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'Vampire einstein' shape
Homo naledi buried their dead
Crocodile 'virgin birth'
Galaxy at dawn of the universe

Latest News

Ocean wave crashing

How many oceans are there?

Kiley Price published 7 June 23

One, four or five? Not all experts agree on the number of oceans on our planet.

a star blasting multi-colored jets of energy out of its left and right side against a background of dark space

Dying stars build humongous 'cocoons' that shake the fabric of space-time

Briley Lewis published 7 June 23

New simulations show that dying stars release enormous "cocoons" of gas that may rattle with space-time ripples called gravitational waves.

Smiling, cheerful young woman is wearing a protective lead apron (patient). She is talking with female doctor who is turning on x-ray machine for foot scanning in a modern hospital.

Do you really need to wear a lead apron to get an X-ray?

Joshua A. Krisch published 7 June 23

Lead aprons were designed to protect reproductive organs from radiation. But are they actually necessary?

Here we see a virtual 3D image of little pink blobs and a white blob with lots of strands coming off it hovering above a yellow mat on the ocean floor.

Primordial steroids solve long-standing mystery about how the 1st complex life-forms evolved

Stephanie Pappas published 7 June 23

Compounds from 1.6 billion years ago reveal a microbial transition that set the stage for much of today's life on Earth.

A blue dot surrounded by an orange rings on a black background. In the left corner, a red dot glows.

James Webb Space Telescope discovers oldest organic molecules in the known universe, 12 billion light-years from Earth

Joanna Thompson published 7 June 23

Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope discovered evidence of complex organic molecules in a galaxy 12.3 billion light-years away — the furthest and oldest ever detected.

a chimpanzee sitting in water holding its hands and looking at the camera with green vegetation behind

Primates have been masturbating for at least 40 million years

Hannah Osborne published 7 June 23

Researchers reconstructed the evolutionary origins of primate masturbation and found it was an ancestral trait that goes back to the ancestor of all moneys and apes.

Compounds from 1.6 billion years ago reveal a microbial transition that set the stage for much of today's life on Earth. — Primordial steroids solve long-standing mystery about how the 1st complex life-forms evolved Compounds from 1.6 billion years ago reveal a microbial transition that set the stage for much of today's life on Earth.

Researchers captured Cassius in 1984 because the "big old gnarly crocodile" was causing trouble on a cattle farm, and ferried him to Green Island, Australia, where he still lives today. — World's largest captive croc turns 120, giving scientists 'serious knowledge on longevity' Researchers captured Cassius in 1984 because the "big old gnarly crocodile" was causing trouble on a cattle farm, and ferried him to Green Island, Australia, where he still lives today.

Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope discovered evidence of complex organic molecules in a galaxy 12.3 billion light-years away — the furthest and oldest ever detected. — James Webb Space Telescope discovers oldest organic molecules in the known universe, 12 billion light-years from Earth Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope discovered evidence of complex organic molecules in a galaxy 12.3 billion light-years away — the furthest and oldest ever detected.

The permafrost inside the Batagay crater is the second-oldest ever found on Earth and scientists are using it to reconstruct the planet's ancient climate. — Siberia's 'gateway to the underworld' megaslump is revealing 650,000 year-old secrets from its permafrost The permafrost inside the Batagay crater is the second-oldest ever found on Earth and scientists are using it to reconstruct the planet's ancient climate.

Researchers created a facial approximation that reconstructs what the ancient Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamun may have looked like. — King Tut's likeness revealed in vivid new facial approximation of ancient Egyptian pharaoh Researchers created a facial approximation that reconstructs what the ancient Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamun may have looked like.

New simulations show that dying stars release enormous "cocoons" of gas that may rattle with space-time ripples called gravitational waves. — Dying stars build humongous 'cocoons' that shake the fabric of space-time New simulations show that dying stars release enormous "cocoons" of gas that may rattle with space-time ripples called gravitational waves.

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Planet Earth

a huge frozen sinkkhole in an arid landscape in Siberia

Siberia's 'gateway to the underworld' megaslump is revealing 650,000 year-old secrets from its permafrost

By Stephanie Pappas published 7 June 23

The permafrost inside the Batagay crater is the second-oldest ever found on Earth and scientists are using it to reconstruct the planet's ancient climate.

An aerial image of six tightly grouped iceberg fragments floating on the sea and partially obscured by cloud

World's largest iceberg is no more after being ripped apart in 'iceberg graveyard'

By Harry Baker published 6 June 23

Satellite images show fragments from the enormous iceberg A-76A dispersing near South Georgia island, where the previous world's largest iceberg also met its doom in 2020.

1
150-year-old mystery of strange half-circles from Paleolithic site in France finally solved
2
Burmese pythons are helping rats take over Florida's Everglades — and that could help spread disease
3
Hundreds of ancient, invisible structures discovered near our galaxy's center
4
Extinct human relative buried their dead 100,000 years before modern humans did, study claims
5
Orcas rip rudder off boat and follow it all the way to port, in 1st known attack of its kind

1
Cancer Is a Man-Made Disease, Controversial Study Claims
2
New 'quasi-moon' discovered near Earth has been traveling alongside our planet since 100 BC
3
150-year-old mystery of strange half-circles from Paleolithic site in France finally solved
4
There may be hundreds of millions of habitable planets in the Milky Way, new study suggests
5
Ancient Egyptian queen's bracelets contain 1st evidence of long-distance trade between Egypt and Greece

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Space

A blue sky with the sun surrounded by a white circle bisected with a white line and two bright spots either side of the circle.

Ethereal 'halo' and light arcs around the sun captured in photos of ultra-rare phenomena

By Harry Baker published 7 June 23

At least three separate optical phenomena are visible in the new images. Each of which is created by light refracting through millions of perfectly aligned ice crystals in the upper atmosphere.

A telescope image of distant galaxies, showing thousands of bright stars and galaxies on a black background. In a zoomed-in box is the pale, faint galaxy detected in this new study.

James Webb Space Telescope finds the faintest galaxy ever detected at the dawn of the universe

By Ben Turner published 6 June 23

The James Webb Space Telescope has discovered the faintest galaxy ever seen, burning away the pitch-black gloom of the early universe 13 billion years ago.

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archaeology

A side-by-side view of a facial approximation of King Tut.

King Tut's likeness revealed in vivid new facial approximation of ancient Egyptian pharaoh

By Jennifer Nalewicki published 7 June 23

Researchers created a facial approximation that reconstructs what the ancient Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamun may have looked like.

Ancient Egyptians

We see the stone-carved statue of an elephant with its trunk curved downward toward the ground. It is in a dirt-covered area of a grass field.

2,300-year-old Buddhist elephant statue from India is one of the oldest known

By Tom Metcalfe published 6 June 23

Archaeologists in eastern India have unearthed an elephant statue thought to date to the third century B.C., when the region was mainly Buddhist.

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Health

in the foreground, there's a computer screen showing a mammogram. Blurred in the background, we can see a medical provider in a white coat assisting a patient at a mammogram machine

AI predicts 5-year breast cancer risk better than standard tools — but we aren't sure how it works

By Carissa Wong published 6 June 23

Artificial intelligence models can use breast imaging data to pinpoint those at highest risk of getting breast cancer in the next five years, better than a standard approach.

A scan of human lungs, depicted in dark red and pink, with a cancerous tumor in the upper right lung shown in yellow and orange

Lung cancer pill drastically cuts risk of death after surgery

By Jennifer Nalewicki published 5 June 23

Taking the drug Tagrisso daily after surgery reduced non-small cell lung cancer patients' death risk by more than 50%.

older woman with light grey hair and tan skin raises the arm of her t shirt to receive a shot from a gloved medical provider who's holding a syringe at the ready

Shingles vaccine may protect against dementia

By Carissa Wong published 5 June 23

An analysis of thousands of healthcare records adds to mounting evidence that people who get the shingles vaccine in their 70s may reduce their dementia risk over the following seven years.

Alzheimers & Dementia

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Animals

A close up of Cassius the crocodile displays his massive snout, large teeth and green eyes.

World's largest captive croc turns 120, giving scientists 'serious knowledge on longevity'

By Sascha Pare published 7 June 23

Researchers captured Cassius in 1984 because the "big old gnarly crocodile" was causing trouble on a cattle farm, and ferried him to Green Island, Australia, where he still lives today.

Alligators & Crocodiles

two hippos facing each other in a river with their mouths wide open

Pablo Escobar's 'cocaine hippos' top 200, twice as many as we thought

By Megan Shersby published 7 June 23

A new census of the world’s largest invasive species reveals the population is roughly double the size scientists previously estimated.

A close up picture of Lizzie the crocodile and one of her babies lying in dappled sunlight.

Crocodile murder mystery deepens following discovery of 2nd corpse with 'fileted' head

By Sascha Pare published 7 June 23

An anonymous person allegedly told a wildlife tour operator who was very fond of the crocodile "Lizzie" that the killing was a way of proving that humans, not crocodiles, are the apex predator.

Alligators & Crocodiles

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Human Behavior

Members of Divaz dance group join participants in the Juneteenth Music Festival and parade on June 17, 2017 in Denver, Colorado. Organizers say that this is one of Denver's longest-running parades, dating back to the 1950s.

What is Juneteenth?

By Mindy Weisberger last updated 5 June 23

Juneteenth is a federally-recognized American holiday observed on June 19. It is also known as Emancipation Day and Black Independence Day. In 2023, it falls on a Monday.

Japanese Unit 731 staff carrying a body from one of the unit's facilities.

World War II 'horror bunker' run by infamous Unit 731 discovered in China

By Ben Turner published 30 May 23

A bunker discovered near the city of Anda in northeast China is believed to be the largest test site of Imperial Japan's infamous Unit 731, which conducted horrifying human experiments during the 1940s.

A 1920s illustration of an ancient Greek Bireme that has two decks of oars.

What is the 'ship of Theseus' thought experiment?

By Meg Duff published 27 May 23

The Greek writer Plutarch proposed this question: If a ship's planks are replaced over time due to wear and tear until none of the original pieces remain, is it still the same ship?

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Physics & Mathematics

A 14-sided shape tiled endlessly without repeating a pattern

Mathematicians end decades-long quest to find elusive 'vampire einstein' shape

By Paul Sutter published 6 June 23

Researchers have discovered a new 14-sided shape called the Spectre that can be used to tile a surface without ever creating a repeating pattern, ending a decades' long mathematical hunt.

Red and blue bar magnet or physics magnetic with iron powder magnetic field on white background.

Why do magnets have north and south poles?

By Laurel Hamers published 30 April 23

Spinning electrons may help explain why magnets have north and south poles.

Physics & Mathematics

8 Einstein rings in a grid

Dark matter's secret identity could be hiding in distorted 'Einstein rings'

By Harry Baker published 27 April 23

Researchers may be a step closer to identifying dark matter after studying unusual cases of gravitational lensing caused by "dark matter halos" surrounding distant galaxies.

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Chemistry

Uranium nitrate called uranyl, with uranium ore, radioactive material on isolated white background_RHJ via Getty Images

Scientists discover 1st 'neutron-rich' isotope of uranium since 1979

By Robert Lea published 15 April 23

Scientists have synthesized a previously unknown isotope of uranium, uranium-241, that may start to disappear after just 40 minutes.

A selection of images showing seedlings growing in a lab vs. computerized models.

Alan Turing's famous mathematical model was right all along, chia seed experiment reveals

By Jennifer Nalewicki published 5 April 23

For the first time, scientists using chia seed experiments have confirmed that Alan Turing's mathematical model can explain patterns seen in nature.

Best chemistry sets - Girl and boy playing with chemistry set_Thames & Kosmos

Best chemistry sets 2023: amazing at-home chemistry sets for kids and adults

By Jake Green last updated 7 December 22

Get the reaction you're looking for with the best chemistry sets for kids and adults.

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Tech

Science kit deals - Kid doing science

Science kit deals 2023: Fun & educational STEM sets on offer at Amazon, Target, and more

By Kimberley Snaith published 5 April 23

From microscopes to robotic unicorns, we’ve rounded up some of the best science kit deals from around the web.

Laptop and assorted desk gadgets - best office gadgets and toys

Best office gadgets and toys 2023: Useful tools and fun toys for your desk

By Susan Arendt published 5 April 23

Having the best office gadgets and toys at your disposal transforms your personal space into a luxe working environment.

Best science kits for kids - Two cute children at chemistry lesson making experiments on white background.

Best science kits for kids 2023: Fun experiments for children of all ages

By Mihaela Bozukova published 5 April 23

Inspire your children to learn about the world with the best science kits for kids.

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