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Stories from Sarah Kuta

Top: The citizen science photo of an alleged juvenile goblin shark found on the beach of Anafi Island in Greece. Bottom: A juvenile female goblin shark found near Shimizu, Japan.

Were Scientists Duped by a Plastic Shark Toy?

Researchers withdrew a report of a rare and elusive goblin shark spotted in Greece after their peers raised concerns about the alleged discovery

Zebrafish experience what's known as "emotional contagion" and react when their peers are afraid.

Fish May Sense Each Other’s Fear

Zebrafish respond when their peers act afraid, an ability regulated by the same hormone that drives human empathy, a new study shows

Amid a multi-year drought, record winter rainfall has led to conditions perfect for fungi.

Winter Rains Bring Mushroom Boom in California

Fungi are popping up in numbers the West Coast may not see again for years

A digitally colorized view of Vibrio vulnificus bacteria under a scanning electron microscope

These Flesh-Eating Bacteria Are Thriving Because of Climate Change

New research finds that infections caused by Vibrio vulnificus have increased over the last 30 years and expanded to new geographic areas

A sunet behind the mountains in what is now the Avi Kwa Ame National Monument in Nevada

Biden Designates Two New National Monuments

In total, the protected areas across Nevada and Texas encompass 514,000 acres of public lands

Marion Island is home to a quarter of all wandering albatrosses in the world.

The Ambitious Plan to Stop Mice From Eating Seabirds

Conservationists want to clear Marion Island of the pests, which are wreaking havoc on albatross and other nesting species

Aspen Mountain and Aspen Highlands in Colorado extended their seasons this winter.

Ski Resorts in the Western U.S. Will Stay Open Into the Spring and Summer

Slopes in California, Utah and Colorado are extending their seasons after record-breaking snowfall

Snow petrels were among the seabird species that did not reproduce in Antarctica's Dronning Maud Land region in 2021-22.

Strong Snowstorms Prevented Tens of Thousands of Antarctic Seabirds From Breeding

With their nesting sites buried under a blanket of snow, some petrels and skuas made no attempts at reproducing in December 2021 and January 2022

More than two million people visit Chichén Itzá in Mexico each year.

Mexico’s Chichén Itzá Is Getting a New Museum

Officials hope the new facility will attract an influx of tourists arriving on the controversial Maya Train

Metallica band members Robert Trujillo, James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich and Kirk Hammett performing in Los Angeles last year

Metallica Just Bought Its Own Vinyl Record Factory

As demand spikes, the heavy metal band has purchased Furnace Record Pressing in Virginia

An artist's illustration of microscopic Candida auris organisms 

Drug-Resistant Fungal Infections Are on the Rise in the U.S.

A yeast called Candida auris has sickened more people over a wider area during the pandemic

Since the pandemic began, the country has implemented strict zero-Covid poicies.

China Fully Reopens to Travelers After Three Years of Closures

Hoping to boost its tourism industry, the country is now issuing all types of visas

This computer-generated image shows objects in Earth's orbit. The majority—around 95 percent—are bits of space junk.

Burning Space Junk Creates Mysterious Lights in California Sky

Bright streaks observed Friday were jettisoned equipment from the International Space Station re-entering Earth’s atmosphere

The aurora borealis, or Northern Lights, over a lake in eastern central Finland

You Can Apply for Free ‘Masterclass of Happiness’ in Finland

For the fifth year in a row, Finland ranked as the happiest nation in the world

An aerial view of the ongoing efforts to reconstruct Paris' Notre-Dame Cathedral, pictured in June 2021

The 2019 Notre-Dame Fire Revealed Iron Staples Holding the Cathedral Together

The Paris landmark is the first known Gothic cathedral to use iron in this way, researchers say

A computer-generated three-dimensional image of Maat Mons, the tallest volcano on Venus, from NASA's Magellan mission

Scientists Spot Recent Volcanic Activity on Venus

The findings in 30-year-old radar image data all but confirm that volcanoes on Earth’s hellish sister planet are still active today

The new suits will actually be all white, but Axiom Space showed off its prototype with a dark gray cover material.

See the New Moonwalk Spacesuit Designed for NASA’s Artemis Program

The space agency has tapped private company Axiom Space to develop the sleek new attire for its moon-bound astronauts

Vinyl record sales have growing for the past 15 years.

Vinyl Records Outsell CDs for First Time Since 1987

Music lovers in the United States bought 41 million vinyl albums and 33 million CDs in 2022

This composite image of the WR 124 star combines observations from Webb's Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) and Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI).

See the James Webb Telescope’s Rare New Image of a Dying Star

The star is on the cusp of exploding in a supernova and may offer insights into the universe’s so-called “dust budget crisis”

The resort sits at the base of Palisades Tahoe, a ski resort that dropped the slur from its name two years ago.

California Resort Drops Racial Slur From Its Name

The resort worked with representatives from the Washoe Tribe to implement the name change

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