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An artist's rendering of a newly described species of flying reptile named Kunpengopterus antipollicatus. The Jurassic-era pterosaur may be the earliest animal known to possess opposable thumbs.

New Research

A Prehistoric Flying Creature Nicknamed ‘Monkeydactyl’ May Have Climbed Trees Using Opposable Thumbs

The newly described Jurassic pterosaur may be the oldest animal known to possess opposable thumbs

The largest pterosaurs had wingspans like small aircraft and longer necks than giraffes.

New Research

Unique Bone Structure Helped Long-Necked Pterosaurs Fly

Bicycle wheel-like spokes connected the vertebrae’s central column to its outer surface, offering serious strength

The Indian jumping ant (Harpegnathos saltator).

New Research

This Ant Can Shrink and Regrow Its Brain

Indian jumping ants shrink their brains when they become their colony’s queen, but they can also grow the brain back if they quit the gig

The rescue team named their giraffe-carrying vessel the "GiRaft."

Last Two Giraffes Rescued From a Disappearing Island in Kenya

The land mass was once a peninsula in Lake Baringo, but rising waters turned it into a muddy island

Blue pieces of microplastic viewed under a microscope alongside dust, minerals and charcoal collected from a park in Idaho.

New Research

Airborne Microplastics ‘Now Spiral Around the Globe’

Researchers find the tiny synthetic particles can stay aloft for nearly a week and travel large distances in the wind

Researchers took cross sectional scans of a spider web with a laser to make this 3D image of its structure that they eventually translated into music.

Art Meets Science

Researchers Turn Spider Webs Into Music

The eerie compositions offer humans an approximation of how spiders experience their surroundings through vibrations

The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant as seen from the coast of Futaba town in Fukushima prefecture.

Japan Will Release Fukushima Nuclear Plant Wastewater Into Ocean

Ten years after the Fukushima nuclear disaster, the site is running out of space to store tritium-containing wastewater

Twenty-eight incidents where wildlife was harmed by PPE were recorded and the first documented case included an American Robin found wrapped up in a mask in Canada, in April 2020.

Discarded Covid-19 Masks and Plastic Gloves Are Killing Wildlife

Biologists are finding single-use items are entrapping and entangling animals all over the globe

The female sawfish (pictured) is 16 feet long and estimated to weigh between 800 and 1,000 pounds. It's the longest smalltooth sawfish ever measured by scientists.

Record-Breaking 16-Foot-Long Sawfish Washes Ashore in the Florida Keys

In a rare occurrence, a second 12-foot-long juvenile sawfish was found dead on a different beach in the state during the same week

The object left a four-inch dent on the ground at a Washington farm.

After a Fiery Display, SpaceX Debris Landed on a Washington Farm

Officials are also investigating whether a cylindrical object that washed ashore in Oregon may also be from the SpaceX rocket booster

These polished stones collected in Wyoming may have been carried some 600 miles from Wisconsin inside the stomachs of sauropods.

New Research

Stones Hint at Possible 600-Mile Dinosaur Migration From Wisconsin to Wyoming

Some 150 million years ago, prehistoric plant-eaters may have carried the rocks in their bellies to aid digestion

In the new reprocessed image, ionized oxygen is seen in blue and ionized hydrogen and nitrogen glow red.

NASA Reveals Spectacular New Hubble Telescope Image of the Veil Nebula

Advanced processing techniques brought out finer details of the nebula’s filaments and delicate threads of translucent ionized gas

The pink splotch on the planet shows the X-rays detected in 2002 imposed on a photo of Uranus taken in 2004 at the same orientation.

Scientists Detect X-Rays Radiating From Uranus

The beams could be scattered light from the Sun, fluorescence from Uranus’s rings, or produced by auroras on the ice giant

As many as 70 orcas cooperatively hunted, killed and ate a roughly 50-foot long blue whale last month off the coast of Australia.

More Than 50 Orcas Hunt and Kill Blue Whale Off Australian Coast

This is one of just a handful of times that orcas have ever been recorded killing a blue whale

Previous research has shown that a gorilla's larger body size is linked to reproductive success and social rank. The chest-beating could be another way for the gorillas to convey their size to others and, in turn, avoid fights that could result in serious injury or death.

Gorillas Beat Their Chests to Communicate With Each Other

The larger male apes have lower frequencies in their pounds and may use chest-beating to signal their social status, strength, and size to others

The 50-foot-wide racetrack used to study muons traveled by barge around Florida and up the Mississippi, and then by truck across Illinois.

New Research

New Measurements of Muons Might Rewrite Particle Physics

The gap between theoretical predictions and the experimental measurements isn’t a full-blown discovery yet

La Soufrière volcano erupted less than 24 hours after evacuation orders were given on Saint Vincent Island.

Evacuations Ongoing After ‘Explosive Eruption’ on Caribbean Island

Seismic activity on the island of St. Vincent prompted mandatory evacuations hours before the eruption started

A lightning-caused wildfire in 2013 creates white smoke rising from the tundra in front of the Baird Mountains.

New Research

Climate Change Linked to Increase in Arctic Lightning Strikes

A warming climate makes Arctic lightning possible, and resulting wildfires release immense amounts of carbon from the permafrost

A new study found rat poison in the bodies of more than 80 percent of 133 dead bald and golden eagles from across the U.S.

New Research

Study Finds Rat Poison in Dead Eagles From Across the U.S.

More than 82 percent of 133 eagles tested had so-called anticoagulant rodenticides in their bodies

New research says the United States would need to more than double its current seedling production to add 30 billion trees by 2040.

New Research

To Fight Climate Change With Trees, America Needs More Seedlings

New research estimates the U.S. would need to double production to meet its reforestation goals

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