California’s Wildfire Smoke Was Shockingly Thick as It Spread Across The Globe
The biggest natural disasters are by no means just a local issue, as new research shows: smoke from the devastating California wildfires of 2020 eventually reached as far as Europe,…
Sharks Were Almost Wiped Out 19 Million Years Ago, And They Never Recovered
More than 19 million years ago, the world’s open oceans were absolutely teeming with sharks, roughly ten times more than today. Then, suddenly, these large marine predators almost all disappeared.…
These Birds Shamelessly Lie to Their Neighbors, But Can Tell They Are Being Deceived
Siberian jays are sneaky little rascals. These tiny corvids can use bird lies to try and trick other flocks into leaving a territory, so that the interlopers can move in…
‘Dead Zones’ Have Been Haunting The Ocean For Longer Than Anyone Ever Knew
Earth’s oceans are full of life, with multitudes of creatures making their home beneath the waves. But not everywhere in the deep blue sea is receptive to life’s presence. In…
China’s Advanced ‘Artificial Sun’ Fusion Reactor Just Broke a New World Record
China has achieved a new milestone in humanity’s experiments to harness the power of the stars. On Friday, the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ fusion machine reached 120 million degrees Celsius…
Puppies Are Born Ready to Socialize With Humans, Science Shows
Being ready to interact with people is something puppies are born with, new research shows: Up to 40 percent of a young dog’s ability to communicate with us is genetic,…
Our Universe’s Earliest State of Matter Was Like an Ocean of Perfect Liquid
Smashing together lead particles at 99.9999991 percent the speed of light, scientists have recreated the first matter that appeared after the Big Bang. Out of the wreck came a primordial…
Most Americans Overestimate Their Ability to Spot Fake News, Study Shows
Most people aren’t trying to share fake news, but that’s part of the problem: Nobody thinks it’s their fault. In a recent survey of 8,285 Americans, 90 percent of respondents…
Oxygen Is Rapidly Running Low in Earth’s Lakes. Here’s Why This Means Trouble
For most life forms on Earth, oxygen is a necessity, not an optional extra – and because of our warming planet, oxygen is quickly disappearing from our freshwater lakes, putting…
Our Brains Have More in Common With Testicles Than You Ever Wanted to Know
That delightful saying about men thinking with their nether regions has gained a new meaning. A new study has found an unnerving lot of similarities between men’s brains and the…
This 2D Material Is Way Tougher Than Graphene, And Scientists Are Excited
A two-dimensional material with similar physical properties to graphene has now turned out to blow graphene out of the water in terms of toughness. The material is called hexagonal boron…
Scientists Measured The Mass of The Human Chromosome For The First Time
For the first time, scientists have been able to accurately measure the mass of the human chromosome. Using a powerful X-ray source at the UK’s national synchrotron science facility, the…
A ‘Giant’ Crustacean Scavenger Has Been Discovered Deep in The Ocean
Discovering a new species and placing it on the tree of life is a big responsibility. I have been fortunate to name four species from some of the deepest, most…
Scientists Showed Magic Tricks to a Bunch of Birds. The Birds Were Not Fooled
You can impress family members and friends with magic tricks, but you can also use them to study the differences in perception between animals and humans – and a new…
Stephen Hawking’s Priceless Scientific Works to Be Preserved in Special Archive
The legacy of one of the brightest stars in the physics firmament has been secured. Around 10,000 pages of the writings and other papers of legendary theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking…
A Giant Tortoise Thought Extinct For Over 100 Years Has Been Found in Galapagos
A giant tortoise in the Galápagos Islands that was thought to have gone extinct over a century ago just came out of hiding. Researchers discovered the female tortoise on the…
Cities Have Unique Microbial ‘Fingerprints’, First Study of Its Kind Reveals
Each city is populated by a unique host of microbial organisms, and this microbial ‘fingerprint’ is so distinctive, the DNA on your shoe is likely enough to identify where you…
Look at This Newly Discovered, Utterly Adorable ‘Chocolate’ Frog Species
A potentially new species of tree frog has been discovered in New Guinea, and it’s full of surprises. For starters, instead of the bright green skin of its relatives, this…
Innocent-Looking Jar From 2,300 Years Ago Holds ‘Curse’ Against 55 People in Athens
A 2,300-year-old ceramic jar filled with the bones of a dismembered chicken was likely part of an ancient curse to paralyze and kill 55 people in ancient Athens, archaeologists say.…
Detoxifying Enzymes Encased in Microparticles Could Protect Bees From Pesticides
A heavily used group of pesticides, designed to kill insects upon contact, is also poisoning bee colonies. Scientists have discovered a way to deliver an antidote using pollen-like microparticles. The…
Weird Electromagnetic Bursts Appear Before Earthquakes – And We May Finally Know Why
For some time, seismologists have been aware of brief, subtle anomalies in underground electrical fields leading up to an earthquake, sometimes occurring as soon as a few weeks before the…
Climate Change Likely Contributed to One of The Oldest Examples of Human Warfare
One of the oldest known war cemeteries, discovered in the Nile River Valley, did not necessarily originate from a single epic battle like we once thought. According to a full…
Monkeys Pick Up ‘Accents’ When They Want to Blend in With Neighboring Kin
A study has found that monkeys are capable of picking up new “accents” to be more friendly to their neighbors. The study, which was published earlier this month in the…
Made From Bird Bones, These Could Be The Oldest Known Tattooing Tools
A set of cut and sharpened turkey bones excavated decades ago from an ancient Native American grave seem to be the oldest tattooing tools we’ve found to date. A new,…