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The squalene industry kills around 3 million sharks each year, and if squalene is used in a vaccine to treat everyone in the world, up to half a million sharks will be killed.

500,000 Sharks Could Be Killed in the Race to Produce a Covid-19 Vaccine

Vaccine developers seek a compound called squalene produced in shark livers

A small-banded kukri snake seen with its head thrust inside the body of an Asian common toad. This snake does this to feed on its prey's internal organs, and, perhaps, to avoid the poisonous milky secretions that can be seen on the toad's back.

New Research

This Snake Slurps Organs of Living Toads in Grisly Feeding Strategy

Researchers say no other snakes are known to feed this way, adding that the snakes may feed this way to avoid toxins secreted from the toads’ backs

Some of the corpses looked newly dead but have actually been preserved in ice for more than 800 years.

New Research

Scientist Unearths a Colony of Mummified Penguins in Antarctica

Melting ice revealed an ancient colony that has never before been recorded

Pollinators perceive the higher levels of UV-absorbing pigments as a darker hue, which could be confusing when they try to scope out colorful flowers to land on.

New Research

Flowers Are Changing Color in Response to Climate Change

As temperatures and ozone levels rise, blossoms are adjusting their UV pigmentation

So far, there are no cases of pet-to-human transmission of the coronavirus, and human-to-pet transmission seems rare.

New Research

New Study Finds Dogs May Not Spread Covid-19, but Cats Can Pass It to Each Other

A study of ten animals tested their reaction to the viral infection and whether transmission followed

A fossilized feather first unearthed in 1861 in Germany. New research suggests the feather came from the bird-like dinosaur Archaeopteryx.

New Research

New Study Reignites Debate Over Which Species Shed the First Fossil Feather Ever Found

Initially discovered in the 1800s, researchers argue that the 150-million-year-old plume came from the fluttering dinosaur Archaeopteryx

Adult Joshua trees—which can live for 150 years on average—sprouted when temperatures were about 1 degree Celsius cooler than today.

In ‘a Huge Victory,’ California’s Joshua Tree Becomes the First Plant Protected Due to Climate Change

Experts say that climate change will decimate the population of Joshua trees, but California is taking action

Plastics can take hundreds of years to naturally degrade in the environment, something this new combination of enzymes can accomplish in a matter of days.

New Research

Engineered ‘Super Enzyme’ Breaks Down Plastic

The new enzyme could allow for infinite recycling of common PET plastic used in water bottles and clothing

A 15-year study of scans taken in 2004 revealed unseen details, including a hairpin.

Art Meets Science

Is There a Hidden Drawing Beneath the ‘Mona Lisa’?

Newly detailed high-resolution scans show traces of a charcoal underdrawing

The fact that Mars' south pole holds many underground lakes suggests that they might be the last remnants of the planet's ancient oceans.

New Research

Briny Underground Lakes May Be All That Remain of Martian Ocean

New data confirm the 2018 discovery of a lake under Mars’ south pole and point to three smaller water features around it

The results of a new study suggest crows are aware of their own sensory perceptions, a hallmark of what's called primary or sensory consciousness.

New Research

Do Crows Possess a Form of Consciousness?

New study suggests the corvids may join humans and some primates as one of the rare animals capable of having subjective experiences

The projected path for 2020 SO, a space object that astronomers predict will become Earth's mini-moon in October, possibly staying until May 2021. The blue object in the center of the circle is Earth.

Earth May Soon Get Another Mini-Moon, but It’s Probably Just a Piece of Space Trash

It could be an asteroid—or, as one astronomer suggests, it could be a rocket booster from the 1960s

On Earth, most people are familiar with ultraviolet radiation’s harmful effects on our skin, but in space, astronauts are also subjected to galactic cosmic rays, accelerated solar particles, neutrons and gamma rays.

New Research

Moonwalking Humans Get Blasted With 200 Times the Radiation Experienced on Earth

The new findings will inform how much shielding future astronauts will need to safely explore the moon

Photographer Jak Wonderly’s photo, titled “Caught by Cats,” visualizes the deadly effect cats can wreak on their natural surroundings.

Portrait Displays Hundreds of Animals Killed by House Cats

Jak Wonderly’s ‘Caught by Cats’ aims to increase awareness of domestic cats’ deadly effects on wildlife.

Caption via Getty: "The coronavirus sniffer dogs named Kössi (L) and Miina cuddle with trainer Susanna Paavilainen at the Helsinki airport in Vantaa, Finland where they are trained to detect the Covid-19 from the arriving passengers, on September 22, 2020."

Helsinki Airport Employs Dogs to Sniff Out Signs of Covid-19 in Travelers’ Sweat

Four dogs began work at Helsinki Airport on September 22, and six more may join them soon

Elephants Kelly Ann and Mable are eligible to move to the White Oak Conservation Center north of Jacksonville, Florida.

Retired Circus Elephants to Move to 2,500-Acre Wildlife Refuge Next Year

Since 2016, about 30 elephants have lived in a 200-acre enclosure managed by Ringling Bros. circus

Artist's interpretation of a toothy Spinosaurus.

Cool Finds

Fossil Teeth Bolster Notion That Spinosaurus Was a ‘River Monster’

A selection of some 1,200 teeth found in ancient riverbeds was dominated by Spinosaurus, suggesting they made their home in the water

Hundreds of pilot whales are stranded on a sand bar on September 21, 2020 off the west coast of Tasmania.

Hundreds of Whales Die in Mass Stranding in Australia

Nearly 500 pilot whales were stranded off the coast of Tasmania last week, in what officials say is the largest mass stranding event in Australian history

A deadly Australian funnel-web spider bares its fangs.

New Research

Deadly Spiders Evolved Venom to Safely Search for Love

Male funnel-web spiders evolved deadly venom to protect themselves from vertebrate predators when they leave the safety of their burrows to find a mate

The emerald ash borer first appeared in Michigan in 2002.

New Research

Invasive Pest Threatens Future of North American Ash Trees

A new study shows that ash tree populations are not growing fast enough to replace the trees killed by ash borer larvae

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