Earth & Environment
Why Tiger Shark bites peak in Hawaiʻi each October
For years, surfers and ocean-goers in Hawaiʻi have talked about “Sharktober,” a time when shark encounters seem more common.
Now, scientists say the pattern is...
Scientists discover Tyrannosaurus rex grew for 40 years, far longer than we thought
Tyrannosaurus rex has long been pictured as a fast-growing monster that quickly reached its enormous adult size.
But a new study suggests the famous “king...
Different dirty air linked to different lung cancer death risks
Lung cancer is one of the most serious and deadly diseases in the world. Every year, millions of people are diagnosed, and many lose...
The Arctic is entering a new era of extreme weather, scientists warn
The Arctic is no longer changing slowly.
According to a new international study, the region has entered a new phase marked by frequent and intense...
A lost ice age giant speaks again—from inside a wolf’s stomach
Scientists have recovered the complete genome of a woolly rhinoceros that lived more than 14,000 years ago—and they did it using tissue preserved inside...
The rise of fish began with a mass extinction, fossils reveal
About 445 million years ago, life on Earth nearly collapsed. In a relatively short geological moment, Earth’s climate flipped dramatically.
Massive glaciers spread across the...
Whale hunting in south America began 5,000 years ago—far earlier than we thought
The history of whale hunting is much older—and more global—than researchers once believed.
A new study shows that Indigenous communities living along the southern coast...
How a 400-year-old shark keeps its vision sharp for life
In a quiet office at the University of California, Irvine, Dorota Skowronska-Krawczyk watches a grainy video on her computer.
A massive Greenland shark drifts slowly...
This system reveals how super-Earths are born
One of the best things about being able to see thousands of exoplanetary systems is that we’re able to track them in different stages...
Why the Los Angeles fires were so destructive
Twelve months after devastating wildfires tore through parts of Los Angeles, researchers are still uncovering lessons from one of the most destructive urban fire...
Your receipt could soon be made from trees, not toxic chemicals
Every day, most of us touch thermal paper without giving it a second thought.
It shows up as shopping receipts, delivery labels, movie tickets, and...
Walking on two legs began earlier than we thought
Scientists may have just pushed back the timeline for when our ancestors first started walking upright.
A new study suggests that Sahelanthropus tchadensis, a species...
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New study explains what may have triggered ice age
A new study led by University of Arizona researchers may have solved two mysteries that have long puzzled paleo-climate experts:
Where did the ice sheets...
Global warming may double sleep apnea burden worldwide, study warns
A groundbreaking new study by sleep researchers at Flinders University has revealed that rising global temperatures may significantly worsen sleep apnea, a common and...
Mars’s northern ice cap is surprisingly young
If you’ve ever looked at Mars through a telescope, you probably noticed its two polar ice caps.
The northern one is made largely of water...
An otherworldly cloud over New Zealand
Filmmakers love New Zealand. Its landscapes evoke other worlds, which explains why so much of The Lord of the Rings was filmed there.
The country...
How the Earth became a habitable planet
The Earth is unique in our solar system.
It is the only terrestrial planet with a large amount of water and a relatively large moon,...
Scientists discover new type of aurora
For millennia, humans in the high latitudes have been enthralled by auroras--the northern and southern lights.
Yet even after all that time, it appears the...
Scientists find potential source of shock-darkened meteorites
Planetary scientists have identified a potential source of shock-darkened meteorites.
When the Chelyabinsk fireball exploded across Russian skies in 2013, it littered Earth with a...
Scientists find way to trace the origins of the Fulani people
The Fulani are one of the largest groups of people in Africa, with a population of over 40 million.
They live across a vast region...