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Stories from Rudy Molinek

Two adult female mountain gorillas rest with one of their infants.

Female Gorillas Form Ties That Bind, Helping Them Join New Social Groups

A new study finds that when female mountain gorillas move to a new crowd, they look for females they’ve already met

An image from the ALMA telescope array in Chile shows jets of silicon monoxide blowing away from the young star HOPS-315. The blue jet is moving towards Earth, and the red jet is moving away from us.

For the First Time, Astronomers Capture ‘Smoking Gun’ of Early Solar System Formation

Telescopes detected the first stages of hot minerals condensing from gas around a young star called HOPS-315

Greenlandic sled dogs, also known as Qimmit, play while resting.

Greenland Sled Dog DNA Reveals a Story of Human Migration and Ancestry of the Unique Breed

Researchers analyzed ancient and modern genetic samples of the Greenlandic Qimmit breed to shed light on the long relationship between the Inuit and their dogs in the Arctic

A funnel-web spider patrols its web, waiting to detect the vibration of unsuspecting prey.

Getting Annoyed at Your Noisy Neighbor? Spiders Are, Too. New Research Finds They’ll Build Webs Differently in Loud Conditions

In lab experiments, spiders changed how they constructed their webs in noisy environments, and rural and urban spiders responded differently

An artist’s rendering of Barnard’s Star, as seen from one of the newly discovered exoplanets orbiting it

Astronomers Find Four New Exoplanets Orbiting a Neighboring Star, the ‘White Whale’ of Planet Seekers

More than 60 years after the first debunked discovery of a planet orbiting Barnard’s Star, the closest single-star system to Earth, a pair of telescopes has revealed multiple rocky worlds around it

The yellow powder is a type of compound known as a “covalent organic framework,” or COF.

This New, Yellow Powder Quickly Pulls Carbon Dioxide From the Air, and Researchers Say ‘There’s Nothing Like It’

Scientists say just 200 grams of the material could capture 44 pounds of the greenhouse gas per year—the same as a large tree

An artist's rendering of gamma-ray glows observed during the research, with gamma rays colored purple for emphasis

Scientists Use Cold War-Era Spy Plane to Find Unexpected Gamma Rays in Thunderstorms

The new findings bring storm researchers one step closer to solving the mystery of how lightning forms

Mount Everest seen at sunset, as the peak’s height continues to grow at a rate of about two millimeters per year.

Geologists Reveal a Surprising Reason Why Mount Everest Grows Taller Each Year

Earth’s highest peak has gained as much as an extra 165 feet in elevation as the planet’s crust adjusts due to erosion from a river, according to a new study

Orcas are the oceans’ apex predator, even outranking the great white shark, but their hunting behaviors are still not fully understood by scientists.

Rare Drone Footage Captures Orcas Feeding on Dusky Dolphins

The predatory pod hunts off the coast of Chile and is led by a matriarch called Dakota

Intense flooding continued on August 7, after the sudden draining of a glacial lake near the Mendenhall River in Juneau, Alaska.

When a Glacial Dam Burst, an Alaskan Town Was Hit With a Sudden Flood

From Alaska to Peru and the Himalayas, glacial lakes are suddenly breaking free and causing deaths and millions of dollars in damages

Healthy little brown bats in Mt. Aeolus cave in Vermont in 2012

The Surprising Link Between Bats Dying and Human Infant Mortality

A new study finds that when bats in U.S. counties were decimated by the deadly white-nose syndrome, human deaths followed closely behind

Phoenix, Arizona, has experienced a record 100 days in a row over 100 degrees Fahrenheit as of Tuesday. Forecasters say no relief is in sight.

Phoenix Shatters Heat Record With 100 Consecutive Days Above 100 Degrees

Forecasts show no relief from the extreme heat over the next few weeks, which promises to extend the streak far beyond the previous high of 76 days set in 1993

The doomed porbeagle shark, just after being tagged and released by researchers in 2020.

Scientists Solve a ‘Murder Mystery’ After a Pregnant, Tagged Shark Got Eaten

It’s rare for apex predators to become prey, but researchers suggest they’ve documented the first known case of a porbeagle shark getting consumed by another animal

A recent expedition to the Titanic's wreckage found that part of the ship's iconic bow railing has collapsed.

New Photographs Reveal Decay of the Titanic and Collapse of Its Iconic Railing

An expedition this summer documented signs of deterioration on the wreck, but it also rediscovered the Diana of Versailles statue, the centerpiece of the ship’s first-class lounge

A bottlenose dolphin photographed in Honduras shows its teeth.

A Dolphin Keeps Biting People in Japan. Researchers Think It’s Just Lonely

A series of dolphin attacks in Wakasa Bay is believed to be the doing of a lone male bottlenose dolphin looking for friends or a mate—but finding only humans

So-called “corn sweat,” the water vapor released by the process of evapotranspiration, can raise humidity in corn-producing areas on the hottest days of summer.

Feeling Sticky This Summer? ‘Corn Sweat’ Could Be Raising the Humidity

The natural process of plant evapotranspiration is pumping moisture into an already hot and humid atmosphere, especially in the corn-growing areas of the Midwest

Human flesh might resemble this nice beef fillet.

What Does Human Flesh Taste Like? The Answer Depends on Who You Ask

Cannibals have weighed in with different opinions. Some say it tastes like pork, while others say like veal—and still others say like nothing else

A 2023 commemorative stamp from Serbia’s postal service showing Milutin Milanković alongside illustrations of some of his scientific work.

This World War I Prisoner of War Solved the Mystery of the Ice Ages

Serbian scientist Milutin Milanković changed our understanding of Earth’s climate—and did a key part of his work while detained by Austro-Hungarian forces

Botswana’s President Mokgweetsi Masisi holds up the newly discovered diamond, which weighs more than a pound.

Largest Diamond Since 1905 Unearthed by Miners in Botswana

Volcanic eruptions long ago brought the 2,492-carat diamond—the latest in a string of stunning discoveries over the last decade—to the surface

A waterspout photographed in the Adriatic Sea near Brac Island, Croatia, like the one implicated in sinking a yacht in Sicily this week. These sudden, violent storms are hard to predict and can occur more often in warmer waters heated by climate change.

A ‘Tornadic Waterspout’ Likely Sank a Billionaire’s Yacht Near Sicily. Here’s What That Means

Scientists say the extreme weather phenomenon could grow more common as climate change brings warmer water temperatures and more intense storms to the Mediterranean

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