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Stories from Sarah Kuta

The researchers studied four captive belugas housed at the New York Aquarium of the Wildlife Conservation Society.

Belugas Can Recognize Themselves in Mirrors, Joining a Short List of Nonhuman Species That Show Signs of Self-Awareness

The researchers hope that this new understanding of cognition in the toothed whales will increase human empathy and concern for the animals, leading to more efforts to protect them

Researchers found evidence of degenerative joint disease, trauma and other health problems.

Whalers Didn’t Just Sing Sea Shanties and Seek Adventure. Proof of Laborers’ Grueling Work Is in Their Skeletons, Buried in the Arctic

Remains buried on Svalbard show the brutal toll whaling took on men in the 17th and 18th centuries. Climate change threatens these kinds of archaeological sites across the Arctic

Around 90 percent of people are right-handed.

Why Is Nearly Every Person Right-Handed—but Not Every Ape and Monkey? New Research Explores the Evolutionary Origins of Human Handedness

Brain size and bipedalism are the most likely drivers of our species’ right-hand dominance, according to new research

Mediterranean monk seals are among the rarest pinnipeds in the world.

Mediterranean Monk Seals Hide in Underwater ‘Bubble Caves’ to Avoid Tourists During the Busy Summer Season, a Study Suggests

Researchers caught the rare pinnipeds resting and sleeping in a secluded chamber on the Greek islet of Formicula. The findings suggest that these small caves should be included in efforts to protect the animals’ habitat

The skeleton first emerged from an eroded road cut in 2000 or 2001.

Likely Kicked by a Kangaroo, This Dingo Healed a Millennium Ago Thanks to Help From an Aboriginal Community That Continued to Honor It for 500 Years

New research shows that the ancestors of the Barkindji people in Australia ritually added river mussel shells to a burial site for centuries after the dingo died, suggesting they cared for it deeply

A chick hatches around 18 days after embryo transfer to the artificial egg, according to the company.

‘De-Extinction’ Company Says It Hatched Chicks From Artificial Eggs, Paving the Way for Resurrecting Dodos and Other Bygone Birds

Colossal Biosciences announced that 26 live baby chickens have emerged from 3D-printed honeycomb structures. But the company does not plan to detail the system in a paper, and its mission has faced criticism

Each by-the-wind sailor is made of a community of genetically identical organisms called "zooids" that perform different tasks.

Millions of Bright Blue Blobs Called ‘By-the-Wind Sailors’ Are Littering Beaches Along the West Coast

The strange creatures are washing up on shores across California, Oregon and Washington this spring—and making the coast smell especially fishy

Archaeologists discovered the burial in Colchester, a city in Essex, England, which served as the first capital of Roman Britain. 

A Woman Buried in an Elaborate Roman Coffin With Precious Grave Goods Was ‘Clearly Cherished by Her Family and Her Community,’ Archaeologists Say

A new exhibition in Colchester, England, site of the first capital of Roman Britain, explores the “Lexden Lady” and her collection of treasures

In laboratory experiments, house crickets groomed an antenna that had been touched by a hot soldering iron.

Can Insects Feel Pain? New Research Suggests That Crickets Do

Used for food, feed and research, the critters are among the most widely farmed bugs. The study authors say humans should work to reduce harm in insect farming, handling and experimentation

Beyoncé’s single “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)” and Taylor Swift’s album 1989 were added to the National Recording Registry.

Music From Beyoncé and Taylor Swift, Plus Dozens of Other ‘Audio Treasures,’ Added to National Recording Registry

The 25 newest additions to the national playlist at the Library of Congress have been deemed “worthy of preservation for all time based on their cultural, historical or aesthetic importance in the nation’s recorded sound heritage”

Nagatitan chaiyaphumensis was a long-necked, plant-eating dinosaur that lived in what is now Thailand between 100 million and 120 million years ago.

A Man Spotted Strange-Looking Rocks Near a Pond in Thailand. They Turned Out to Be the Bones of a Massive New Dinosaur Species

Paleontologists have dubbed the long-necked, plant-eating creature “Nagatitan chaiyaphumensis.” It’s the 14th named dinosaur from Thailand, and it might be the biggest one ever found in Southeast Asia

The procedure was likely extremely painful. But, afterward, the Neanderthal continued chewing with the tooth, which suggests they felt some relief.

Neanderthals Got Cavities, Too—and New Research Suggests They Drilled Into Their Teeth to Treat Them, Just Like Modern Dentists

Researchers unearthed a 59,000-year-old Neanderthal molar that shows signs of dental surgery, a discovery that pushes back the earliest evidence of dental work by roughly 45,000 years

Laboratory experiments involving pregnant mothers suggest that they can spread yawns to their soon-to-be-born offspring in the womb.

Fetuses Can ‘Catch’ Yawns From Their Mothers While Still in the Womb, New Research Suggests

Yawning is considered a social behavior. Although fetuses were known to yawn, scientists weren’t sure if it was a self-contained reflex or if they could somehow detect cues from their moms

Neanderthals and modern humans have differently shaped skulls, which scientists have long assumed meant they also had different brains. But new research challenges that assumption.

Did Homo Sapiens Really Outsmart Neanderthals? Different Skull Shapes Didn’t Necessarily Mean Unequal Brain Capacity, New Research Shows

A study from U.S. and Chinese researchers suggests Neanderthals and early modern humans probably had similar cognitive abilities

To estimate the wolf population, researchers observed animals from planes, followed tracks on the ground and inspected kill sites this year.

Wolves Are Thriving at Michigan’s Isle Royale National Park, Reaching Their Highest Numbers in Almost 50 Years, New Data Suggests

Scientists estimate that 37 of the animals now roam the rugged archipelago, which has contributed to the dwindling moose population. But the predator-prey ratio might be stabilizing

Indigenous communities in the Andes domesticated the potato between 6,000 and 10,000 years ago.

Potatoes Didn’t Just Feed Ancient Indigenous Communities in the Andes—the Tasty Tubers Also Reshaped People’s DNA

A new study finds that Indigenous Andeans living in what is now Peru have extra copies of a gene called AMY1, which helps the body digest starch

After researchers aboard the Okeanos Explorer ship couldn't figure out the orb's identity, they sent it to the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History for a more thorough investigation.

Scientists Found This Mysterious Golden Orb on the Seafloor Nearly Three Years Ago. Now, They Finally Know What It Is

After a long, winding road of tests, researchers at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History and other institutions determined that the strange blob once attached a large sea anemone to a rock

Scientists now think humans settled South America in three waves.

A New Big Database of DNA From Indigenous Americans Shakes Up Scientists’ Theories About Human Settlement of South America

Genomic data provides evidence for a previously unknown wave of migration, with Indigenous groups living in central and southern Mexico spreading into South America and the Caribbean starting around 1,300 years ago

The two-toned lobster will go on display at the Woods Hole Science Aquarium when it reopens next year.

See the 1-in-50-Million Split-Color Lobster Caught Off the Coast of Massachusetts. It’s Carrying Two Sets of Genetic Information

The unusual-looking crustacean is two-toned, with a line dividing its body into an orange side and a brown side. This can happen when two fertilized, unlaid lobster eggs touch—causing one to absorb the other

New research indicates that Neanderthals had the genetic hardware for language.

Did Neanderthals Have Language? New Research Suggests They Had the Genetic Hardware for It, Like Humans

Specific genomic regions that seem to play a role in human language development evolved hundreds of thousands of years ago, before humans and Neanderthals diverged from a common ancestor, a new study finds

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