Earth & Environment
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...
The sticky problem of lunar dust gets a mathematical solution
Apollo astronauts discovered an unexpected enemy on the Moon. Fine dust, kicked up by their movements and attracted by static electricity, coated everything.
It found...
How air pollution may raise depression risk in older people
Air pollution is often talked about as a threat to our lungs and hearts, but scientists are now finding that it can also affect...
How a 4,000-year-old sheep solved a long-standing plague mystery
The Black Death is one of the most infamous pandemics in human history, killing roughly a third of Europe’s population during the Middle Ages.
That...
Tattoos, toxins and the immune system – what you need to know before you...
From minimalist wrist designs to full sleeves, body art has become so common that it barely raises an eyebrow.
But while the personal meaning of...
When humans disappeared, these birds evolved different beaks
When the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the UCLA campus, students weren’t the only ones affected.
A small brown bird called the dark-eyed junco also felt...
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Surviving the summer heat: the critical role of air conditioning for older people
Extreme heat is creating trouble all over the world. Record-breaking temperatures are sparking forest fires that spew smog affecting people miles away.
This heat is...
We finally know how cold the last ice age was
Researchers have nailed down the temperature of the last ice age, known as the Last Glacial Maximum of 20,000 years ago, to about 46...
The largest plant on Earth stretches across 180km and is 4,500 years old
Australian researchers have located what is believed to be the largest plant on Earth—and they estimate it's at least 4,500 years old.
The ancient and...
Urban green space may help people live longer
In a new study, researchers found that urban green space can prevent premature deaths.
The analysis, which included nine studies involving seven countries and a...
This planet-forming disk has more water than Earth’s oceans
Astronomers have detected a large amount of water vapour in the protoplanetary disk around a young star.
There’s at least three times as much water...
Scientists uncover Jurassic dinosaurs’ favorite foods
New research has uncovered surprising details about what dinosaurs ate by analyzing the chemistry hidden in their fossilized teeth.
Scientists have discovered that plant-eating dinosaurs...
New type of killer whale in the northeastern Pacific, identified by shark bites
Researchers from the University of British Columbia (UBC) have stumbled upon a potentially new population of killer whales off the coast of California and...
Rare solar wind event disrupts Earth’s magnetosphere
Earth is constantly bombarded by solar wind, a stream of charged particles from the sun.
This solar wind interacts with Earth’s magnetic field, creating a...