Giant rats in tiny vests trained to sniff out illegally trafficked wildlife
Scientists have trained African giant pouched rats to sniff out illegally traded animal parts. And they get to wear tiny vests.
Category: Science
Most thunderstorms are really radioactive
Researchers have known for several decades that thunderstorms can act as miniature particle accelerators that produce antimatter, gamma rays and other nuclear phenomena. But they did not know how common the phenomenon was. In observations taken by a retrofitted U2 spy plane, they’ve discovered essentially all large thunderstorms produce gamma rays in many dynamic, unexpected and unknown ways.
The world’s oldest cheese is Chinese
For 20 years, researchers have been fascinated by the white substances smeared around the necks of three ancient mummies in China. New analysis has shown they are chunks of preserved kefir cheese. Dating back around 3,600 years, it is the oldest cheese ever found.
As the Moon slowly drifts away…
The Moon is always with us, but what we don’t realise is that it is slowly drifting away from Earth. But no need to panic, it’s only a little over 3.5 cm every year.
Storm in a teacup?
Air pressure during a storm can be so low as to make water boil at 98°C, totally ruining your chance of making a decent cup of tea. During a massive storm across southern England, France and Channel Islands last year, millions of people found this out the hard way.
The weird things that happen during a solar eclipse
The solar eclipse on 8 April was quite the event by all accounts, but what else happens aside form millions of humans looking upwards?
How did people clean their teeth before toothpaste?
Dental issues and teeth cleaning have become topical in our house this week, as our daughter started orthodontic treatment. I wondered: how did people manage to keep their teeth clean and healthy before modern toothbrushes and toothpaste?
Echidna CSI: Echidna Conservation Science Initiative
You can help researchers learn more about echidnas – where they are, what they are doing and if they are healthy.
You can help identify what’s killing lorikeets
Lorikeets in northern New South Wales and southern Queensland are becoming paralysed, often resulting in death. Scientists are beginning to discover why – but need your help.
Perhaps we need our appendix after all
It’s not entirely clear why we have an appendix. Some other primates don’t have one at all and it seems they are more prone to diarrhoeal diseases, especially when they are infants.
Each nostril has its own sense of smell
It seems our noses sense smells differently between each nostril.
Keep it clean
Do you wash behind your ears, between your toes and in your belly button? Doing so is good for the bugs that live on your skin.
Magnets in cows: not a conspiracy theory
It’s been rough few weeks and laughs have been a bit thin, so when I saw that farmers deliberately place magnets in cows, it appealed to my slightly odd sense of humour. Turns out it’s actually quite important.
Let’s talk about Neanderthals
I saw several articles on Neanderthals this week. One showed their continuing influence on modern humans and the other that they were quite sophisticated hunters.
New 16 million year-old spider
I don’t like spiders. But I live in Canberra and we are surrounded by bush so there’s lots of creepy crawlies. Mostly it’s angry-looking black things and huntsmen, which freak me out but I can live with if Other Half shoos them away. So when I read this article about a massive ancient version further north in Gulgong (west of Newcastle), I was very glad it’s dead.