Earth & Environment
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...
Breathing dirty air may quietly raise Alzheimer’s risk in older people
Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia and affects tens of millions of people around the world. It slowly damages memory, thinking...
40,000-year-old symbols may be humanity’s first step toward writing
Long before the first known writing systems appeared in ancient Mesopotamia, early humans were already carving mysterious symbols into tools, ornaments, and sculptures.
A new...
Scientists create a “cloud in a box” to unlock weather’s biggest mysteries
In a laboratory at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory, scientists recently witnessed something remarkable: the birth of a cloud inside a...
Why we may still be waiting for an alien signal
Since the first Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) experiment in 1960, scientists have been scanning the Milky Way for signs of advanced alien civilizations.
They...
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Seabird colony creates ‘halo’ of depleted fish stocks
A vast seabird colony on Ascension Island creates a "halo" in which fewer fish live, new research shows.
Ascension, a UK Overseas Territory, is home...
90-million-year-old rainforest in Antarctica reveals a different prehistoric world
Researchers have found evidence of rainforests near the South Pole 90 million years ago, suggesting the climate was exceptionally warm at the time.
A team...
World’s first known butt-drag fossil trace was left by a rock hyrax in South...
Rock hyraxes, known in southern Africa more often as "dassies," are furry, thickset creatures with short legs and no discernible tails. They spend much...
Young Tyrannosaurus rexes were deadly despite bite force one-sixth that of adults
Jack Tseng loves bone-crunching animals — hyenas are his favorite — so when paleontologist Joseph Peterson discovered fossilized dinosaur bones that had teeth marks...
Does your dog care if you die?
Any owner would say yes. Here’s what the science says.
Yes.
Dogs have behavioral and circulating hormone responses to the presence or absence of their owner...
Scientists recover the world’s oldest RNA from a 40,000-year-old woolly mammoth
For the first time in history, scientists have extracted and decoded RNA molecules from the remains of an Ice Age woolly mammoth.
The breakthrough, achieved...
How sloths went from ground-dwelling giants to the small tree-climbers
Scientists have solved the evolutionary puzzle of how sloths went from enormous ground-dwelling giants to the small, famously-laidback tree-climbers of the modern day.
The study,...
How to never get a speeding fine again, and maybe save a child’s life
What if our cars didn't allow us to speed? Or, at least, strongly encouraged us not to speed?
We could help motorists avoid speeding—and therefore...