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The New Zealand Tomtit is one of the island-dwelling species included in the study

Why Island Birds Have Bigger Brains Than Their Mainland Counterparts

Researchers measured the brain sizes of 11,554 birds, including representatives of 110 island-dwelling species and 1,821 continental species

Fields Medal recipients, from L to R: Caucher Birkar, Alessio Figalli, Akshay Venkatesh, Peter Scholze

Trending Today

This Year’s Fields Medal Winners Include a Kurdish Refugee and a 30-Year-Old Professor

Peter Scholze, Caucher Birkar, Alessio Figalli and Akshay Venkatesh named recipients of award often described as the Nobel Prize for mathematics

This critter soaks in the heat of a 112 degrees Fahrenheit day in Death Valley.

Death Valley Scorches Its Own Record for the Hottest Month in History

Temperatures averaged a blistering 108.1 degrees Fahrenheit for the month of July

McCartney has long claimed that he wrote the melody to "In My Life," but Lennon stated that his songwriting partner had only contributed to the middle section of the tune. This study suggests they were both wrong

Statistics Offer Answer to Decades-Long Dispute Over Authorship of Beatles Hit

Researchers say there is less than a one in 50 chance that Paul McCartney composed the melody of “In My Life”

Trending Today

The Science Behind California’s “Fire Tornado”

The spinning mass of smoke filmed near Redding, California, is much taller, wider and lasted longer than average fire whirls

Balding on the lemurs' lower backs indicated frequent itching and scratching associated with rashes caused by a common pesky parasite.

Lemurs Smear Bugs on Their Privates to Ward Off Infection

Lathering up with orange goo from millipede guts might relieve infections, expel parasites in lemurs

New Research

New Map Chronicles Three Decades of Surface Mining in Central Appalachia

The data shows about 1.5 million acres of forest have been affected by surface and mountaintop mining since the 1970s

A new chemical analysis showed that the clothes the mummies were buried in were dyed with cinnabar, a toxic pigment.

These Chilean Mummies Were Buried in Mercury-Laced Red Clothing

The Cerro Esmeralda site, where two human sacrifices were buried, shows traces of cinnabar, a toxic pigment

Archaeologists identified the library based on a series of wall niches that once housed ancient scrolls

Cool Finds

Cologne Archaeologists Unearth Foundations of Germany’s Oldest Known Library

The library, which was built between 150 and 200 C.E., held an estimated 20,000 ancient scrolls

The Morne du Tamaris Colony in happier days in 1982.

New Research

World’s Largest King Penguin Colony Suffers an 85 Percent Crash

The Morne du Tamaris Colony on Île aux Cochons has dropped from 2 million to 200,000 birds over 30 years

Bird's eye view of the 1893 Columbian Exposition, which Olmsted was instrumental in planning

24,000 Documents Detailing Life of Landscape Architect Frederick Law Olmsted Now Available Online

Collection includes journals, personal correspondence detailing development of Biltmore estate, U.S. Capitol grounds and the Chicago World’s Fair

Alan Smith-Allison poses with his collection

A New Exhibition Is Here to Spice Up Your Life

Do you really, really, really wanna see it?

Can Scientists Save an Endangered Marsupial by Breeding Out Its Taste for Poisonous Toads?

Some northern quolls do not eat deadly cane toads. New research suggests their aversion is an inherited trait

Trending Today

Remains of Tuskegee Airman Found in Austria

Researchers and archaeologists have recovered the remains of distinguished flyer Lawrence E. Dickson whose plane crashed during a mission in 1944

This shape, dubbed the scutoid, had no name until researchers found it while modeling how skin cells pack together.

New Research

Introducing the Scutoid, Geometry’s Newest Shape

The scutoid allows skin cells to remain packed tightly together even over curved surfaces

Researchers claim that they "defrosted" two ancient nematodes, which began moving and eating. If the claims hold up, it will be a scientific discovery for the ages

Ancient Roundworms Allegedly Resurrected From Russian Permafrost

Skeptics cite possibility of ancient samples’ contamination by contemporary organisms

MASTODON MAXIMUS. CUV. [Cuvier]; Orra White Hitchcock (1796–1863); Amherst, Massachusetts; 1828–1840; pen and ink and watercolor wash on cotton, with woven tape binding

Art Meets Science

Art, Science and Religion Blend in Exhibition Honoring Illustrator Orra White Hitchcock

Orra’s paintings and drawings depict the natural world in colorful detail

Salvador Dalí, "Gala Placidia. Galatea of the Spheres," 1952

Catalonia

Why Gala Dalí—Muse, Model and Artist—Was More Than Just Salvador’s Wife

Barcelona exhibition draws on 315 artifacts to unravel the myths behind central surrealist figure

Tracey Emin, "Death Mask," 2002

This Initiative Is Loaning Artwork Back to the Communities They’re Most Associated With

Britain’s National Portrait Gallery’s ‘Coming Home’ initiative will loan portraits to the towns and cities most closely associated with their subjects

Elephants relax at the Jejane watering hole, with no bees in sight.

New Research

How the Scent of Angry Bees Could Protect Elephants

A new study shows elephants fear bee pheromones, and this fact could keep the pachyderms out of crops

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