Giant sloths and mastodons coexisted with humans for millennia in Americas, new discoveries suggest
Sloths weren't always slow-moving, furry tree-dwellers. Their prehistoric ancestors were huge—up to 4 tons (3.6 metric tons)—and when startled, they brandished immense claws......»»
Scientists discover a new giant virus that infects freshwater algae
Scientists from the Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences found forty new freshwater viruses infecting aquatic microorganisms this year. The first one, which they isolated and described in detail, was named Budvirus after the South Bohemian.....»»
Young planet discovery could provide new insight into planet formation
The detection of a giant planet that transits a very young star is reported in Nature. The findings indicate that this is the youngest transiting planet found to date......»»
Study traces the spicy history of chili peppers
The history of the chili pepper is in some ways the history of humanity in the Americas, says Dr. Katherine Chiou, an assistant professor in the Department of Anthropology at The University of Alabama......»»
Fossil collection found in Neanderthal cave suggests abstract thinking
Research led by the Universidad de Burgos has uncovered evidence suggesting Neanderthals engaged in collecting activities based on discoveries at the Prado Vargas Cave in Burgos, Spain. Fifteen Upper Cretaceous marine fossils were found, indicating t.....»»
SpaceX launches giant Starship rocket, but aborts attempt to catch booster with mechanical arms
SpaceX on Tuesday launched another Starship rocket, but passed up catching the booster with giant mechanical arms......»»
Could a multivitamin help save coral reefs? Preliminary data says yes
Like humans, coral reefs rely on nutrients in the environment surrounding them. Researchers at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) have been lab testing nutrient-infused tiles to determine whether they would boost the immune system of corals,.....»»
SpaceX will try some new tricks on Starship’s sixth test flight
"An additional objective for this flight will be attempting an in-space burn using a single Raptor engine." The sixth flight of SpaceX's giant Starship rocket, set for takeoff on.....»»
Famous Star Hasn’t Formed Planets, and We Don’t Know Why
The nearby star Vega, featured in the 1997 movie Contact, appears to have a smooth disk devoid of giant planets for reasons we can’t explain.....»»
Horse Domestication Story Gets a Surprising Rewrite
Archaeological and genetic discoveries topple long-standing ideas about the domestication of equines.....»»
New giant radio galaxy discovered with MeerKAT
An international team of astronomers has employed the MeerKAT radio telescope to investigate giant radio galaxies in the field of the Cosmological Evolution Survey (COSMOS). They found a new giant radio galaxy that had not been reported before. The f.....»»
How brain evolution is linked to the use of tools
Researchers led by Dr. Alexandros Karakostis from the Institute for Archaeological Science and the Senckenberg Center for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment at the University of Tübingen suggest that changes in the brain could have enabled early.....»»
The hidden disease risks of modern housing developments in rural Africa
Tamika Lunn went to Kenya looking for bats. Her task, as a postdoctoral researcher in the lab of U of A biologist Kristian Forbes, was to catch bats to understand if, when and why they carried viruses. A spillover of a bat virus to humans could lead.....»»
How humans evolved to be "energetically unique"
Humans, it turns out, possess much higher metabolic rates than other mammals, including our close relatives, apes and chimpanzees, finds a Harvard study. Having both high resting and active metabolism, researchers say, enabled our hunter-gatherer anc.....»»
Space tech giant Maxar confirms attackers accessed employee data
Satellite and space technology leader Maxar Space Systems has suffered a data breach. “Our information security team discovered that a hacker using a Hong Kong-based IP address targeted and accessed a Maxar system containing certain files with.....»»
Google may finally merge Chromebooks and Android
Reports suggest that Google has plans to unify its ChromeOS and Android operating systems to compete with Apple in the tablet market......»»
Flies carry bacteria, and some are resistant to antibiotics—evidence from three South African hospices
Houseflies live close to humans and domesticated animals and because they are so mobile they can easily spread bacteria that make people sick......»»
A single cell"s siesta: How non-moving single-celled organisms manage to avoid bright light
Too much of a good thing is no good at all. Living organisms enjoy sunlight—in fact, they need it to stay alive—but they tend to avoid light that is too bright. Animals go to their shelter, humans have a siesta, even plants have mechanisms to avo.....»»
Metro Awakening"s scariest moments are a VR feature and not just a bug
Tackling giant mutant spiders in VR is too much for some, but Metro Awakening is well worth the spooks......»»
Study uncovers earliest evidence of humans using fire to shape the landscape of Tasmania
Some of the first human beings to arrive in Tasmania, over 41,000 years ago, used fire to shape and manage the landscape, about 2,000 years earlier than previously thought......»»
Opinon: Shell"s legal victory is disappointing—but this is not the end for corporate climate litigation
In the first ruling of its kind, the Dutch Hague District Court in 2021 ordered a fossil fuel company, Shell, to slash its emissions. This decision would have required the oil and gas giant to cut its emissions by 45% by 2030 (compared with 2019 leve.....»»