Earth & Environment
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...
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...
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Scientists uncover the hidden source of ‘forever chemicals’ in North Carolina
For years, communities in North Carolina have struggled with high levels of PFAS in their water.
PFAS, often called “forever chemicals,” are harmful, man-made substances...
Do we have more empathy for people who are similar to us? New research...
How do people successfully interact with those who are completely different from them? And can these differences create social barriers?
Social scientists are struggling with...
How we end up ‘confined’ on YouTube
Everyone who has used the YouTube video platform has already had the feeling:
The successive recommendations generated by the site's algorithm sometimes "confine" us in...
Venus and Jupiter to get hearts racing with celestial kiss
Early risers are in for a celestial treat this weekend when four planets in our solar system align in the sky, culminating in a...
Scientists find way to turn food waste into biodegradable plastics plastics
Scientists have found a way to turn food scraps into biodegradable plastics using bacteria, offering a promising solution to reduce plastic waste and pollution.
This...
How electricity can combat coastal erosion and protect beaches
Coastal erosion is a growing threat, especially with climate change and rising sea levels.
Now, new research from Northwestern University has found a surprising and...
Scientists uncover earliest cattle herds in northern Europe in the Netherlands
Archaeologists have discovered the earliest evidence of cattle herds in northern Europe at the site of Swifterbant in the Netherlands.
By using zoological, botanical, and...
Scientists discover fossil of giant snail-cracking worm lizard
Scientists have unearthed a fascinating fossil in Tunisia—a giant worm lizard species with jaws strong enough to crack snail shells.
Named Terastiodontosaurus marcelosanchezi, this species...