News
- Physics
Water is weird. A new type of ice could help us understand why
A newfound type of amorphous ice with a density close to liquid water could help scientists make sense of water’s quirks.
- Animals
Are your cats having fun or fighting? Here are some ways to tell
Certain behaviors indicate if your cats’ interaction is friendly, aggressive or something in between, a new study finds.
- Archaeology
Vikings brought animals to England as early as the year 873
A chemical analysis of cremated remains offers physical evidence of the arrival of Norse animals to England in the ninth century.
- Life
76 percent of well-known insects fall outside protected areas
Protected areas can provide safe havens for insects, but many existing ones fall short, a new study finds.
- Archaeology
Chemical residue reveals ancient Egyptians’ mummy-making mixtures
Chemical clues in embalming vessels reveal previously unknown ingredients used to prepare bodies for mummification and their far-flung origins.
- Health & Medicine
The deadly VEXAS syndrome is more common than doctors thought
The recently discovered inflammatory disease, VEXAS syndrome, typically occurs in men over 50, affecting nearly 1 in 4,000 in the United States.
- Physics
Muon scanning hints at mysteries within an ancient Chinese wall
Density fluctuations within the ancient rampart encircling the city of Xi’an could be defects or yet-to-be-discovered archaeological finds.
- Animals
Prairie voles can find partners just fine without the ‘love hormone’ oxytocin
Researchers knocked out prairie voles’ oxytocin detection system. They weren’t expecting what happened next.
- Archaeology
Mysterious marks on Ice Age cave art may have been a form of record keeping
Hunter-gatherers during the Ice Age may have recorded when prey mated and gave birth, suggesting that these people possessed complex cognitive skills
- Life
Birds that dive may be at greater risk of extinction
For birds, a diving lifestyle seems irreversible, evolutionarily speaking. The inflexibility possibly increases diving birds’ chances of going extinct.
- Life
Fossils suggest early primates lived in a once-swampy Arctic
Teeth and jawbones found on Ellesmere Island, Canada, suggest that two early primate species migrated there 52 million years ago.
- Materials Science
These shape-shifting devices melt and re-form thanks to magnetic fields
Miniature machines made of gallium embedded with magnetic particles can switch between solid and liquid states.
