Smart News Science

Dads Also Pass on Mitochondrial DNA, Contrary to Long-Standing Belief

A new study, which found paternal mitochondrial DNA in 17 individuals, upends the commonly accepted theory that mtDNA comes exclusively from the mother

Extragalactic Background Light

New Research

This Is How Much Starlight the Universe Has Produced

4,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000, 000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 photons over 13.7 billion years

Up to 145 whales were discovered on the shores of Stewart Island last Saturday evening.

200 Whales Have Died in Three Mass Strandings on New Zealand’s Shores

Experts do not fully understand why whales beach themselves, but the recent incidents do not appear to be linked

The jumping spider bears a distinct resemblance to ants

Jumping Spiders Are the Only Arachnids Known to Provide ‘Milk’ For Their Young

The milk-like nutritious fluid contains four times the protein of cow’s milk

Cool Finds

Here's How That Cow Got So Large

The sad fact is most steers are slaughtered before they reach their full, awesome size, making the Aussie bovine more lucky than freakish

Drug-Resistant Bacteria Found on International Space Station Toilet

The bacteria do not currently pose a risk to astronauts, but that could change as the microbes adapt to their environment

Meet your new zombie overlord.

Cool Finds

These Wasps Hijack Spiders' Brains And Make Them Do Their Bidding

Larvae of the newly discovered species in Ecuador hijacks the spider to build a super-tough incubation chamber

The Stone Age chefs likely boiled carp roe eggs in water or fish broth

Stone Age Humans Feasted on Caviar

Researchers used advanced protein analysis to identify traces of carp roe eggs left on a 6,000-year-old clay plot

Artist’s impression of Elasmotherium.

Modern Humans Emerged As Ancient 'Siberian Unicorns' Died Out—But Their Demise Wasn't Our Fault

A new study has found that the ancient rhinoceros went extinct 39,000 years ago—not 100,000 years ago, as experts previously believed

New Research

Could a Freeze-Dried Vaccine Spell the End of Polio Worldwide Forever?

The vaccine does not require refrigeration, meaning aid workers could get it to children in hard-to-reach regions of the world. So far, it works in mice.

The cholla plant’s prickly proclivities actually serve a reproductive purpose

Researchers Stabbed Slabs of Meat With Cacti Spines to Learn About Puncture Strength

Barbed spines function much like porcupine quills, drawing on an overlapping shingled design to hook onto victims’ muscle fibers

New Research

It Takes 1.71 Days to Poop Out a Lego

Six intrepid volunteers swallowed the heads of LEGO figurines for the unusual study

Frost drought and extreme winter warming trigger a phenomenon known as "Arctic browning"

Extreme Weather Is Turning the Arctic Brown, Signaling Ecosystem’s Inability to Adapt to Climate Change

Vegetation affected by extreme warming absorbs up to 50 percent less carbon than healthy green heathland

Cool Finds

Early Mammals Were Thought to Be Small and Unseen in the Age of Dinosaurs. An Elephant-Sized Fossil Complicates That Story

At a time when proto-mammals and other creatures were getting smaller, this dicynodont bulked up with the thunder lizards

Many of the stranded turtles were endangered Kemp's ridley sea turtles, like this one seen nesting.

Since Thanksgiving Cold Snap, More Than 200 'Cold-Stunned' Sea Turtles Have Washed Ashore on Cape Cod

As climate change warms North Atlantic waters, turtles are migrating farther north—but when cold weather hits, some can't make it out of Cape Cod Bay

Raging wildfires are one of the many effects of climate change projected to worsen over the following decades

Climate Change Will Cost Taxpayers Billions In Near Future, Federal Report Shows

By 2100, the country’s GDP could shrink by 10 percent, triggering an economic crisis twice as damaging as the Great Recession

Whales Change Their Tune Every Few Years

After becoming increasingly complex over a period of years, the songs are ditched in favor of simpler ditties, a new study has found

Lasius niger queen and worker ants each got their own individual two-dimensional barcode tags. The tags allowed researchers to track their movement in the colony.

Ants Take Sick Days, Too

A new study has found that when some members of the colony are exposed to pathogens, they spend less time in the nest

New Research

Brown Recluse Silk Is Stronger Than Steel Because It's Constructed Like a Cable

Thousands of nanotendrils come together to form the flat, super-strong spider silk

The skull-collecting ants use chemical mimicry, a behavior usually observed amongst parasitic species, to entrap prey

These Ants Immobilize Prey With Acid Then Drag Them Back to Nest for Dismemberment

Decapitated heads, dismembered limbs litter the floor of <i>Formica archboldi</i> nests

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