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Weird world: Mythical creatures
No-one really believes in monsters, but it’s surprising how these mysterious stories can spring up from common facts.

Weird world: Jellyfish
How do jellyfish mate without touching each other? And what do they have in common with butterflies?

Weird world: Duckbilled platypus
Is it a bird? Is it a water rat? No! It’s a very odd mammal.

Weird world: Cockroaches
You may have heard the rumour that cockroaches could survive even a nuclear holocaust. But what makes these commonplace bugs so special?

Weird world: Eels
What do you call a baby eel? Why do we never see eels mating? And how long can they survive out of water?

Weird world: Shire horses
How big was the world’s biggest horse? How did Shire Horses help medieval knights? Check out the article below for answers.

It's raining cats, dogs... and frogs?
Stories of raining tadpoles can’t really be true… or can they?

Weird world: Rainbows
How do you get an upside down rainbow? And where’s the pot of gold?! Click here to see the picture Why does it happen? Upside down rainbows, or ‘circumzenithal...

Weird world: Obsolete organs
Vestigial organs are parts of the body that now seem more or less useless. Which bits of your body could you do without? Find out below

Virgin births in nature
Is it really true that some reptiles can reproduce without a mate? And if so, why aren’t we overrun with them? What does it mean? ‘Parthenogenesis...

Whale snot and other winners of the Ig Nobel prize
Got any inventions up your sleeve? You could be a candidate for the next Ig Nobel prize, an award for weird and wonderful ideas in science. We’ve all...

Famous mistakes
The Earth is not flat, and the sun doesn’t go round it. Scientific history has been wrong on many occasions. But which of these common misconceptions...

Fun facts
Want to amaze your friends or surprise your siblings? Try astounding them with one of these fun facts! Cats can’t taste sweets Sweetness in food is...

Can water flow uphill?
By changing the structure of materials, physicists can make water flow up instead of down. Physicists have discovered that etching channels onto gold...

Sonar
What do bats, submarines and doctors have in common? They all rely on sound to ‘see’ better. Most of the time, our eyes do a pretty good job of telling...

Time to change time?
Scientists are considering the addition of a ‘leap hour’ every few hundred years. We all know that February 29th is an unusual day – after all...

The real 'Spiderman'
Physicists have found the formula for a 'spiderman' suit. Find out more in this article from the experts at physics.org . In a paper for the Institute...

Smelling the future
Ever wanted to smell a cookery programme? Well soon you might be able to do just that, thanks to the work of a cutting-edge engineer in Japan. Professor...

Swearing prevents pain
Scientists have revealed that swearing can be an effective pain killer. A team of scientists at Keele University made the discovery when they asked 66...

14-year-old wins fight with shark
A shark bit off more than it could chew when it attacked 14-year-old Lydia Ward. She was bitten on the hip by the 1.5 metre long shark while swimming...

Weird experiments
From never leaving your bed to floating frogs in mid air, there's a world of weird experiments to discover. Read on to discover five of our favourites below.

Does Santa exist?
Science doesn’t stop for Christmas. In fact, one annual issue that comes up for the world’s top researchers is ‘the Santa question’. So, how does...

Cow compasses
Google maps have helped uncover a rather bizarre fact about cattle – they align magnetically.