32 animals that act weirdly human sometimes
From chimps that wage war over territory to parrots that outperform Harvard students on memory tests, many other members of the animal kingdom demonstrate surprisingly human-like behavior.
By Jamie Carter last updated
What is the summer solstice, and when does it happen? The longest day of the year falls on either June 20 or 21 every year in the Northern Hemisphere. Here's everything you need to know about the science, and timing, of the summer solstice.
By Sascha Pare published
Snake Island was isolated from the Brazilian mainland at the end of the last ice age, trapping Earth's only known population of highly venomous golden lancehead pit vipers on a rock in the Atlantic.
By Skyler Ware published
Do galaxies, including our own Milky Way, orbit anything in the universe?
By Harry Baker published
Researchers have identified at least seven stars in our galaxy that may be surrounded by super-advanced alien megastructures, known as Dyson spheres. However, this is not the only explanation for these stars.
By Sneha Khedkar published
Harvard and Google researchers have collaborated to map a tiny fragment of an adult human brain in unprecedented detail.
By Elise Poore published
A stunning photo of the peculiar parasitic plant species, Thismia thaithongiana, wins gold in the Plants and Fungus category of the World Nature Photography Awards.
By Harry Baker published
A group of orcas known to attack boats in southwest Europe have sunk a 50-foot sailing yacht in the Strait of Gibraltar after ripping open its hull. It is the fifth time these killer whales have sent a ship to the seafloor in the last three years.
By Stephanie Pappas published
Human societies that experience downturns do a better job of recovering from later disasters, new research finds.
By Alexander McNamara published
In a new series of comics, where young, female scientists take center stage, MIT's Ritu Raman explains how the format can inspire the next generation of young people into the world of STEM.
By Andrey Feldman published
Black hole singularities defy the laws of physics. New research presents a bold solution to this puzzle: Black holes may actually be a theoretical type of star called a 'gravastar,' filled with universe-expanding dark energy.
By Ben Turner published
Einstein's theory of general relativity is our best description of the universe at large scales, but a new observation that reports a "glitch" in gravity around ancient structures could force it to be modified.
By Victoria Atkinson published
Using a clever laser technique, scientists have squished pairs of atoms closer together than ever before, revealing some truly mind-boggling quantum effects.
By Victoria Atkinson published
Chinese researchers have found a way to make aqueous batteries more energy-dense, by adding bromide to the electrolyte solution
By Peter Ray Allison published
Superfast magnetic memory devices are possible after scientists engineer way to use lasers to magnetize non-magnetic materials.
By Ben Turner published
ChatGPT's latest upgrade means the voice assistant can now respond to audio, text and visual inputs in real time. The new chatbot, named ChatGPT-4o, will be rolled out to alpha testers in the coming weeks.
By Owen Hughes published
The desktop-sized LPU100 eschews traditional electronics and qubits in favor of lasers, and it can reportedly perform complex AI calculations in nanoseconds.