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...
FEATURED
Scientists use laser tweezers to uncover the secret origin of lightning
Lightning lights up the sky in a dramatic flash, but scientists still don’t fully understand how it starts.
Now, researchers at the Institute of Science...
Scientists create a secure bridge between different cryptocurrencies
Bitcoin is probably the best-known cryptocurrency in the world today, but there are many others, each implementing different technical features.
Exchanging one cryptocurrency for another...
Should we be concerned about Google AI being sentient?
From virtual assistants like Apple’s Siri and Amazon’s Alexa, to robotic vacuums and self-driving cars, to automated investment portfolio managers and marketing bots, artificial...
Scientists detect Golden Ratio in human skulls
The Golden Ratio, described by Leonardo da Vinci and Luca Pacioli as the Divine Proportion, is an infinite number often found in nature, art...
Scientists find the cure for No. 1 killer of citrus trees
New research affirms a unique peptide found in an Australian plant can destroy the No. 1 killer of citrus trees worldwide and help prevent...
Toxic metal may play a role in autism development
In a recent study, researchers find that environmental metal and metalloid pollution (lead, mercury, aluminum, and arsenic) may induce autism spectrum disorders (ASDs).
The finding...
The Southern Ocean has the cleanest air on Earth. We have just discovered why
The Southern Ocean is renowned for having the cleanest air on Earth. But the precise reasons why have remained a mystery, until now.
There’s more to...
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...