Ibn al-Haytham can be called the father of modern optics.  His 11th-century Book of Optics, which was published 1000 years ago, is considered by some to be in the same league as Newton's Principia regarding its influence in physics, yet very little is known about the writer.

It may seem intuitive that the Moon might have a core, just as Earth does, but science doesn't work on intuition.  Absent drilling or inference, it has been hypothesized that Luna has a core but now researchers are closer to an answer, thanks to old Apollo missions.

A group of researchers analyzed older seismic data using new techniques and now say the Moon possesses an iron-rich core with a solid inner ball nearly 150 miles in radius, and a 55-mile thick outer fluid shell. 

If you're not from a part of the U.S.A. that read the "Li'l Abner" comics by Al Capp, you may not know Sadie Hawkins Day - but butterflies do.   Sadie Hawkins, as comic strip aficionados know, was 'the homeliest gal in the hills' so her prominent father, worried about her never finding a husband, invented a day where women could chase men and marriage was the result.   The strip debuted in November of 1937 and was wildly popular, resulting in Sadie Hawkins dances all over the country for decades since.

The cool days of November aren't lucky for just bachelor men.  Butterflies have sex role reversal when the days get cooler as well.

There once was a time when the parts you had were all you were going to get; when something went wrong that was that.    As science and medicine progressed in leaps during the 20th century replacement parts became available, like artificial joints, and state-of-the-art metal or ceramic implants eliminated pain and gave many relief from arthritic knees, shoulders and hips.

But what once was the future is now old tech and, instead, the goal is to take a patient's own cells and create replacement joints.   A team of  researchers have found a way to create these biological joints in animals, and they believe biological joint replacements for humans aren't far away.

Couple-and treatment-specific factors can be used to provide infertile couples with an accurate assessment of the likelihood of having a successful outcome following in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) using a new prediction model created by Scott Nelson from the University of Glasgow, Glasgow, Scotland and Debbie Lawlor from the University of Bristol, Bristol, England.

 They say it provides a more accurate and contemporary assessment of likely outcomes after IVF than a previously established model because the new model includes intracytoplasmic sperm injection outcomes. 

It's not a cartoon, an ancient flightless bird was actually able to use its wings like a flail - or nunchaku, if your perspective is more Asian.

Paleontologists have discovered that Xenicibis, a member of the ibis family found only in Jamaica and that lived about ten thousand years ago used its specialized wings like a flail, swinging its upper arm and striking its enemies with its thick hand bones. 

"No animal has ever evolved anything quite like this," said Nicholas Longrich of Yale, who led the research. "We don't know of any other species that uses its body like a flail. It's the most specialized weaponry of any bird I've ever seen."