Earth & Environment

‘Forever chemicals’ may speed up aging in middle-aged men

Chemicals known as PFAS, often called “forever chemicals,” are found in many everyday products, from non-stick cookware and waterproof clothing to food packaging and...

How long do civilizations last

It is one of the most famous questions in science, and it was asked, as legend has it, over lunch. Enrico Fermi, the physicist who...

Why your dog tries to help and your cat just watches

If you’ve ever lost something at home, you may have noticed a funny difference between your pets. Your dog might rush over, sniff around, and...

How a 600-million-year-old one-eyed creature shaped human sight

Long before humans, dinosaurs, or even fish existed, one of our distant ancestors looked very different from anything alive today. Researchers now say that all...

Ancient amber reveals how ants lived and interacted in the age of dinosaurs

Tiny insects trapped in fossilized tree resin are offering scientists a rare window into life on Earth millions of years ago. A new study of...

6 million years ago something slammed into modern-day Brazil

Giant impacts on Earth's surface can be cataclysmic events with far-reaching consequences. They can excavate massive craters like the Vredefort Crater. There's also growing evidence...

Your tires may be broadcasting your movements without you knowing

A safety feature found in most modern cars could also be quietly exposing drivers to tracking, according to new research from the IMDEA Networks...

Ancient love stories: How Neanderthal–human relationships shaped our DNA

Our DNA carries the history of ancient migrations, encounters, and relationships between different human groups. A new study suggests that intimate connections between modern humans...

Why complaining about your boss might actually bring coworkers closer

Most people have done it at least once—venting to coworkers about a frustrating boss after a long meeting or a tough day. Gossiping about the...

Ancient eggshell engravings reveal early humans’ surprising math skills

More than 60,000 years ago, early humans in southern Africa were carving patterns onto ostrich eggshells—and new research shows these designs were far more...

Scientists find one of the smallest dinosaurs ever found in South America

Scientists have discovered a remarkably complete fossil of a tiny dinosaur that is helping to solve a long-standing puzzle about a strange group of...

Iron age mass grave reveals targeted killing of women and children in Europe

Archaeologists have uncovered chilling evidence of a large-scale massacre from about 2,800 years ago in what is now northern Serbia. The discovery, made at the...

FEATURED

Why are food prices still so high? What is price gouging—and why is it...

Vice President Kamala Harris' proposal to ban price gouging by grocers and food companies seemed to do more than just stir up the usual...

Earth sized planet discovered with extreme 5.4 hour year

Astronomers have found a fascinating new world that challenges our understanding of planetary systems. Using NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), an international team of...

History is full of failed attempts to establish new currencies. So what makes crypto...

The confusion and commotion over cryptocurrency often reminds me of the 19th-century German drama Faust. In Goethe's masterpiece, the devil Mephistopheles offers an emperor the...

Fossil bite marks reveal ancient predator hunts 280 million years ago

New research suggests that large land predators were already hunting big plant-eating animals more than 280 million years ago, much earlier than scientists once...

Neanderthals and humans: A 7,000-year love story revealed by DNA

A groundbreaking study has revealed that Neanderthals and modern humans (Homo sapiens) interbred for a period of around 7,000 years, starting about 50,500 years...
New AI could solve Rubik's Cube faster than any human

New AI could solve Rubik’s Cube faster than any human

The fastest people need about 50 moves to solve a Rubik’s Cube. New AI takes about 20 moves, most of the time solving it...

The Oscars shift from big screen to TV stream

Audience attention may have been pulled by ‘the slap that stopped Hollywood’, but it actually overshadowed a number of significant firsts at the 2022...

Why ancient Mesopotamians would have used a sheep’s liver to predict Donald Trump’s election...

I'm standing in a basement kitchen prodding at a sheep's liver, looking for marks on its smooth surface. People crowd around to film the proceedings,...