Earth & Environment
How a slow change in ocean chemistry may have cooled Earth after the dinosaurs
Scientists may have finally solved a long-standing mystery about how Earth shifted from a hot, tropical “greenhouse” world to the cooler, ice-covered planet we...
Air pollution may raise the risk and speed of ALS
A new study from Sweden has found that long-term exposure to air pollution may increase the risk of developing serious brain diseases like ALS.
The...
How tiny Mars helps set Earth’s ice ages
Mars is only about half the size of Earth and has just one-tenth of our planet’s mass.
Compared with giants like Jupiter, it seems far...
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...
FEATURED
Where does water on rocky planets come from
The emergence of life is a mystery. Nevertheless, researchers agree that water is a precondition for life.
The first cell emerged in water and then...
Ancient Peru crisis linked to violence, study shows
During the transition from the fifth to the fourth century BCE, the Central Andes, an area now part of Peru, experienced a period of...
Why narcissists tend to make bad decisions
In a new study, researchers found narcissists are less likely to use critical thinking processes that are important for solving problems and making sound...
Scientist have uncovered the first evidence of the 4.5-billion-year-old “Proto Earth”
Earth has a long, 4.5 billion history full of momentous twists and turns.
Multiple prominent events played leading roles in Earth's story.
One of them is...
Scientists find saying ‘please’ is more strategic than polite
By kindergarten, most children learn that saying "please" is the polite way to ask for something.
This magic word is thought to show courtesy and...
“It takes a village to raise a child”: Insights from hunter-gatherer societies
A study led by Dr. Nikhil Chaudhary, an evolutionary anthropologist at Cambridge University, reveals fascinating insights into childcare practices from hunter-gatherer societies.
It suggests that...
Giant pandas’ distinctive black and white markings provide effective camouflage, study finds
The high-contrast pattern of giant pandas helps them blend in with their natural environment.
Researchers at the University of Bristol, Chinese Academy of Sciences and...
Heat waves are more dangerous than you think
The numbers are staggering: As of Wednesday, Phoenix had hit 20 straight days at or above 110 degrees Fahrenheit (43 degrees Celsius); El Paso,...