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New Research

Geologist Allan Krill spotted these markings on a boulder the side of the Bright Angel Trail in 2016. The boulder weighs several hundred pounds.

Fallen Boulder at the Grand Canyon Reveals Prehistoric Reptile Footprints

313 million years ago, two reptilian creatures crept over this boulder’s surface

A unique moss species thrives underneath translucent quartz rocks in the hot, dry Mojave Desert while its neighbors shrivel.

New Research

Desert Moss Beats Heat by Growing Under Quartz Crystals

Researchers find the translucent rocks keep the moss moist while letting just enough light pass through its milky interior

Some groups stuck together for four years.

New Research

Grey Reef Sharks Hunt With the Same Group for Years—but Don’t Call Them Friends

They’re more like reef proximity associates

Researchers collecting tears from Broad-snouted caiman.

New Research

Microscopically, Crocodile Tears Look Sort of Like Our Own

Humans are the only species known to cry in response to emotional turmoil, but a new study finds reptile and avian tears aren’t so different

Protected land near Crowsnest Pass, Alberta, above, was one of the sites studied in the new analysis of tree lines in the Canadian Rockies.

Because of Climate Change, Canada’s Rocky Mountain Forests Are on the Move

Using century-old surveying photos, scientists have mapped 100 years of change in the Canadian Rockies to document the climate-altered landscape

Viburnum titus is a common landscaping plant in Europe and the United States, but its blue fruits hadn't been closely studied until now.

New Research

Structural Complexity Gives This Fruit Its Metallic Blue Color

The super blue viburnum fruit gets its hue not just from blue pigment, but from the structure of its fat

A pink adult flamingo stands, surrounded by gray babies, in southern France. Flamingos are born gray and slowly turn pink as they age, due to their diet.

Record-Breaking 60,000 Flamingos Flock to Southern France

More than 50,000 adults and 12,000 babies were counted in aerial photos, suggesting a record-breaking year for the pink birds

Physicist Avinash Kumar of Simon Fraser University stands beside the Mpemba effect apparatus.

New Research

The Physics of Why Hot Water Sometimes Freezes Faster Than Cold Water

For decades, physicists have debated whether the phenomenon exists and how to study it

It's all about identifying cracks—microcracks, in this case—in the armor.

New Research

The Scientific Reason Why Razors Don’t Stay Sharp for Long

When soft hair hits the blade’s weak points, it causes the metal to chip apart

A wild bumble bee seen pollinating a blueberry bush.

New Research

Wild Bees Are Worth $1.5 Billion for Six U.S. Crops

Study also finds that crop yields are often limited by a lack of pollinators

The comparatively massive female anglerfish (Melanocetus johnsonii) with her tiny mate permanently fused to her belly.

New Research

Anglerfish Drop Their Immune Defenses to Find Love

Male anglerfish are major clingers. To avoid mistaking mates as foreign tissue, the deep sea couples lost part of their immune system in evolution

Bogs are perhaps best known for preserving prehistoric human remains. One of the most famous examples of these so-called "bog bodies" is Tollund Man.

New Research

Study Suggests Bones Preserved in Peat Bogs May Be at Risk

Per the paper, archaeologists need to act quickly to recover organic material trapped in the wetlands before specimens degrade

Sperm swimming illusion when seen from above. The sperm tails seems to move symmetrically from one side to another. This view on how sperm moves was established since first observed by Antonie van Leeuwenhoek in 1677, more than three centuries ago.

Researchers Discover How Human Sperm Really Swim

A new 3-D microscopy study overturns hundreds of years of reproductive science

The huge sarsen stones that make up Stonehenge's outer ring weigh around 20 tons each and stand roughly 23 feet tall.

New Research

Archaeologists Pinpoint Origins of Stonehenge’s Mysterious Megaliths

A new study used chemical analysis to determine that the 20-ton boulders came from the West Woods, some 15 miles away

Scientists have isolated the gene the makes the Australian fruit immune to a devastating disease plaguing American citrus.

New Research

How the Australian Finger Lime Could Save American Citrus

Scientists found the gene that makes finger limes impervious to a disease turning oranges green and bitter

Mathematically speaking, the honeycombs grow like crystals.

New Research

Scientists Crack the Mathematical Mystery of Stingless Bees’ Spiral Honeycombs

The waxy architectural wonders seem to grow like crystals

The Crocodylus checchiai skull analyzed in the new paper came from an approximately 10-foot-long reptile.

New Research

New Evidence Suggests Ancient Crocodiles Swam From Africa to America

The prehistoric reptiles would have gotten some help from ocean currents

The top fish is a Russian sturgeon and the bottom is an American paddlefish. In between, two varieties of hybrid 'sturddlefish' created by accident.

New Research

Scientists Accidentally Bred a School of ‘Sturddlefish’

Researchers mixed paddlefish sperm with sturgeon eggs because the fish seemed too dissimilar to form a hybrid

At 33 pounds, Andean condors are the heaviest soaring birds on Earth, but a new study finds they can stay airborne for up to five hours at a time without flapping at all.

New Research

The Andean Condor Can Soar 100 Miles Without Flapping

The impressively efficient flight was recorded during a new study of the giant scavenger’s aerial prowess

Wall art dated to around 1900 B.C. shows visitors to Egypt wearing colorful robes distinct from the white clothing worn by locals.

New Research Reveals Surprising Origins of Egypt’s Hyksos Dynasty

An analysis of ancient tooth enamel suggests the enigmatic ancients were immigrants, not invaders

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