Mark your diaries, folks: On May 5, 2024, the vaquita survey kicks off as the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society goes in search of the world’s rarest mammal. Having been issued an extinction alert by the International Whaling Commission (IWC) – the first in 70 years – it’s a critical time for one of the planet’s […]
An Easy Trick Can Boost Butterfly Numbers In Your Garden By Up To 93 Percent
Spring has sprung in the Northern Hemisphere and if you’re looking to give your garden an all-natural boost, scientists have a simple trick: don’t cut your lawn. Gardeners and bug lovers have long sworn by this advice, but it’s now been reaffirmed by scientific research. In a new study, scientists at Butterfly Conservation in the […]
How Deep Was Lake Manly, Death Valley’s Short-Lived Lake?
Despite normally being drier than your mouth after demolishing a pack of saltines, the summer of 2023 saw Death Valley transformed by the appearance of a temporary lake in Badwater Basin. Though it’s now disappeared, thanks to a new analysis of satellite images, we now know how the depth of this ephemeral lake changed over […]
New Species May Be The Largest Snake To Have Ever Lived
A new species of prehistoric snake may be one of the largest snakes to have ever slithered the Earth. With an estimated body length of up to 15 meters (over 49 feet), the extinct species might even rival the size of Titanoboa, the current title holder of the world’s largest-ever snake. The newly discovered snake, […]
DNA Study Finds Unknown Group Of Ancestors Of Modern Japanese People
A study that sequenced the DNA of 3,200 people across Japan has found suggestions that modern Japanese people are the descendants of three ancestral groups, not two as has been previously thought. For a long time, it has been believed that modern Japanese people were descended from two groups: early hunter-gatherers known as the Jomon, […]
Iceberg That Sank The Titanic May Be Shown In Unearthed Photo From 1912
A rediscovered photo captured two days after the Titanic sank is going on auction this month. The photo, taken by undertaker John Snow Jr, may show the iceberg that sank the ship on its maiden voyage 112 years ago on April 14. When the Titanic sank 640 kilometers (400 miles) off Newfoundland, Canada, over 1,500 […]
Nearby Supernova Was Surprisingly Lacking In Cosmic Rays, Throwing Doubts On Theories
The supernova SN 2023ixf offered astronomers an unusual opportunity when it exploded last year. Unfortunately, it has deepened, rather than resolved, the problem of explaining cosmic rays. It’s also thrown models of supernovae into doubt, but hey, if we had all the answers, we wouldn’t need scientists. We now detect thousands of supernovae each year, […]
Three Hearts, Blue Blood, And Venom 1,000 Times Stronger Than Cyanide – We’re Talking About Octopuses
When you think of octopuses, you probably imagine a fleshy bag of an animal with eight arms – but there’s a lot more to these creatures than meets the eye. For starters, they have three hearts that pump blue blood, and one species even packs venom 1,000 times more powerful than cyanide. Don’t believe us? […]
Why Do Dolphins Swim In Front Of Ships?
It seems like a bucket list item, to go for an idyllic boat ride and see dolphins playing in the wake or riding the bow wave at the front of the boat. But what inspires this behavior in these curious cetaceans? Are they simply enjoying themselves, or is there more to this behavior than meets […]
One Of The Most Endangered Mammals On The Planet Just Got Two New Clones
In 2020, the world rejoiced as scientists successfully created a black-footed ferret clone known as Elizabeth Ann using the frozen cells of a deceased individual called Willow. Elizabeth Ann was a boost for the endangered species, Mustela nigripes, and now it’s got two extra playmates: the black-footed ferret clones Antonia and Noreen. All three of […]
Burnt Remains Of Maya Rulers Hint At Fiery Political Revolution
As the Maya civilization began to crumble during the 9th century CE, a corner of the realm became embroiled in a dramatic revolution. Astonishing evidence for this political upheaval has now been discovered in an ancient pyramid in Guatemala, where researchers have found the burnt remains of Maya royalty, hinting at a fiery public display […]
This Seabird Makes The Longest Migration Each Year From Antarctica To The Arctic
Each year, Arctic terns embark on a quest to follow the summer sun, traveling the length of the globe from the upper Northern Hemisphere to Antarctica in the planet’s deep south. Making round-trips longer than 30,000 kilometers (18,641 miles) annually, the plucky seabird holds the record for the longest migration of any animal on the […]
Does The Word “Avocado” Have A Double Meaning?
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Hope For Long COVID As Patients Show Immune System Improvements After 2 Years
Markers of immune dysfunction in a cohort of people with long COVID had largely resolved after two years, igniting hopes that a gradual recovery may be possible for some with the condition. The data for this research came from the ADAPT study, launched in 2020 to follow up with patients who had been infected with […]
Milky Way’s Newly Record-Breaking Stellar Black Hole Has The Mass Of 33 Suns
A newly discovered black hole has a mass 33 times that of the Sun. This comfortably exceeds the previous record for a stellar black hole in our galaxy, which was around 20 solar masses, and has helped confirm theories about how an object of this mass could form. The largest stars end their lives as […]
The Star-Nosed Mole’s Snoot Is 100 Times More Sensitive Than Your Fingertips
The star-nosed mole is a mammal that does exactly what it says on the tin, sporting a bizarre snoot that has 22 fleshy tentacles in an astral arrangement. The flapping mechanism can do more than just smell, being 100 times more sensitive than our fingertips, but its olfactory skills are not to be sniffed at […]
Yellowstone Lake’s Unwavering Ice Has Resisted Almost 100 Years Of Climate Change
Yellowstone Lake, the largest body of water in Yellowstone National Park, has been impressively resilient in the face of climate change. In the last century, the length of time that the lake has been covered by ice each year has not changed, despite increasingly warm temperatures in the region. In the midst of a climate […]
Boston Dynamics Puts Its Atlas Robot Into Retirement: Here Are Its Best Moments
After years of breaking boundaries, Boston Dynamics is retiring its hydraulic robot Atlas. To say farewell, the pioneering company has put together a video montage of the mechanoid marvel’s best moments, including cheesy dance moves, acrobatic flips, and a few fails. “For almost a decade, Atlas has sparked our imagination, inspired the next generations of […]
202-Million-Year-Old Ichthyosaur May Be The World’s Largest Marine Reptile
The title of largest ever marine reptile may have just been claimed by a new species of ichthyosaur that lived 202 million years ago. Estimations based on discoveries of jaw bones indicate it was around 25 meters (82 feet) in length, making it comparable to today’s blue whales. The new-to-science species has been named Ichthyotitan […]
US Navy Wants To Test High-Power Microwave Weapon To Zap Drones In 2026
The US Navy wants to test its first high-powered microwave weapon on board a sea-faring vessel as early as 2026. Known as Project METEOR, the experimental weaponry will blast out beams of intense electromagnetic energy to fry the electronics of drones. METEOR will “provide capability with low cost-per-shot, deep magazine, tactically significant range, short time […]
