Meet the griffinfly: giant, ancient, and still full of mysteries. Image Credits: Google Gemini Imagine a dragonfly with a two-foot wingspan whizzing by your head. That was prehistoric Earth, and scientists just realised they’ve had the wrong explanation all along.Some 300 million years ago, the Earth was almost unrecognisable. One huge supercontinent, called Pangaea, covered…
The tiny worm that rewrote the rules of animal life. Image Credits: Google Gemini There is a worm living in water-filled cracks in ancient rock in a South African gold mine that has no business being there. It’s smaller than a grain of rice. It has no eyes, and it exists in conditions that most…
Standing at the edge of one of history’s most expensive unsolved mysteries. Image Credits: Nova Scotia Archives For some reason, there’s something about an unsolved mystery that the human brain can’t leave alone. Few unsolved mysteries have proved quite so stubbornly irresistible as a small, odd depression in the earth on a Canadian island that…
A man in England returned medieval floor tiles he took as a child over sixty years ago, stored in a biscuit tin. Image Credits: via Wikimedia Commons Not many people can boast about how a biscuit tin led to an ethical awakening. Yet, there was one anonymous person from England whose metallic tin was carrying…
Ancient Bristlecone Pines in the Great Basin mountains exhibit remarkable longevity, surviving millennia in harsh conditions. These trees, immune to cellular ageing, possess dense, resinous wood and conserve energy through a unique strip-bark design and long-lasting needles. Image Credits: Wikimedia Commons To be able to withstand the rigours of altitude and aridity in the mountains…
In the mid-1800s, gas parties showcased nitrous oxide’s euphoric effects. Dentist Horace Wells observed a man injured but pain-free under its influence, sparking an idea. Image Credits: Wikimedia Commons Imagine such an event wherein the performance is centred around individuals breathing in “laughing gas,” stumbling about, and providing entertainment to the audience members. In the…
A shepherd boy’s lost goat led to a monumental discovery in 1947. He found ancient pottery in a cave near Qumran. Inside, he discovered the Dead Sea Scrolls, a hidden library. Image Credits: via Wikimedia Commons The story began in a crevice of limestone caves in the Judean Desert when an intrepid young shepherd was…
An accidental discovery in 1748 unearthed Pompeii, a Roman city preserved by volcanic ash. This find revolutionized archaeology, revealing intact streets and homes. Image Credits: via Wikimedia Commons Think about drilling down into the ground to find nothing more than water, but suddenly finding yourself in another world. It is precisely what occurred back in…
A simple lab accident in 1903 led to a major safety breakthrough. French chemist Edouard Benedictus discovered how a special liquid kept a broken flask intact. This led to the invention of laminated glass. Image Credits: via Wikimedia Commons Throughout history, there have been many great inventions that took years to develop, but sometimes even…
A rare long-period comet, C/2025 R3 (PanSTARRS), is currently visible in southern skies, offering a brief observing window before it fades from view. The object, which originates from the distant Oort Cloud, has already passed its closest approach to the Sun and is now moving away, causing its brightness to gradually decline. Astronomers estimate its…