This may come as a bit of a shocker, but technically speaking, not all water on Earth is made up of H2O molecules. Less than a century ago, the discovery of the hydrogen isotope deuterium – 2H, but often simplified to D – revealed the existence of another kind of water with the chemical formula 2H2O or
A confluence of warm water is threatening to topple the very pillars that keep the ‘Doomsday Glacier’ afloat. The first measurements ever performed below the icy tongue of Antarctica’s Thwaites Glacier have now revealed a previously underestimated flow of warm water from the east. This inflow of heat is mixing with other waters below
We encounter artificial intelligence (AI) every day. AI describes computer systems that are able to perform tasks that normally require human intelligence. When you search something on the internet, the top results you see are decided by AI. Any recommendations you get from your favorite shopping or streaming websites will also be based on an AI
Nearly 4 in 5 dog owners report instances of jealousy from their pooches, and new research suggests those behaviors can be triggered even if a supposed rival for affection and attention is out of sight. In other words, dogs appear to have the mental capacity to imagine a situation that would make them feel
Trees are the Earth’s lungs – it’s well understood they drawdown and lock up vast amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. But emerging research is showing trees can also emit methane, and it’s currently unknown just how much. This could be a major problem, given methane is a greenhouse gas about 45 times
It’s easy to focus on all the negatives amid a traumatic global pandemic, but there are some positives, too. A new online survey has found the psychological outcomes of New Zealand’s super strict lockdown were not all bad. The study mirrors other mental health studies on COVID-19 in New Zealand, which had one of
Rechargeable lithium-ion batteries are basically everywhere, powering everything from smartphones to notebooks, earbuds to gaming devices, and so much more. But while the convenience of this ubiquitous (and Nobel Prize-winning) battery chemistry has radically changed the way we use and charge portable technology, lithium-ion is far from perfect. The performance of lithium-ion batteries degrades
The tropical water at the equator is renowned for having the richest diversity of marine life on Earth, with vibrant coral reefs and large aggregations of tunas, sea turtles, manta rays, and whale sharks. The number of marine species naturally tapers off as you head towards the poles. Ecologists have assumed this global pattern
Archaeologists have found a “Lost Golden City” that’s been buried under the ancient Egyptian capital of Luxor for the past 3,000 years, the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities announced Thursday (April 8). The city, historically known as “The Rise of Aten,” was founded by Amenhotep III (ruled 1391-1353 BCE), the grandfather of Tutankhamun, or King Tut.
Whiskers on cats and other mammals aren’t covered with sensors. Instead, the sensing is done at the base of the whisker, hidden inside a small follicle, and scientists just discovered a lot more about how this biological transmission works. Getting into the follicle to take a look at the base of whiskers would interfere
Have you ever noticed how we usually try and solve problems by adding more, rather than taking away? More meetings, more forms, more buttons, more shelves, more systems, more code, and so on. Now scientists think they might know the reason why. A study of 1,585 people across 8 different experiments showed that our
A bacterium that dwells deep underground, living off chemical reactions triggered by radioactive decay, has been doing so unchanged for millions of years, new research has found. A genetic analysis of microbes of the species Candidatus Desulforudis audaxviator (CDA) collected from three different continents has revealed that the bacterium has barely evolved since they were
Some of the oldest human art in Europe is entirely hidden from sight, tucked away in the narrow crawl spaces of deep, dark, and winding caves. To even see the walls, let alone decorate them, stone age artists would have needed to crawl around with several torches, and archaeologists now suspect all that smoke induced
If you’ve ever gotten your phone wet in the rain, dropped it in water or spilt liquid over it, you’re not alone. One study suggests 25 percent of smartphone users have damaged their smartphone with water or some other kind of liquid. Liquid penetrating a smartphone can affect the device in several ways. It
Earth’s transition to permanently hosting an oxygenated atmosphere was a halting process that took 100 million years longer than previously believed, according to a new study. When Earth first formed 4.5 billion years ago, the atmosphere contained almost no oxygen. But 2.43 billion years ago, something happened: Oxygen levels started rising, then falling, accompanied by massive
Modern brains are younger than originally thought, possibly developing as recently as 1.5 million years ago, according to a study published Thursday – after the earliest humans had already begun walking on two feet and had even started fanning out from Africa. Our first ancestors from the genus Homo emerged on the continent about
Scientists have isolated and harnessed that rarest of things – an organic blue food coloring found in nature – and figured out a way to produce it at scale. The discovery, made by an international team of scientists working across different fields, means that for the first time blue and other-colored foods may not have
Even after a year of coronavirus lockdowns and shutdowns, global emissions of greenhouse gases are still increasing at an unrelenting rate. Today, according to initial measurements from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), global levels of carbon dioxide emissions are higher than they have been at any given time in the past 3.6 million years.
Bishop of Lund Peder Pedersen Winstrup, of the Churches of Sweden and Denmark, died in 1679. An important and well-respected man, his body was mummified and laid to rest in a family vault in Lund Cathedral. Apart from the exceptional preservation of his remains, nothing seemed unusual about his death or burial. In 2012,
Genetic sequencing of human remains dating back 45,000 years has revealed a previously unknown migration into Europe and showed intermixing with Neanderthals in that period was more common than previously thought. The research is based on analysis of several ancient human remains – including a whole tooth and bone fragments – found in a
The results from one of the most hotly-anticipated experiments in particle physics are in, and they could be about to fulfill every researcher’s wildest dreams: They maybe, perhaps, could break physics as we know it. Evidence taken from the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory near Chicago appears to point to a minuscule subatomic particle known as the muon wobbling
Trekking out to my research sites near North Carolina’s Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge, I slog through knee-deep water on a section of trail that is completely submerged. Permanent flooding has become commonplace on this low-lying peninsula, nestled behind North Carolina’s Outer Banks. The trees growing in the water are small and stunted. Many are
The markings are unfamiliar: carved contours that now only hint at a lost landscape from long ago. Nonetheless, a large, mysterious slab of stone recently rediscovered in France looks like it might just be the oldest known map in Europe. In a new study, researchers re-examined the Saint-Bélec slab – an intricately carved, partly
Paleolithic cuisine was anything but lean and green, according to a recent study on the diets of our Pleistocene ancestors. For a good 2 million years, Homo sapiens ditched the salad and dined heavily on meat, putting them at the top of the food chain. It’s not quite the balanced diet of berries, grains,
While some blue-green algae (or more accurately – cyanobacteria) are critical to us for their nitrogen-fixing abilities, others can also become dangerous pests of our own making. Climate change and agricultural run-off are causing a once normal environmental process to spiral out of control more often, and a new study has shown that a particularly dangerous toxin
A possible second leak has been found in a Florida wastewater reservoir that risks flooding nearby communities with millions of gallons of contaminated water, authorities said Monday. “An infrared drone identified a signature that could indicate a second breach” at the Piney Point reservoir on Tampa Bay, said Jake Saur, public safety director in
The mesmerizing red algal species Phymatolithon calcareum clumps together to form habitats called maerl beds in coastal regions across the northeast Atlantic, but researchers have discovered a pocket of the algae near Cornwall in the UK that’s genetically distinct from the rest of the region. It’s been dubbed ‘falgae‘, likely because of its location in
The EM Drive is a hypothetical rocket that proponents claim can generate thrust with no exhaust. This would violate all known physics. In 2016, a team at NASA’s Eagleworks lab claimed to measure thrust from an EM Drive device, the news of which caused quite a stir. The latest attempt to replicate the shocking results
A procession of floats carried the mummified remains of 22 pharaohs, including Egypt’s most powerful ancient queen, through Cairo Saturday evening, in an eye-catching parade to a new resting place. Under hefty security, the mummies were driven on floats seven kilometers (four miles) across the capital from the iconic Egyptian Museum to the new
Ever wondered if you can cook a chicken solely from the heat generated by slapping it? So did YouTuber Louis Weisz, and the verdict is… yes. Yes, you can. As you can see from the video embedded below, the endeavor took plenty of work – two months’ worth in total – from testing out the
Globally, only one in 50 new cars were fully electric in 2020, and one in 14 in the UK. Sounds impressive, but even if all new cars were electric now, it would still take 15-20 years to replace the world’s fossil fuel car fleet. The emission savings from replacing all those internal combustion engines
Nobody ever said parenting was easy, but depending on circumstances, some people can find it much harder than others. In recent years researchers have begun to recognize ‘parental burnout‘ – a condition in which exhausted parents become overwhelmed by their role as primary carers, potentially leading to emotional distance from their children, parental ineffectiveness, neglect,
Diamonds that formed hundreds of kilometers deep below Earth’s surface contain traces of chemical reactions that took place on the bottom of the ocean. Given that the bottom of the ocean is just 11 kilometers (6.8 miles) down at its deepest point, this may seem rather odd – but those diamonds are a really valuable
It was August 13, 1945, and the ‘demon core’ was poised, waiting to be unleashed onto a stunned Japan still reeling in fresh chaos from the deadliest attacks anyone had ever seen. A week earlier, ‘Little Boy’ had detonated over Hiroshima, followed swiftly by ‘Fat Man’ in Nagasaki. These were the first and only
Several years ago, divers exploring the western coast of Norway encountered an object they couldn’t explain: An enormous, jelly-like orb, more than 3 feet (1 meter) wide, was hovering in place partway between the seafloor and the surface. A dark streak cut through the center of the orb, but the object was otherwise translucent and totally
Human cultures can see the world through very different lenses, but the way we sort stars in the night sky is surprisingly universal. Even when separated by vast differences in time and space, many of the same constellations stand out time and time again in human history, albeit with different names and stories behind them.
A dig in Argentina has unearthed a previously undiscovered species of dinosaur, and the tyrannosaur-like predator has been given a name to suit what we know about it so far: Llukalkan aliocranianus, or ‘one who causes fear’. Able to grow as long as an elephant, and with sharp teeth and a powerful bite, L.
The more we look into the harsh extremes of Chile’s Atacama Desert, the more we find. Phenomena both mystifying and wonderful, occasionally bordering on alien. But in this incredibly dry place, it wasn’t just the climate that was unforgiving. Its ancient human inhabitants, making do in a parched place not best suited to hosting them,
Make a crocodile out of taffy. Take its head and tug on it until its neck extends a good few meters from its body. If you squint, this could be what one odd-looking Triassic reptile called Tanystropheus looked like. More or less. This animal’s assortment of ludicrously long fossilized neck bones has confused the
Ice sheet melting at the end of the last ice age may have caused sea levels to rise at 10 times the current rate, a study published Thursday by a team led by scientists from Britain’s Durham University said. Based on geological records, the researchers estimate that oceans worldwide rose 3.6 meters (11.8 feet)
In a time when flaunting your best self on social media has become a norm, narcissistic traits seem to be everywhere. In today’s slang, off-putting behaviors like entitlement, superiority and self-congratulating are known as ‘flexing’. Such traits might be more common these days, but being narcissistic is still seen as a pathological personality trait, akin to
The tree of animal life had to begin somewhere. Finding that original branch amongst such a tangled canopy is harder than it sounds, though. A new analysis of genomic data suggests that one phylum in the running for the oldest branch has been deceiving us all along. Since the 19th century, many scientists have
A rockshelter in South Africa’s Kalahari documents the innovative behaviors of early humans who lived there 105,000 years ago. We report the new evidence today in Nature. The rockshelter site is at Ga-Mohana Hill – a striking feature that stands proudly above an expansive savanna landscape. Many residents of nearby towns consider Ga-Mohana a
Some of the deepest parts of the Black Sea are still responding to climate changes prompted by the last ice age, scientists have discovered – a period which officially ended almost 12,000 years ago. An analysis of gas hydrate deposits – in this case methane trapped by water molecules, in a solid substance that
The day has finally come. Scientists have finally created synthetic mucus molecules that exhibit the structure and function of the real deal. Far from being a slime crime, though, it’s a discovery that could help scientists devise new treatments for infectious diseases, according to the research team behind the breakthrough. Slippery, slimy, and oozy,
In a mirror Universe where time runs backwards, swapping matter for antimatter should simply bring us full circle and reproduce the reality we’re all familiar with. Our Universe and the bizarro antimatter Mirrorverse would look identical. But what if it didn’t? As unlikely as that would be in today’s physics, the possibility might open
Scientists have identified a new rule of growth that shapes the form and development of pointy or sharp biological structures in animals and plants, such as teeth, horns, claws, beaks, and thorns. Describing the newly found pattern as a previously unknown law of nature, the researchers call their discovery the “power cascade” – a
A severe thunderstorm cloud that formed over the Pacific Ocean in 2018 reached the coldest temperatures ever recorded, according to a new study. The very top of the storm cloud reached a bone-chilling minus 167.8 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 111 degrees Celsius), colder than any storm cloud measured before. Thunderstorms and tropical cyclones, a circular
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