From the mighty Tyrannosaurus rex to the itty-bitty Tobias’ caddisfly, 98% of all species to have ever existed on Earth are now extinct. Whilst it seems unthinkable that humanity is no different to our doomed predecessors, our days are probably numbered too. Unless we can master interstellar travel, the sun’s evolution into a planet-engulfing red giant will ultimately spell the end of humanity. Fortunately it’s a few billion years before we have to worry about that. Unfortunately, there are several other theoretical scenarios that could result in Homo sapiens’ demise well before the sun boils our planet alive. Firstly, and this isn’t so bad, we may just evolve into something else. You might well think that, with all of our medicine and technology, there is no longer any driving force (selection pressure) for the process, but scientists are still recording subtle changes in human biology such as the lengthening of the reproductive period. There are also arguments that advanced civilisation …
Just a quick post to say that there is plenty more from Unpopular Science coming very soon (we went a little bit quiet over the holidays). But, in the meantime, have you follwed us on twitter? We’re looking to create a buzzing online community for science buffs and nerdy nature geeks alike! So, get connected and, if you want to send us any spectacular scientific facts you happen to stumble across, that would be fantastic! Just tweet us with @Unpopsci or use #SciFacts and we’ll be certain to share them for you. Below are a list of some of the crazy ones we’ve found so far: An adult human is comprised of roughly 7,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 (7 octillion) atoms #SciFact The first cat in space was a French cat named Felicette. In 1963, the French blasted her into outer space and she returned alive #SciFact An adult Giant Pondskater is astoundingly large; it has a body 5 cm in length and a …
Runners Publisher: Immanion Summary: An engrossing, and thought-provoking read. Set in the wreck of a future dystopian England, Runners begins with teenage Elijah and a band of other tearaways (or Runners) struggling to get by in the ruins of an old house. The group dynamic, with its varied mix of personalities and ages, is fascinating from the off and the snippets of information concerning how the novel’s world came to be such a mess are intriguing to say the least. Of course, the group’s situation quickly becomes about more than merely feeding themselves as Elijah and his friends find themselves stuck in a dismal situation engineered in no small part by the sinister Mr Braithwaite. On top of this, a chance discovery in a mysterious woodland catapults them right into the heart of an even bigger menace; a superb representation of a theorized quantum phenomenon, and, by the end of the book, the numerous plot threads really do intertwine beautifully. …
