Magic mushrooms evolved to scramble insect brains, send them on wild, scary trips

A fisherman in northern Cambodia hooked what researchers say is the world’s largest freshwater fish — a giant stingray that scientists know relatively little about. The fisherman, 42, caught the 661-pound fish — which measured about 13 feet in length — near a remote island on the Mekong River in the Stung Treng area. A team of scientists from the Wonders of Mekong research project helped tag, measure and weigh the ray before it was released back into the river. The research group believes it was healthy when released and expects it to survive.

Ten extremely rare baby animals were just born to two different moms at a special center for them in upstate New York — and people are fawning over them even before they’ve opened their eyes. The babies are red wolf pups, born to Charlotte (red wolf F2121) and...

What do you call a hybrid created when a grizzly bear and a polar bear mate? The answer might soon be common knowledge, as climate change has pushed these two species of bears together. As a result, interbreeding has become more common between the two, a stark reminder of how climate change affects animals, too.

A shark split in half on a beach has fueled suspicions that a much larger creature attacked it. Reddit's users have been speculating about what caused the site's demise. Someone posted a terrible photograph of the gigantic shark in two pieces on the forum's r/sharks subreddit as if another beast had attacked it.

Image from Netherlands Institute of Art History; Wikimedia Commons; Public Domain. The parting of the Red Sea in the Book of Exodus in the Bible has always been of interest to historians and scientists.

Today’s stories range from Astronomers Might See Dark Matter by Staring into the Void to No Sign Found of a “Cosmic Dawn” to How to Make the Universe Think for Us, and much more. ‘Dark’ free-floating black hole –“A team of astronomers led by UC Berkeley graduate...

Q: We have been opening the windows in our home a lot more, and that’s how I recently noticed tiny black bugs in my house near the window. What are these small black bugs, where did they come from, and how do I get rid of them?. A: Generally,...

Scientists in a laboratory, known as an insectary located in Western Colorado are developing bugs engineered to attack other bugs and invasive plants harmful to agriculture. Colorado's Insectary is the oldest and largest facility of its kind in the entire United States.

Call the doctor, we’re in love. What’s more awesome than a horse? A zebra. And what’s cuter than a zebra? A baby zebra. Do you know what’s even cuter? A baby zebra with spots instead of stripes!. A rare polka dot baby zebra was spotted (pun...

The dire wolf is a prehistoric canine that lived in the Americas and some parts of Asia between 125,000–9,500 years ago (Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene epochs). The first fossil of this ancient beast was found in 1858 and was given the name Canis dirus, which translates as “terrible wolf.”

The human middle ear—which houses three tiny, vibrating bones—is key to transporting sound vibrations into the inner ear, where they become nerve impulses that allow us to hear. Embryonic and fossil evidence proves that the human middle ear evolved from the spiracle of fishes. However, the origin of...

Are you one of the many fans of visual puzzles and other optical illusions that circle the web? Then this new challenge should please you. On TikTok, a user answering to the pseudonym @pasillusion shared on June 13 a video presenting a drawing, on which we can see a dolphin swallowing a small fish.

A fossilized lower jaw has led an international team of paleontologists, headed by Bastien Mennecart from the Natural History Museum Basel, to discover a new species of predator that once lived in Europe. These large predators belong to a group of carnivores colloquially known as "bear dogs." They could weigh around 320 kilograms and appeared 36 million years ago before becoming extinct around 7.5 million years ago.

A zoogoer in China recently photographed a white lion rocking a wild hairdo. According to Newsweek, a white lion from the Guangzhou Zoo in China has gone viral after a guest's photos of the animal circulated online after a May 28 visit. In the photos, the male lion has a...

A latest exploration of a dinosaur mummy left archaeologists in a weird sensation. It appears to be the best-protected dinosaur mummy that has ever been located, and this can be seen from its appearance which still has undamaged skin armor. The fossil was found by accident while miners were drilling...

ANOTHER solar flare has a chance of hitting Earth today. A huge expulsion of particles from the Sun hit Earth yesterday and we could see a similar geomagnetic storm causing event today. The experts at SpaceWeather.com explained: "NOAA forecasters say there is a 25% chance of M-class solar flares today.

Who doesn't love a good ol' optical illusion?Well apparently, if you can spot the second tiger in this trippy image, you're in the top one per cent of intelligent people – and it's much more difficult than you think.Asides from the obvious striped cat in the middle of the jungle, there's another "hidden tiger" that's left people scratching their heads.Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletterTake a look:Found it yet?If you've spotted the hidden tiger in this image, then (apparently) you're smarter than most people.Discussing the importance of optical illusions to better understand our brains, scientists Kim Ransley and...

Turtles are magnificent creatures. This one found by tourists on the coastline is the biggest sea turtle on the planet. This leatherback turtle emerged from the water and resting in the sand, just to return to the sea. These turtles are the largest of all types, and it is a...

Scientists have announced that they have discovered the largest known clone on the planet—spanning at least 110 miles in Western Australia.

The newly discovered species is called Lamarckdromia beagle, and it is a member of the family Dromiidae. These crabs are more popularly known as sponge crabs. It was found in Western Australia, not far from the town of Denmark. The Lamarckdromia beagle specimen was found by a Danish family on...