We’re always told we need to get our eight hours of sleep – but who decided that? Was it just plucked out of thin air? According to Matthew Walker, author of book Why We Sleep, and Professor of Neuroscience and Psychology at the University of California, it’s not just yawn-prevention that’s the reason we’re advised …

Welcome to the coldest village on earth where the average temperature in January is -50C and inhabitant’s eye lashes freeze solid mere moments after stepping outside. The remote Siberian village of Oymyakon is the coldest permanently inhabited settlement in the world. It was so icy in the Russian village that a new electronic thermometer conked …

Baby brain – an unofficial term used to describe the mental fog women say they experience during pregnancy – could be real, according to scientists. A meta-analysis of 20 scientific studies suggests that cognitive deficiencies occurring during pregnancy – also known “mumnesia” – are measurable. But researchers from Deakin University say the impact is likely …

A teenage model is auctioning off her virginity online and claims bidding has started at £890,000. The 18-year-old Italian student said she wanted to use the cash to fund studying in the UK and buy her parents a house. The young woman, named online as Nicole, said she realised when she was 16 her virginity …

OCEAN ISLE BEACH, N.C. — Although North Carolina’s recent bitter cold snap deterred plenty of humans from sticking their noses outdoors, a group of alligators stuck their snouts into the frost and hunkered down in the name of survival. When the alligators at Shallotte River Swamp Park recently found themselves beneath a sheet of ice …