News

  1. Anthropology

    Ancient hominids used wooden spears to fend off big cats

    Saber-toothed cat remains suggest ancient hominids used wooden spears as defensive weapons.

    By Bruce Bower
  2. Paleontology

    Land life spared in Permian extinction, geologists argue

    New rock layer dating in South Africa’s Karoo Basin suggests that extinctions of land species didn’t coincide with the Permian extinction around 252 million years ago.

    By Thomas Sumner
  3. Chemistry

    Tricky element isolated from spent nuclear fuel

    A new chemical technique makes it easier to extract the radioactive element americium from used nuclear fuel, potentially paving the way for better ways to reprocess and recycle nuclear waste.

    By Andrew Grant
  4. Planetary Science

    MAVEN mission finding clues to Mars’ climate change

    Intense solar storms in the past might have stripped Mars of its water as well as much of the rest of its atmosphere.