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An albino bottlenose dolphin, like this one but without its melanin, was spotted off the coast of Florida in December.

An Albino Dolphin Was Spotted Off the Coast of Florida

It is only the 15th albino dolphin sighting recorded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

January 7, 2015

There is A Scientific Reason That Cold Weather Could Cause Colds

The rhinovirus that most commonly causes colds likes chillier temperatures, where the host’s immune system doesn’t fare so well

January 6, 2015

The BelAZ 75710 is the world's largest dump truck — note people in the bottom right for scale.

Cool Finds

This Is the World’s Largest Dump Truck

The mega Earth-mover is hard at work digging a coal mine in Russia

January 6, 2015

Nurses who work rotating shifts are at greater risk of dying from cardiovascular disease and lung cancer than workers who stick with a nine-to-five schedule.

New Research

Five Years of Night Shift Work Elevate a Person’s Risk of Death

Working inconsistent hours is bad for your health, according to researchers who studied 75,000 U.S. nurses

January 6, 2015

A bowhead whale is the longest-living mammal on earth

New Research

How a 200-Year-Old Whale Might Help Us Live Longer

Scientists have sequenced the genome of the world’s oldest-living mammal in search of the keys to longevity

January 6, 2015

Tuna are a hot commodity in Japan at this time of year — so hot that a sushi chef paid $37,500 for a single fish. Here, dogtooth tuna swim in the Indian Ocean.

This year, he bought it for $37,500—which he considered cheap

January 6, 2015

Black bears, like this one in Minnesota, which lick ants from leaves are providing an important benefit to the plant.

New Research

Bears Munching on Ants Indirectly Help Plants

A link uncovered by a graduate student shows that plants have bears to thank for trimming them of ants — and another pesky species

January 5, 2015

A monarch butterfly sits on a Buddleia Butterfly Bush.

Scientists fear that the butterfly’s population will continue to drop due to the loss of the its food source

January 5, 2015

The rim of white light emanating from the disco clam's lips in this image seems to be its best defense against a predator.

Cool Finds

Disco Clams Are Flashy

Their orange lips twinkle in a particularly funky display

January 5, 2015

This image, created by a telescope called NuSTAR, is the most detailed of the sun using high-energy rays to date, according to NASA.

New Research

NASA Uses X-Rays to Find Out Why the Sun Is So Hot

The image will help scientists decide whether mini-flares make the sun’s atmosphere hotter than the surface itself

January 5, 2015

This false-color composite image shows meteors streaking through the skies over NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., on the night of Jan. 3-4, 2012.

The annual Quadrantid meteor shower peaks this weekend

January 2, 2015

L. larvaepartus (male, left, and female) from Indonesia is the only frog ever discovered to birth live tadpoles.

New Research

This Exotic Frog Skips the Eggs, Gives Birth to Live Tadpoles

The species is one of just a handful of frogs that use internal fertilization, and the only one found that births tadpoles

January 2, 2015

Cool Finds

Where the Buffalo Roam: Illinois

American bison are back in Illinois for the first time in 200 years

January 2, 2015

New Research

Lawyers With Less-Masculine Sounding Voices Are More Likely to Win in Court

Unfortunately, there’s probably little we can do to change this bias

December 31, 2014

Scientists crouch with mock-ups of three generations of Mars rovers. Curiosity is the big one. Opportunity and Spirit were based on the medium-sized one on the left. The small one is front was the Sojourner rover.

A problem with Opportunity’s hardware means it only has short-term memory

December 31, 2014

The Guinean village of Meliandou, where the 2014 ebola epidemic first broke out.

New Research

The First 2014 Ebola Victim Likely Caught It by Playing Around a Bat Tree

Evidence builds that insect-eating bats are natural reservoirs for the disease

December 31, 2014

New Research

Venus Was Once Awash in Oceans of Carbon Dioxide

The planet’s pressure and temperature created a supercritical state where carbon dioxide has properties of a liquid and a gas

December 31, 2014

a photocomposite of a dust mite and a fecal pellet

New Research

Travel Spreads Dust Mite Poop All Over The World

Dust mites’ ubiquity comes in part from their ability to digest dead skin cells (which is what makes us allergic to their waste)

December 31, 2014

Cool Finds

The Science of Why Champagne Pops

The American Chemical Society takes a look at the science of champagne

December 30, 2014

New Research

Binge Drinking Suppresses the Immune System

Binge drinking not only makes people more accident-prone, it impairs their ability to recover from those accidents

December 30, 2014

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