Earth & Environment
Why retailers rarely use ‘Super Bowl’
The Super Bowl isn’t just the biggest game in sports, it’s also a major driver of commercial sales. Yet many retailers avoid saying its...
Olives have been essential to life in Italy for at least 6,000 years—far longer...
How far back does the rich history of Italian olives and oil stretch?
My new research, published in the American Journal of Archaeology, synthesizing and...
Scientists discover a dinosaur with hollow skin spikes unlike any seen before
Paleontologists have discovered a remarkable new dinosaur in China—one that carried unusual skin spikes unlike anything ever seen before in dinosaurs.
The find adds a...
When Earth’s magnetic poles took a very long time to flip
Earth’s magnetic field feels steady and dependable, but over geological time it is anything but fixed.
The magnetic north and south poles have swapped places...
Safer plastics ahead: Scientists make polyurethane without toxic chemicals
Polyurethane is one of the most widely used plastics in the world.
It appears in everything from furniture foam and insulation to coatings, adhesives, and...
Why one of Earth’s most common ocean bacteria is surprisingly fragile
One of the most abundant living organisms on Earth may also be one of the most vulnerable.
A group of ocean bacteria known as SAR11,...
A pocket-sized dinosaur solves a 70-million-year mystery
Paleontologists have identified a new species of dinosaur so small it could almost fit under your arm—and yet it is helping scientists solve a...
Earth’s roof is slowly flowing: Satellites expose hidden motion beneath Tibet
A new satellite-based study is changing how scientists understand the forces shaping the Tibetan Plateau, one of the most dramatic and geologically active regions...
How to spot the warning signs of financial abuse
Financial abuse is one of the most common yet least visible forms of abuse in family and domestic violence.
It happens when one person controls,...
Think bottled water is cleaner? It may contain more microplastics than the tap
Many people choose bottled water believing it is cleaner and safer than tap water. But new research suggests that this assumption may not always...
430,000-year-old wooden tools found in Greece rewrite early human history
Archaeologists have uncovered the earliest known hand-held wooden tools ever used by humans, and the discovery is changing what we know about early technology.
Found...
Baby dinosaurs were a key food source for Jurassic predators, study finds
A new study suggests that the babies of the largest dinosaurs to ever walk the Earth were once a crucial food source for meat-eating...
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Five common English words we don’t know the origins of—including ‘boy’ and ‘dog’
The naming process, the act of naming the items of the world, is as old as the first words spoken by our ancestors.
We can...
How dinosaurs’ extinction helped ants become farmers
When a huge asteroid hit Earth 66 million years ago, it wiped out the dinosaurs and drastically changed the planet.
While the disaster caused plants...
A month into the invasion of Ukraine, is the Russian army becoming demoralized
As the war in Ukraine approaches one month since Russia, without provocation, launched its invasion, U.S. intelligence estimates suggest that there have been more...
Where did Earth’s nitrogen come from?
New study reveals two distinct sources of life-essential element on Earth.
Where did Earth's nitrogen come from?
Rice University scientists show one primordial source of the...
Why asteroid Bennu has so craggy surface
Scientists thought asteroid Bennu's surface would be like a sandy beach, abundant in fine sand and pebbles, which would have been perfect for collecting...
Toothless dinosaur’s lost digits point to spread of parrot-like species
A newly discovered species of toothless, two-fingered dinosaur has shed light on how a group of parrot-like animals thrived more than 68 million years...
Scientists discover why the oceans are so diverse
A new study in the journal Science has given insight into why the world's oceans are full of more species than ever before -...
Your smartphone is a parasite, according to evolution
Head lice, fleas and tapeworms have been humanity's companions throughout our evolutionary history.
Yet, the greatest parasite of the modern age is no blood-sucking invertebrate....