Strange. True. Today.
The unusual, unexpected, bizarre, funny, fascinating, and occasionally inexplicable stories happening around the world.
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Archaeologists have identified a massive Neolithic enclosure at Chleby, in central Czechia, built roughly 6,500 years ago. Its 12 entrances appear to have been arranged to track key positions of the sun and moon, making it about a millennium older than Stonehenge.
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A study warns that Reflect Orbital’s planned sun-reflecting satellites could erase stars from parts of the night sky and create broad zones of artificial twilight. The company disputes the researchers’ assumptions and says most satellites would serve remote locations.
Satellite tracking found that nine yellow-morph green turtles remained inside the Galápagos Marine Reserve for as long as 418 days, with several spending most of their time near a single island. The findings challenge expectations about the turtles’ long-distance movements, though researchers caution that the study may not capture occasional migrations.
Fresh From the Feed
At least 160 people have died after a massive collapse of mud, rock and ice sent a destructive surge through communities and border crossings between Nepal and Tibet. Hundreds remain missing, including tourists and police officers, while rescuers search amid warnings that a blocked river could cause further flooding.
Researchers in Australia are testing giant burrowing cockroaches equipped with cameras, electronics and remotely activated injectors. The insects could eventually help locate and deliver emergency treatment to people trapped in collapsed buildings or other inaccessible spaces.
A University of California San Diego study suggests micro glassfish do not steer by averaging the movements of their neighbors. Instead, they appear to copy one nearby fish at a time, with virtual-reality experiments revealing precisely timed responses.
Neurosurgeons at London’s National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery used an artificial-intelligence system to analyse live surgical footage while removing an 11mm pituitary tumour. The patient, 48-year-old Rhys Hibbert, has recovered his sight and returned to work, according to health officials.
New research suggests that tiny electrical charges acquired by water droplets can break down protective coatings and trigger corrosion in the metal underneath. The finding points to a previously overlooked way that rain may contribute to damage affecting outdoor metal objects and structures.
A normally submerged rock has emerged in Budapest as unusually dry, hot conditions send soil moisture and Danube flows to some of their lowest levels in decades, according to an IIASA analysis reported by Phys.org.
Democrat Eric Hafner, who is serving a federal prison sentence in New York and is scheduled for release in 2036, advanced from Alaska’s primary for its lone US House seat. His candidacy is likely to face another legal challenge over constitutional residency requirements.
NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope contains the optical core of technology originally developed for U.S. reconnaissance satellites. The hardware came from a canceled, costly spy-satellite program and arrived with both valuable optics and unusual restrictions on the information available to its new owners.
Laboratory tests described by Phys.org found that a thin, water-repellent coating on a flexible plastic sheet allowed visible light through while reflecting infrared radiation. The floating cover kept water cooler and sharply reduced evaporation, but it has not yet been tested on a real lake or dam.
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Analysis of a 2,200-year-old shipwreck off Croatia has identified conifer pitch—and, in one sample, beeswax—used to protect the vessel’s wooden hull. Pollen trapped in the coating also offers clues about where the ship was built, repaired and sailed.
Archaeologists have discovered an unusual 70-centimeter statue at Karahan Tepe in southern Turkey, depicting a person seated on a leopard. The Neolithic sculpture may offer clues about how early communities viewed dangerous animals, strength and power, although its exact meaning remains unknown.
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Researchers have identified 17 medieval manuscript fragments on Guernsey, many of them preserved because parchment pages were later reused as bindings for administrative notebooks. The texts include religious works, Bible passages, drama, poetry and travel writing, offering rare evidence of the island’s literary culture.
