Fossil snake traces: Another world-first find on South Africa"s Cape south coast
Snakes are familiar, distinctive—and often feared—reptiles. And they've been around for a long time: body fossils found in the UK, Portugal and the US stretch all the way back to the late Jurassic period, about 150 million years ago......»»
Climate change is contributing to drought in the American West even without rainfall deficits, scientists find
Higher temperatures caused by anthropogenic climate change made an ordinary drought into an exceptional drought that parched the American West from 2020–2022. A study by UCLA and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration climate scientists ha.....»»
Hands-on: iOS 18.2 beta 2 changes and features [Video]
The initial beta for iOS 18.2 brought forth a heaping helping of new changes and features, headlined by phase two of the Apple Intelligence rollout. In the second beta, Apple continues to build on Apple Intelligence, but we also find several other no.....»»
New report details what happened to the Arecibo Observatory
In 1963, the Arecibo Observatory became operational on the island of Puerto Rico. Measuring 305 meters (~1000 ft) in diameter, Arecibo's spherical reflector dish was the largest radio telescope in the world at the time—a record it maintained until.....»»
Best 65-inch TV deals: 65-inch 4K TV for $340
These big screen TV models from Samsung, Sony, LG, and more are currently the best 65-inch TV deals you'll find......»»
Vampire bats" metabolism mirrors that of blood-sucking insects, biologists find
A pair of biologists at the University of Toronto has found that vampire bats are able to burn amino acids as a fuel source similarly to blood-sucking insects. In their study published in the journal Biology Letters, Giulia Rossi and Kenneth Welch co.....»»
Food security in Africa: Managing water will be vital in a rapidly growing region
Sub-Saharan Africa's population is growing at 2.7% per year and is expected to reach two billion by the year 2050. The region's urban population is growing even faster: it was at 533 million in 2023, a 3.85% increase from 2022......»»
Volcanic ash as a source of nutrients: How the Hunga Tonga eruption affected ecosystems in the South Pacific
The eruption of Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai (HTHH) in January 2022 ejected about 2.9 billion tons of volcanic material into the atmosphere and across the South Pacific. In early 2022, a scientific expedition (GEOTRACES GP21) investigated the impact of.....»»
The frozen carbon of the northern permafrost is on the move—we estimated by how much
Among the most rapidly changing parts of our planet are the coldest landscapes near the top of the globe, just south of the Arctic. This region is warming two to four times faster than the global average......»»
Are these tiny insects the world"s laziest bugs?
At less than 3mm long, you may not think Dunatothrips aneurae seem like much. And—as I have shown in a new study published in the Journal of Animal Ecology—you'd be absolutely right. That's because these may be the world's laziest insects......»»
Controlling skyrmions at room-temperature in 2D topological spin structure technology
The Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science (KRISS) has, for the first time in the world, generated and controlled skyrmions at room temperature in two-dimensional (2D) materials. This achievement reduces power consumption compared to tradi.....»»
Quiz: Can you tell the difference between these PS5 and PS5 Pro screenshots?
Can you tell a PS5 screenshot apart from a PS5 Pro one? Take our quiz to find out if the Pro is the right upgrade for you!.....»»
EU opens antitrust investigation into key Apple supplier Corning
The European Commission has announced its latest antitrust investigation, and it could once again have an impact on Apple. The EC says it is investigating whether Corning, a key Apple supplier, “may have abused its dominant position on the world.....»»
Where did Americans find information for the 2024 election?
Americans rely primarily on personal networks and news media for voting information about the 2024 U.S. presidential election, according to a survey by researchers at Rutgers and other universities......»»
Washington coast avian flu outbreak devastated Caspian terns, jumped to seals
An epidemiological study found that 56% of a large breeding colony of Caspian terns died from a 2023 outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza at Rat Island in Washington state. Since then, no birds have successfully bred on the island, raising c.....»»
World’s first wooden satellite launched to space
The tiny wooden cubesat arrived at the International Space Station aboard a SpaceX Dragon ship and will be deployed to orbit before the end of this year......»»
OpenAI’s robotics plans aim to ‘bring AI into the physical world’
OpenAI has made no secret of its hardware ambitions. Those plans came a step closer to fruition on Tuesday with the hiring of Caitlin Kalinowski, the now-former head of hardware at Oculus VR......»»
Decades after global regulations, the Arctic Ocean"s legacy persistent organic pollutants haven"t dropped
The presence of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in all the world's oceans but one has been in steady decline since 2001, when 152 countries agreed on a comprehensive global ban. The exception has been the Arctic Ocean, which has seen a sharp ris.....»»
Scientists find key to engineering water-responsive biopolymers
Scientists at the Advanced Science Research Center at the CUNY Graduate Center (CUNY ASRC) have developed a novel approach to better understand and predict the behaviors of water-responsive materials—solid matter that can change shape by absorbing.....»»
Researchers call for nuanced understanding of "tribe" in Arab world
The study of Arab tribes should not be abandoned because Middle East and North African citizens continue to insist on the relevance of the term in their daily lives, says a new study published in the journal Frontiers in Political Science......»»
Testing thousands of RNA enzymes helps find first "twister ribozyme" in mammals
The "RNA world" hypothesis proposes that the earliest life on Earth may have been based on RNA—a single-stranded molecule similar in many ways to DNA—like some modern viruses. This is because, like DNA, RNA can carry genetic information, but, lik.....»»