When Mexico beat Germany 1–0 at the FIFA World Cup on Sunday, the upset was so stunning Earth literally shook at the shock result. It wasn’t natural seismic activity making the ground shake, though, but an artificial quake created entirely by celebrating Mexican fans, whose jumping elation at their team’s unexpected triumph was thunderous enough

It takes a particular kind of person to succeed in politics, but the psychological traits that make for leadership material could be more extreme than anybody ever realised. A first-of-its-kind analysis ranking state-level estimates of psychopathy across the continental United States and the District of Columbia has found Washington DC harbours the highest concentration of

The vast majority of Americans are unprepared or under-prepared for a natural disaster. At least that’s what they said in a recent poll from Business Insider partner MSN. MSN surveyed Americans on their emergency preparedness. It then used machine learning and big data, such as the census, to model how a representative sample of the US

The auditorium at Weeki Wachee Springs sits 5 metres (16 feet) underground. Long wooden benches face a thick glass wall, which stays shrouded in blue curtains, resembling ruched swimsuits. But three or four times a day, the curtains rise to reveal clear water.   A ledge juts out, and below, the bottom drops down to

Three out of four pediatricians disapprove of spanking, research finds. The survey of pediatricians around the US finds that most think spanking seldom or never results in positive outcomes for kids.   Catherine Taylor, an associate professor of Global Community Health and Behavioral Sciences at Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, surveyed

A new map shows thousands of shipwrecks scattered around Ireland since the 16th century – and it shows how many maritime disasters are still a total mystery. The “Wreck Viewer,” released by the Irish government’s National Monuments Service this April, shows the approximate locations of 3,554 shipwrecks across a 355,000 square mile area around Ireland and

The Inca Empire (1400-1532 CE) is one of few ancient civilisations that speaks to us in multiple dimensions. Instead of words or pictograms, the Incas used khipus – knotted string devices – to communicate extraordinarily complex mathematical and narrative information.   But, after more than a century of study, we remain unable to fully crack

Humanity has long dreamed about sending humans to other planets, even before crewed spaceflight became a reality. And with the discovery of thousands exoplanets in recent decades, particularly those that orbit within neighboring star systems (like Proxima b), that dream seems closer than ever to becoming a reality.   But of course, a lot of technical

It’s called MAD. The notion that Mutually Assured Destruction would be inescapable if one nuclear superpower were to unleash its deadly arsenal against another. The reasoning is that by launching a first strike against any nuke-toting enemy, the aggressor would inevitably provoke an automatic counter-attack – ensuring mutual, fiery annihilation. But aside from this fatal

In 1946, Albert Einstein stood in front of students at one of the oldest historically black college in the United States and decried the oppression of African Americans. “There is separation of colored people from white people in the United States. That separation is not a disease of colored people. It is a disease of

Scientists have created the most extensive brain map to date of a person with an extremely rare form of blindness. To Milena Canning, objects are invisible – unless they are moving.   Canning, who is 48 and hails from Scotland, wasn’t born blind. She was left without sight 18 years ago after a respiratory infection,

A defining trend in human intelligence tests that saw people steadily obtaining higher IQ scores through the 20th century has abruptly ended, a new study shows. The Flynn effect – named after the work of Kiwi intelligence researcher James Flynn – observed rapid rises in intelligence quotient at a rate of about 3 IQ points

It might sound like an excuse for a bad hair day, but Uncombable Hair Syndrome (UHS) is actually a real genetic condition. It’s caused by a rare genetic mutation, and creates silvery-blond or straw-coloured hair that is easily damaged and cannot be combed flat. The result? Frizzy, shiny hair that sticks out in all directions.  

As President Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un have conducted a meeting in Singapore, it’s worth remembering a key impetus for the summit: North Korea can likely strike anywhere in the US with its nuclear weapons.   In July and November, North Korea test-launched intercontinental ballistic missiles, or ICBMs, that can reportedly deliver nuclear warheads to

Scientists studying the skulls of long-dead Incas have made a startling discovery: the patients somehow had twice the survival rate after skull surgery than those operated on during the American Civil War – some 400 years later.   This flies in the face of western notions of technical superiority, and contradicts previous assumptions that the

If hunger turns you into a terrible person, here are some clues. Source link

You’d think that in the age of the internet, where more information than we can possibly consume in several lifetimes is at our fingertips, stubborn myths from the past would die away.   But who among us still thinks the Great Wall of China is visible from space, and that it’s a bad idea to

At work, a calendar filled with meetings and deadlines often dictates the cadence of our days. But despite what tightly timed agendas might try to insist, our internal body clocks are secretly running the show. Scientists call this personalised daily pattern of sleep and wakefulness a circadian rhythm.   Whether you know it or not, our bodies have

When you first start dating someone, at least one of your friends will tell you to “play it cool.” It’s a piece of advice that’s almost as old as dating itself, and it’s based on the idea that if you act like you’re not really eager for the relationship, you suddenly become irresistible.   According

By the age of three or four, we all start to lie. At this point in our brain’s development, we learn that we have an incredibly versatile and powerful tool at our disposal – our language – and we can use it to actually play with reality and affect the outcome of what’s happening.  

Buried under a pair of hills at Israel’s northern border, at the nexus of three ancient kingdoms, is one of the last large biblical sites yet to be uncovered. So said an international team of archaeologists after they started to dig up the ruins of Abel Beth Maacah five years ago.   The lost town

From daily tooth-brushing to the 11am coffee, we all have dozens of habits that get us through our daily routine. Some are great – weekly gym visits are often encouraged – others not so much, like smoking a pack a day, or dialling the number of the pizza place way too often.   Because we

It’s a simple fact of life that older people reminisce about the glory days. You might believe you’ll stay young and free-spirited forever, but one day you’ll find yourself grumbling about not understanding the latest slang words and asking a young person what a meme is.   For some it might be happening earlier than

Breakups are tough. Love is one of the most powerful emotions we can feel, making heartbreak one of the most traumatic. After a particularly raw breakup, it can feel like nothing will ever be the same again, with many sufferers reporting feelings of depression, anxiety, exhaustion, and even insomnia.   And the one piece of

Left-handed people haven’t always been treated well throughout history. They have been persecuted for their disposition, being been labelled as evil – or even as witches – despite making up about 10 percent of the population.   In fact, the word “sinister” comes from “left” or “left hand”. There have been a few theories over

Narcissists can be tricky to spot, especially if you are in a romantic relationship with one. This tends to be because they rely on using and manipulating others to fulfil their needs and desires – all while blending in like a chameleon.   There are three distinct types of narcissists, and they often behave in

It’s a towering problem, one to stump the most determined of milliners. You’ve carved almost 1,000 immense statues standing up to 10 metres (33 ft) tall. And now you want to put their hats on.   There’s just one problem. The hats, like the graven colossi themselves, are hewn out of solid rock, and weigh

Do you call that a haircut? I hope you didn’t pay for it. Oh please this is rubbish, you’re a disgrace to yourself and your profession. These are just two examples of comments that have followed articles I have written in my career.   While they may seem benign compared with the sort of violent

Sometimes it can feel as though the more we try to get done, the less we accomplish. Now a new study validates what many of us have long suspected – if we want to be more productive, we need to become less busy.   Too many deadlines – such as upcoming appointments – makes us

Whenever you see blood outside your body, it looks red. Why? Human blood is red because of the protein hemoglobin, which contains a red-colored compound called heme that’s crucial for carrying oxygen through your bloodstream.   Heme contains an iron atom which binds to oxygen; it’s this molecule that transports oxygen from your lungs to

A tiny, 2,100-year-old mummy from ancient Egypt had long been thought to contain the remains of a treasured bird – which would make sense, considering the hawk-themed decorations and small size.   But researchers conducting a CT scan have found something else entirely – the remains of a severely malformed human foetus, stillborn at no

Human brains are some of the biggest in nature, but it’s not altogether clear why that is. A pair of studies are now suggesting a new hypothesis – that a family of genes responsible for building up brain matter has given our endocranial volume (ECV) a boost.   Crucially, these genes are exclusively active in

The early-morning blast on Mother’s Day was big enough to stop nature itself, if only for a moment. A blast wave at 3:35 am rippled through the woods around Lonely Cottage Road in Upper Black Eddy. Frogs stopped croaking. Crickets ceased chirping. And Nick Zangli loaded a gun to defend himself from whatever it could

Around 7,000 years ago – all the way back in the Neolithic – something really peculiar happened to human genetic diversity. Over the next 2,000 years, and seen across Africa, Europe and Asia, the genetic diversity of the Y chromosome collapsed, becoming as though there was only one man for every 17 women.   Now,

Kim Kardashian appears to now be a published scientist. If that hasn’t already blown your mind, just wait till you see who she’s been working with. The reality TV star and social media influencer is listed as an author on a paper published in a scientific journal earlier this month, and her co-author is none

Published this week, our new paper describes a spectacular 400 million-year-old 3D-preserved fossil fish, Ligulalepis. The 3D anatomy of the fossilised Ligulalepis skull reveals previously unknown details of the pattern of dermal skull bones, the shape of the brain cavity, and other soft tissue features (such as nerves and blood vessels) in this species.  

This bizarre optical illusion has gone viral on social media, showing two people hugging in an office. At first everything seems completely normal… and then you notice something strange.   That dude in the attractive blue shirt. The one wearing the figure-hugging white jeans, cuffed above the heel in a distinctly feminine style. Wait, is

Pompeii is famed for its ruins containing the remains of citizens preserved in the ash from the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 CE. But a spectacular discovery is a grim reminder that heat and suffocation aren’t the only ways a volcano can threaten lives.   Archaeologists have uncovered the bones of a man crushed

No food straddles the line between fruit and vegetable more famously than the tomato. And while your elementary-school teacher or know-it-all friend may have informed you that tomatoes are technically fruits, the answer isn’t so clear-cut. In reality, tomatoes are both fruits and vegetables at the same time.   The explanation lies in the two

As the largest pre-Hispanic civilisation in the Americas, the Incas have fascinated historians for years, just as the Machu Picchu Inca citadel fascinates modern-day tourists. Now, we have more clues about where these people originated, thanks to modern-day genetic analysis.   The origins of the Inca people are shrouded in mystery, which is what makes

In 2005, scientists were finally getting around to examining boxed remains from an earlier excavation of a medieval cemetery in Nyárlőrinc, Hungary, when they came across something really strange. The tiny hand of an infant, mummified, and tinged a curious shade of green.   It was only after finding the rest of the puzzle pieces

Every two years, the National Science Foundation (NSF) is required to tell the president how the US is doing in regard to science and engineering. “As economies worldwide grow increasingly knowledge-intensive and interdependent, capacity for innovation becomes ever more critical,” the NSF says in its latest report, titled “Science & Engineering Indicators 2018”.   The

Suppose you have two tasks before you. One isn’t that important but needs to be done quickly. The other is important but isn’t urgent. Often, people will choose against their self-interest to do the urgent but less important task, a new study has demonstrated. What’s more, the busier and more overwhelmed you feel, the more

It’s thought that humans, unlike other primates, have evolved certain muscles unique to us. But now those muscles have been found in other apes – and this challenges our core perceptions about human evolution.   According to anatomist Rui Diogo of Howard University in the US, a large part of the human narrative revolves around our “special”

It sounds like a work of alternative history fiction: as Soviet forces closed in on Adolf Hitler’s bunker in Berlin, the Führer fled in the nick of time to South America where he lived in hiding for another 17 years.   As far as conspiracy theories go, it’s up there with Elvis and Roswell, but

The US government prepares for all sorts of threats, ranging from biowarfare and chemical weapons to volcanoes and wildfires. But none match the specter of a nuclear explosion. A small nuclear weapon on the ground can create a stadium-size fireball, unleash a city-crippling blastwave, and sprinkle radioactive fallout hundreds of miles away.   The good

For centuries, untold riches of gold, silver, and jewels buried with the world’s most valuable shipwreck were dreamt of by generations of sailors, squires, and treasure hunters alike.   But when eyes were finally laid on the so-called ‘holy grail of shipwrecks’ – the Spanish galleon San José, which went down off the coast of

In 1987, the music video Smooth Criminal by Michael Jackson stunned audiences around the world with a gravity-defying move – leaning forward to a staggering 45 degree angle.    There was some footwear magic happening there, for sure – but a group of neuroscientists have looked at the spine biomechanics behind the technique he performed in concerts