All Stories
- Animals
Hummingbird may get promoted
Not just a subspecies: A flashy, squeaky hummingbird should become its own species, ornithologists argue.
- Life
Life’s origin might illustrate the power of game theory
Game theory math can describe molecular competition and cooperation, perhaps providing clues to the origin of life.
- Paleontology
Possible ancestor of sponges found
An exquisitely preserved 600-million-year-old fossil from China has cell types and a shape resembling sponges, thought to be among the first multicellular animals to evolve.
- Genetics
Protein comparisons proposed in 1960s for tracking evolution
In 1965, two scientists spotted molecular signatures of primate divergence. The tool became widespread for studying evolution – and one researcher’s career ended in crime.
- Environment
Replacement for toxic chemical in plastics, receipts may be just as toxic
Mounting evidence suggests that BPS, a common chemical in plastics, may cause the same health effects as BPA.
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- Ecosystems
When animals invade human spaces
‘Feral Cities’ explores the wildlife living amongst us, sometimes noticed and sometimes not.
- Earth
Tethys Ocean implicated in Pangaea breakup
The shrinking of the Tethys Ocean may have broken up the Pangaea supercontinent.
- Animals
Lemurs expected to lose much of their ranges this century
As the climate warms, Madagascar’s little primates will lose habitat, threatening some with extinction.
- Physics
High-temperature superconductivity record awaits confirmation
A hydrogen-sulfur compound under pressure may transport electrical current with no resistance at a record high temperature.
- Astronomy
Remote star clusters discovered on edge of Milky Way
Two newly discovered star clusters are the first ever seen at the remote edges of the Milky Way.
- Animals
How a young praying mantis makes a precision leap
Videos of juvenile praying mantises flying through the air reveal how the insects manage to always make a perfect landing.
