News
Mauna Loa Observatory Survives Lava, Budget Cuts And Politics
1+ hour, 12+ min ago (192+ words) But how it was saved is also a warning about how easily it could have been lost. The story of Mauna Loa offers a useful lesson in how climate debates are covered. Threats attract attention but victories rarely do. Whether…...
A Biologist Explains What The First Eyes On Earth Could See. Hint: They Were Made Of Crystal
2+ mon, 3+ week ago (795+ words) Millions of years before color vision and binocular sight, one of the animal kingdom's most transformative inventions emerged: the eye. Although eyesight seems incredibly commonplace today, few people realize that vision wasn't always part of life's toolbox. The earliest fossil…...
Meet The Snail That Thrives Where Almost Nothing Else Can. Hint: It Has Armor Made Of Iron
4+ mon, 1+ hour ago (314+ words) In hydrothermal vent fields, a small snail evolved an iron-reinforced shell. Here's how it challenges assumptions about nature's toughest composites....
Meet The World's Weirdest Primate. Hints: It Uses Its Finger Like A Woodpecker's Beak
2+ week, 6+ day ago (999+ words) The aye-aye looks almost nothing like a primate. Most would describe it as a creature assembled from spare animal parts. It has oversized ears like a bat, teeth like a rodent and glowing eyes like an owl. But its most…...
From Oil To Critical Minerals: The Next Energy Security Risk
1+ mon, 1+ day ago (852+ words) When tensions in the Middle East escalated this spring, the Strait of Hormuz turned into a focal point of global concern. Oil prices surged, markets tightened. Governments scrambled to assess exposure. Roughly a quarter of global seaborne oil trade passes…...
Did Humans Evolve To Eat Meat? An Evolutionary Biologist Explains What Your Anatomy Actually Reveals
1+ mon, 3+ day ago (895+ words) The most comprehensive synthesis of this evidence was published in a 2021 study in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology. Drawing on roughly 400 scientific papers spanning genetics, zooarchaeology, stable isotope analysis and comparative physiology, the authors argued that for the better…...
Why Are 90% Of Humans Right-Handed? An Evolutionary Biologist Explains
1+ mon, 4+ day ago (485+ words) The story of human handedness stretches back millions of years and weaves together evolutionary pressure, brain architecture, embryonic biology and a healthy dose of genetic complexity we haven't fully untangled. Here's what we've learned so far, according to research in…...
'An Artificial Earthquake': Japan Quake Misinformation Spreads Online
1+ mon, 1+ week ago (340+ words) Misinformation about Japan's recent earthquake has been spreading online, leading communications minister Yoshimasa Hayashi to issue a warning. "I hope everyone will confirm information about natural disasters with what is provided by the central and local governments and media organizations,…...
A Biologist Reveals The Longest Mammal Migration On Earth. Hint: It Happens Underwater
4+ mon, 4+ day ago (608+ words) Every year, unbeknownst to many, one of the most astonishing wildlife spectacles on the planet unfolds like clockwork: the steady, ceaseless migration of enormous marine mammals swimming thousands of miles. Gray whales (Eschrichtius robustus) hold the title of what marine…...
Meet The Fish That Can Survive Without Oxygen For Months. Hint: It Lives Beneath Ice
4+ mon, 2+ week ago (618+ words) Oxygen deprivation is a death sentence for most vertebrates " even fish. Without it, the brain starts failing within minutes, cells lose their ability to generate energy and vital tissues suffer irreversible damage. Yet, there's one small freshwater fish that routinely…...