ScienceAlert

Sharing the most fascinating and inspiring science news. We analyse and fact check to bring you the best in genuine scientific research you can trust.

By ScienceAlert

ScienceAlert
The Brain
Study Spanning 40 Years Finds Odd Link Between Being a Slow Walker And Ageing Faster
ScienceAlert - Peter Dockrill
Being a slow walker doesn't just signify you enjoy a leisurely stroll. According to new research, walking with a slow gait could be a symptom of …
8 hours ago
ScienceAlert
Antarctica
Upside-Down 'Rivers' Are Melting Antarctic Ice Shelves From Beneath
ScienceAlert - Peter Dockrill
Antarctic ice shelves are being destabilised by hidden, upside-down 'rivers' of warm water that course below the shelves and melt them from …
10 hours ago
ScienceAlert
Space
Astronomers Observe in Incredible Detail a Black Hole Flickering in Our Own Galaxy
ScienceAlert - Michelle Starr
A black hole flickering in the Milky Way galaxy has been filmed in unprecedented detail, with a new high frame-rate technique that is helping us …
10 hours ago
ScienceAlert
Humanity
Orangutans Can Play The Kazoo, And It's Changing Our Knowledge of How Speech Evolved
ScienceAlert - ADRIANO REIS E LAMEIRA
A kazoo might seem a world away from the spoken word. But our ability to produce its buzzing, Donald Duck-like sound at will was key in us ever …
13 hours ago
ScienceAlert
Space
We Just Found Out That The Milky Way Has Been Repeatedly Stealing Smaller Galaxies
ScienceAlert - KRISTIN HOUSER
Orbiting is par for the course in our universe. The Earth orbits the Sun, the Moon orbits the Earth, and more than 50 galaxies orbit the Milky Way, …
14 hours ago
ScienceAlert
Health
Here's How Eating 5-Day-Old Pasta or Rice Can Actually Kill You
ScienceAlert - Jacinta Bowler
If meat is left out on the counter for too long, we all know we need to throw it out. But what about rice or pasta? Although that carby goodness might …
1 day ago
ScienceAlert
Humanity
Babies Who Are Cuddled More Seem to Have Their Genetics Altered For Years Afterwards
ScienceAlert - David Nield
The amount of close and comforting contact that young infants get doesn't just keep them warm, snug, and loved. A 2017 study says it can actually …
2 days ago
ScienceAlert
Space
Former NASA Scientist Demonstrates Why Star Trek's Warp Speeds Are Painfully Slow
ScienceAlert - DAVE MOSHER
In the sci-fi universe of "Star Trek", spaceships with warp drives can zoom past the normally impenetrable limit of light speed, or about 186,282 …
2 days ago
ScienceAlert
Tech Trends
Someone's Built an Operating System to Run After The World Ends
ScienceAlert - DAN ROBITZSKI
When the end of the world comes, how will you tweet? Thankfully for those of us who didn't have a plan ready, Motherboard reports that software …
2 days ago
ScienceAlert
Health
Scientists Have Identified The Physical Source of Anxiety in The Brains of Mice
ScienceAlert - Peter Dockrill
We're not wired to feel safe all the time, but maybe one day we could be. A 2018 study investigating the neurological basis of anxiety in the brain …
2 days ago
ScienceAlert
Syphilis
The US Just Hit Another Troubling High in STD Rates, And You Need to Protect Yourself
ScienceAlert - David Nield
A worrying trend in the US shows no signs of stopping: rates of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) continue to rise, with combined cases of …
2 days ago
ScienceAlert
Leonardo Da Vinci
MIT Engineers Show Da Vinci's 500-Year-Old Radical Bridge Design Would Have Worked
ScienceAlert - David Nield
We know that Leonardo da Vinci was a genius who was well ahead of his time, but even the great man himself might have struggled to believe that …
2 days ago
ScienceAlert
Space
Astronomers Just Detected 20 New Moons Around Saturn - Why Are We Only Finding Them Now?
ScienceAlert - LUCYNA KEDZIORA-CHUDCZER
With the discovery of 20 more moons orbiting Saturn, the ringed planet has overtaken Jupiter as host to the most moons in the Solar system. Saturn …
3 days ago
ScienceAlert
Disease
Here Are 5 Important Questions to Help You Tell if Health News Can Be Trusted
ScienceAlert - HASSAN VALLY
Who doesn't want to know if drinking that second or third cup of coffee a day will improve your memory, or if sleeping too much increases your risk …
3 days ago
ScienceAlert
Pain
Research Has Ignored Endometriosis For Decades, And It's Now Costing All of Us
ScienceAlert - MIKE ARMOUR & KENNY LAWSON
The average cost for a woman with endometriosis both personally and for society is around AU$30,000 a year, according to our research, published …
3 days ago
ScienceAlert
Humanity
Would You Stand Up to an Authoritarian Regime or Conform? Here's The Science
ScienceAlert - NICK CHATER
Margaret Atwood's novel, The Handmaid's Tale, described the horror of the authoritarian regime of Gilead. In this theocracy, self-preservation was the …
3 days ago
ScienceAlert
Zoology
This Mesmerising Underwater Blob Is Actually a Huge, Rare Mass of Squid Eggs
ScienceAlert - Michelle Starr
A strange, undulating blob found in the waters of Ørstafjorden in Norway has turned out to be a rare sight: a giant mass of squid eggs. The …
3 days ago
ScienceAlert
Cornstarch
ScienceAlert
ScienceAlert - Science Alert
3 days ago
ScienceAlert
Health
There's a Depressing Difference Between The Sewage of Wealthy Areas And Poorer Ones
ScienceAlert - Michelle Starr
Differences in lifestyles between socioeconomic groups are pretty pronounced. And now scientists have found a depressing new marker. Hidden in the …
3 days ago
ScienceAlert
Exoplanets
Astrophysicist Who Just Won The Nobel Prize Says We'll Never Colonise Exoplanets
ScienceAlert - KRISTIN HOUSER
On Tuesday, he won a Nobel Prize for his work detecting exoplanets. Then, on Wednesday, he crushed the dreams of anyone hoping to one day colonize …
3 days ago
ScienceAlert
Fish
These Fish Can Live on Land And Breathe Air, But Authorities Are Not Impressed
ScienceAlert - LATESHIA BEACHUM
There's a fish that can live on land. Georgia officials want you to kill it immediately. A northern snakehead fish was caught earlier this month in a …
3 days ago
ScienceAlert
Humanity
Intriguing Study Suggests Humans Have Hidden 'Salamander-Like' Ability to Regrow Tissue
ScienceAlert - David Nield
Unlike some creatures, humans can't regenerate their limbs – but a new study suggests we do have a hidden 'salamander-like' ability to regrow …
4 days ago
ScienceAlert
Environment
Here's What Would Happen if All The Ice on Earth Melted Overnight
ScienceAlert - ANDREA SCHMITZ & BOB HUNT
Ninety-nine per cent of all freshwater ice on Earth is sitting on top of Greenland and Antarctica, and each year, a little more of it melts into the …
4 days ago
ScienceAlert
Health
Scientists Have Successfully Kept Mouse Brain Tissue Alive in The Lab For Weeks
ScienceAlert - Michelle Starr
We've seen pig brains reanimated post-mortem and kept alive for hours. Now scientists from Japan have taken tiny slivers of mouse brain tissue, and …
4 days ago
ScienceAlert
Tech Trends
Police Robot on Patrol Completely Ignores Woman Trying to Summon The Police
ScienceAlert - DAN ROBITZSKI
Those Knightscope security robots may not be so great at their jobs. When a woman in a park near Los Angeles saw people fighting and tried to summon …
4 days ago
ScienceAlert
Environment
Let's Face It: Going Green Is Simply No Match For Cutting Back on All The Junk We Buy
ScienceAlert - Mike McRae
If you're a millennial who likes to indulge in a bit of retail therapy to cope with anxiety over the climate crisis, we've got some bad news. New …
4 days ago
ScienceAlert
Oxygen
Scientists Have Figured Out How to Extract Oxygen From Moon Dirt
ScienceAlert - Michelle Starr
The Moon is a pretty inhospitable place for humans. It's all dry and dusty, and there's no atmosphere for us to breathe. But there is a bunch of …
4 days ago
ScienceAlert
Space
Voyager Mission Reveals Unexpected Pressure at The Edge of The Solar System
ScienceAlert - Mike McRae
NASA astronomers have used data from the Voyager probes to measure the bustle of particles rippling at the very edge of our Solar System, and …
4 days ago
ScienceAlert
Environment
'Extreme' Fire Threat in California Forces Power Cut For Over 2 Million People
ScienceAlert - MIKE BRANOM
With red-flag warnings in place and an "extreme" fire risk for parts of Northern California on Wednesday that is expected to shift south Thursday, a …
4 days ago