6,735 results
- Materials Science
A fiber inspired by polar bears traps heat as well as down feathers do
Scientists took a cue from polar bear fur to turn an ultralight insulating material into knittable thread.
- Chemistry
Here’s how tardigrades go into suspended animation
A new study offers more clues about the role of oxidation in signaling transitions between alive and mostly dead in tardigrades.
- Animals
Explore the past, present and future of ‘Eight Bears’
The book invites readers to meet the eight species of bears left on Earth and looks at how humans are shaping their future, for better or for worse.
- Health & Medicine
Bird flu has infected a person after spreading to cows. Here’s what to know
H5N1 has wreaked havoc on birds around the globe and occasionally made the jump to mammals, including cows. The risk to people remains low.
- Animals
The Brazilian flea toad may be the world’s smallest vertebrate
Brazilian flea toads are neither a flea nor a toad, but they are almost flea-sized. The frogs are small enough to fit on a pinkie fingernail.
- Life
This is the first egg-laying amphibian found to feed its babies ‘milk’
Similar to mammals, these ringed caecilians make a nutrient-rich milk-like fluid to feed their mewling hatchlings up to six times a day.
- Anthropology
50 years ago, evidence showed that an extinct human ancestor walked upright
Fossil finds have since pushed back the ability of hominids to walk on two legs by millions of years.
- Archaeology
These South American cave paintings reveal a surprisingly old tradition
Radiocarbon dates point to an artistic design practice that began in Patagonia almost 8,200 years ago, several millennia earlier than previously recorded.
- Space
How a sugar acid crucial for life could have formed in interstellar clouds
Computer calculations and lab experiments have revealed a possible mechanism for the creation of glyceric acid, which has been seen in meteorites.
- Archaeology
A four-holed piece of ivory provides a glimpse into ancient rope-making
The tool, unearthed in Central Europe, suggests that locals made devices for stringing together sturdy cords over 35,000 years ago, researchers say.
- Animals
When do cats play fetch? When they feel like it
Most cats that play fetch picked it up on their own, a study of cat owners suggests. The felines tend to dictate when a fetching session begins and ends.
- Animals
Seen Bigfoot or the Loch Ness Monster? Data suggest the odds are low
Floe Foxon is a data scientist by day. But in his free time, he applies his skills to astronomy, cryptology and sightings of mythical creatures.
