Exactly what constitutes intelligence, and to what extent it is genetic, are some of the most controversial questions in science. But now a new study of nearly 80,000 people, published in Nature Genetics, has managed to identify ...
Biotechnology
May 23, 2017
5
325
2011 and 2017, the number of children homeschooled in Australia grew by more than 80%. In Queensland, it nearly quadrupled during this period. This suggests one in 200 Australian students were home educated in 2017.
Social Sciences
Apr 16, 2019
1
36389
One surprising star of the coronavirus pandemic response has been the molecule called mRNA. It's the key ingredient in the Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines. But mRNA itself is not a new invention from the lab. It evolved ...
Biotechnology
Apr 12, 2021
0
89
Humans and their primate cousins are well known for their intelligence and social abilities. You hear them called bird-brained, but birds have demonstrated a great deal of intelligence in many tasks.
Plants & Animals
Apr 30, 2014
0
0
A large piece of space debris, possibly weighing several tonnes, is currently on an uncontrolled reentry phase (that's space speak for "out of control"), and parts of it are expected to crash down to Earth over the next few ...
Space Exploration
May 4, 2021
4
551
The universe is such a big place that it is easy to get baffled by the measurements that astronomers make. The size of UY Scuti, possibly one of the largest stars we have observed to date, is certainly baffling.
Astronomy
Feb 9, 2015
8
726
Sixty-six million years ago, an asteroid hit the Earth with the force of 10 billion atomic bombs and changed the course of evolution. The skies darkened and plants stopped photosynthesising. The plants died, then the animals ...
Evolution
Nov 26, 2022
4
389
You've probably seen the UV index in the day's weather forecast, and you know it tells you when you need to cover up and wear sunscreen.
Environment
Dec 21, 2021
0
32
Every now and again, scientists discover fossils that are so bizarre they defy classification, their body plans unlike any other living animals or plants. Tullimonstrum (also known as the Tully Monster), a 300m-year-old fossil ...
Archaeology
Nov 11, 2019
5
7188
Humans are a tropical species. We have lived in warm climates for most of our evolutionary history, which might explain why so many of us spend winter huddled under a blanket, clutching a hot water bottle and dreaming of ...
Evolution
Jan 16, 2023
1
349
