Paleontology
How fast did dinosaurs really go? Birds walking in mud provide new clues
Tracks of dinosaur footprints can hint at how fast the extinct animals moved. Here’s how guinea fowl can help fact-check those assumptions.
Video
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
More Stories in Video
- Space
Here’s how a collision of star remnants launches a gleaming jet
A computer simulation shows how two neutron stars of unequal mass merge, form a black hole and spit out a jet of high energy matter.
- Physics
Rainbows of sound are a reality thanks to a new device
A plastic structure separates white noise into pitches, like a rainbow splits light into colors, offering a novel way to manipulate sound.
- Animals
Flamingos create precise water vortices in a shrimp-hunting frenzy
Nashville Zoo flamingos reveal the oddball birds generate many types of vortices to eat. The swirls could be an inspiration to human engineers.
- Animals
This tool-wielding assassin turns its prey’s defenses into a trap
This assassin bug's ability to use a tool — bees’ resin — could shed light on how the ability evolved in other animals.
- Astronomy
A gas cloud 5,500 times as massive as the sun lurks nearby
At 300 light-years away, the interstellar cloud is the closest of its kind ever found to Earth and the largest apparent single structure in the sky.
- Tech
A new 3-D display lets you reach in and touch virtual objects
These hands-on displays might be used to create more immersive video games, educational tools and museum exhibits.
- Animals
This caterpillar wears the body parts of insect prey
Dubbed the “bone collector,” this caterpillar found on a Hawaiian island disguises itself while stalking spider webs for trapped insects to eat.
- Animals
Bats wearing tiny mics reveal how the fliers avoid rush hour collisions
As thousands of bats launch nightly hunting, the cacophony of a dense crowd should stymie echolocation, a so-called “cocktail party nightmare.”
- Animals
The story of dire wolves goes beyond de-extinction
Some question whether the pups are really dire wolves, or just genetically tweaked gray wolves. But the technology could be used to help at-risk animals.
