How ancient people may have turned water into wine—using only raisins
It may sound like a miracle, but new research suggests that people in ancient times could have made wine simply by soaking sun-dried raisins...
Snake pee may help treat gout pain and kidney stones
If you’ve never had a reptile as a pet, you might be surprised to learn that many reptiles don’t pee like humans do. Instead...
How a deep-sea ‘vampire’ helped solve a 300-million-year evolution mystery
A mysterious deep-sea creature has just helped scientists solve a long-standing evolutionary puzzle.
The vampire squid—an unusual animal that looks like a mix between an...
Scientists ask AI to generate human bodies—and the results reveal clear biases
A new study from the University of Toronto has found that today’s artificial intelligence image generators often reproduce—and even exaggerate—common stereotypes about the human...
Earthquakes spark hidden life boom beneath Yellowstone, Study Finds
Nearly a third of Earth’s living mass exists underground, in dark environments where sunlight never reaches.
Instead of relying on photosynthesis, these deep-living microbes survive...
Scientists turn old clothes into super-strong cement
Researchers at Kaunas University of Technology (KTU) in Lithuania have found an innovative way to turn unwanted clothing into something extremely useful: stronger, more...
56 million years ago, the Earth suddenly heated up – and many plants stopped...
Around 56 million years ago, Earth suddenly got much hotter.
Over about 5,000 years, the amount of carbon in the atmosphere drastically increased and global...
Scientists shrink OLEDs to nano-size, unlocking ultra-sharp displays
Researchers at ETH Zurich have created some of the smallest light-emitting diodes ever made—so tiny that thousands of them could fit inside a single...
Africa’s forests are now releasing more carbon than they absorb, scientists warn
Africa’s forests, once powerful natural defenders against climate change, have begun releasing more carbon dioxide than they capture, according to a major new study.
The...
Prehistoric humans may have kept wolves on an isolated island, study finds
Scientists have uncovered surprising evidence that humans living thousands of years ago may have kept wolves close by—long before dogs became our loyal companions.
The...
Stretchable screens take a big leap forward with new smart materials
Imagine a digital screen that can bend, twist, and stretch like skin—wrapping smoothly around your wrist, fitting onto medical implants, or even covering robots...
Stars surprisingly survive near the Milky Way’s black hole, study finds
Astronomers have long believed that the region around the Milky Way’s central black hole, Sagittarius A*, is one of the most dangerous places in...
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Perovskites, a ‘dirt cheap’ alternative to silicon, just got a lot more efficient
The secret, a University of Rochester optics professor explains, is to harness the power of metals.
Galactic surprise: Early universe full of milky way lookalikes!
Once upon a time, astronomers believed that galaxies like our own Milky Way were rare gems in the early universe.
The theory was that the...
Physicists reveal how motion can be generated by frustration
When two people want different things, frustration is inevitable.
But these non-reciprocal interactions can also occur not just between people, but in the natural world.
In...
A breakthrough in battling snakebites: the promise of a universal antivenom
Scientists at Scripps Research have made a groundbreaking discovery in the fight against snakebites, which claim over 100,000 lives each year, primarily in Asia...
Iron sulfides: A spark for life in Earth’s ancient hot springs?
An international team of scientists has uncovered a fascinating role for iron sulfides in the creation of life on early Earth.
Their study, published in...