channel set up to see if that myth really is true – with a hydraulic press, of course. The result was quite surprising (more info after the video): The first folds went pretty easily by hand, […]
The Hyperloop could become the next big thing in transportation. It’s a train-like tube-based transportation system which can move at extremely high speeds of up to 760 miles per hour – 1220 km/h. Currently, it would take some six hours to travel from Košice, Slovakia, to Vienna. Even a direct flight would still take you a bit over […]
This is the geological map of Mars. That we have a geological map of another planet, as accurate as it may be, is simply amazing to me. More info after the scroll. Mars doesn’t have any tectonic plates, but that doesn’t stop it from having a very interesting geology. Most of our current knowledge about […]
The Japanese whaling fleet has returned home with a gruesome catch
We all know the coal industry's shortcomings and negative impacts - it pollutes, it releases CO2 into the atmosphere and so on.
In most parts of Africa, rhinos are hunted to extinction. Out of desperation, authorities have opted for an unlikely solution.
It’s been a bad year for vanilla growers in Madagascar. The African island is the world’s biggest producer of this tasty commodity, and this year’s poor harvest could bring the prices up by 150%, or even create a global vanilla shortage. A while ago, we were telling you about the global chocolate shortage the world […]
Przewalski's horses are the only breed which was never domesticated. They were once common across Russia's and Mongolia's steppes, but were slowly hunted down. Now, coming back from the brink of extinction, these wild horses are slowly returning to their habitat.
In the year 79, the Vesuvius volcano erupted, wiping out the Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum and killing at least 1,500 people. But while Pompeii usually takes the spotlight, it's Herculaneum that may provide us with key information.
Ammonite fossils are among the most common in the world, with their characteristic shape and chambered shell. But did you ever wonder what the deal is with those chambers? Ammonites are a group of cephalopod animals that lived as swimmers in the shallow parts of the ancient oceans. They were extremely successful, emerging in the early […]
Data is key to our modern society, and data transfer has become pivotal for many industries, as well as for our day to day lives. Thankfully, the maximum speed is constantly increasing and while we may not see this in current infrastructure, there are reasons to be optimistic. University of Illinois researchers report that they’ve […]
We don't think about it that much, but the butthole is one of the biggest innovations in 500 million years of evolution.
What was once discarded as a myth or an urban legend may actually be true – geophysical studies seem to indicate that Shakespeare’s head may be missing from the grave, possibly stolen by graverobbers in the 19th century. The bard is buried in the beautiful Holy Trinity Church in Stratford-upon-Avon, England. Shakespeare was buried in his home-town church, […]
When Obama became president, one of his promises was to close the Guantánamo Bay Detention Facility. Now, as he’s nearing the end of his second term, he reiterated that idea, expressing his desire to close it. Two academics have come up with a creative solution to that problem: turning it into a marine research station. The […]
Less than a decade from now, every one in four people on Earth might be suffering from extreme water scarcity, UN statistics claim. Also, two thirds of the global population will be living in water-stressed conditions.
As anyone who's moved from the countryside to the city can testify, the transition isn't easy.
A new gravity map of Mars is offering researchers the possibility to study the geology of Mars.
Researchers at the University of Georgia may be zooming in on a treatment for prostate cancer. Their new therapy shows great efficacy for mouse models, and the treatment is expected to go in human trials. Prostate cancer is the second most common type of cancer, killing some 10,000 people in the UK every year (rates […]
We judge our planet's biological past by using geological evidence - fossils. Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals, plants, and other organisms from the remote past.
Scientists have developed a graphene patch that can monitor sugar levels in diabetic patients as well as deliver metformin - a drug used to treat diabetes - through the skin.
About 55.8 million years, the rate of carbon emissions grew abruptly, leading to a period of massive warming. But today's rate of emissions is ten times higher.
Los Alamos is always blowing stuff up. The Lab burst into the public consciousness 70 years ago with the biggest explosion known to humanity—the world’s first atomic bomb. Since then, Los Alamos has continued to lead the nation in explosives science and engineering. Now, some of the researchers working there went to answer questions on […]
If you’re like me, then you still use the old Kindle model because hey – if it ain’t broken, don’t fix it. Also, if you’re like me, you’re usually pressing the ‘Skip’ button whenever updates are in store. If this is the case, then you should know that your old Kindle will be disconnected from […]
It takes some hardcore survival skills to make it to the frozen wastelands of Alaska - and this butterfly has what it takes.
UK has announced the introduction of a tax on sugary drinks, based on the amount of sugar in the beverages. The main goal is to “help tackle childhood obesity, by incentivising companies to reduce the sugar in the drinks they sell [and] to fund a doubling of the primary schools sports premium to £320 million […]
The relationship between ancient humans and Neanderthals was proven to be much more intricate than previously believed.
Ceres is the largest body in the asteroid belt – too big to really be an asteroid, but too small to be a planet, it’s trapped in the “minor planet” classification. But Ceres might be much more interesting than other similar bodies, with its mysterious bright spots being a constant source of amazement. We’ve written […]
With the Zika virus running rampant through South America, outbreaks could pop up in several US cities. A study from the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) estimated this hazard in the largest cities in the US, finding that the south and especially the southeast is quite vulnerable to the threat posed by Zika. Key […]
Recovering memories lost after Alzheimer’s can be as simple as flipping a switch – at least for mice. According to a new research, these memories aren’t lost, it’s just the retrieval of the retrieval mechanism that is impaired. Loss of long-term memory and some learned experiences is a hallmark of Alzheimer’s diseases. Despite the disease affecting millions of […]
Whenever I see a glint in the grass, it’s either a penny or nothing at all. But when Israeli hiker Laurie Rimon found a coin, it was such a rare find that archaeologists only found a single one similar to it. Israeli scientists believe the coin is part of a series made by the Roman Emperor […]
People love Roald Dahl's creations (such as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Matilda) for their creativity and sense of humor, but Dahl had his own share of tragedy.
Researchers working in Spain have made a surprising finding: Neanderthals emerged much earlier than previously believed, perhaps as far as half a million years ago.
