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New Research

Climbing equipment and trash scattered a camp on Mount Everest, according to AFP. Some are calling the mountain "world's highest rubbish dump."

To Clean Up Everest, Nepal Is Banning Single-Use Plastics on the Mountain

Earlier this year, volunteers collected three metric tons of garbage from the famed landmark

Burning birch bark to produce sticky tar.

New Research

Making Neanderthal Birch Tar Isn’t as Complex as Thought

But even if Neanderthals were using a simpler method to produce the sticky resin, their use of it still suggests a level of planning and cognitive ability

Najin (left) and Fatu, the last two northern white rhinos, on the day before their eggs were harvested.

Trending Today

Eggs Successfully Collected from the Last Two Northern White Rhinos

Advances in fertility science will hopefully allow researchers to implant embryos of the species into surrogate southern white rhinos

Europe's cave bear population started crashing around 40,000 years ago—roughly the time period when modern humans arrived on the continent

Ice Age Humans Likely Played Major Role in Cave Bears’ Extinction

Researchers have long debated whether human activity or climate change precipitated the species’ demise

None

A New Species of Leech Is Discovered Near Washington, D.C.

Smithsonian researcher describes a previously unknown species of olive-green bloodsucker that has three jaws with up to 59 teeth

Players who sustained a high number of subconcussive hits suffered more midbrain tissue damage

One Concussion-Free Football Season Can Still Damage Players’ Brains

A new study found that more than two-thirds of subjects experienced a decrease in structural integrity of the brain by the end of the college season

Trending Today

Rare Lightning Strikes Detected 300 Miles From North Pole

Cool temps, low moisture and a stable atmosphere usually prevent thunderstorms from developing in the Arctic

New Research

New 3-D Map Shows Milky Way’s Big Twist

By mapping the distance of Cepheid stars, researchers reveal that our galaxy is warped

When does a joke become a dad joke? When it becomes apparent.

New Research

Laugh Tracks Make Bad Jokes Funnier, According to Science

The bursts of audience laughter hated by TV critics do induce laughter, meaning the sit-com giggles are here to stay

Members of the control group showed none of the behavioral and physiological changes seen among the experimental clutches

New Research

Unhatched Bird Embryos Communicate With Siblings by Vibrating Their Shells

Baby seabirds exposed to nestmates’ warnings exhibit behavioral and physiological adaptations designed to help avoid predators

The newly identified American Pocket Shark was first discovered in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010.

This New Shark Species Looks Like a Tiny Sperm Whale

The 5.5-inch-long Mollisquama mississippiensis—one of only two pocket shark specimens known to science—also glows in the dark

Biswamoyopterus gaoligongensis

Cool Finds

New Species of Giant Flying Squirrel Discovered in China

Weighing 3 to 4 pounds, the Mount Gaoligong flying squirrel was recently found in Yunnan province

Future of Space Exploration

First Moon-Forming Disk Detected Swirling Around an Exoplanet

Telescope observations suggest that a cloud of gas and dust around a planet 370 light-years away may be coalescing into planet-sized moons

New Research

Little, Transparent Fish Show Sleep Is at Least 450 Million Years Old

Imaging of sleeping zebrafish reveal their pattern of Zzz’s is similar to that of mammals and other animals, meaning snoozing has been around a long time

The coffinfish can inflate its body volume by up to 30 percent upon inhaling a significant quantity of water

New Research

Coffinfish Can Hold Their Breath for Up to Four Minutes on the Ocean Floor

This evolutionary adaptation may help the deep-sea dwellers conserve energy or defend against predators

Tell that crocodile, if he says he's got beef that I'm a vegetarian and I'm not scared of him.

Cool Finds

Prehistoric Crocodiles Preferred Plants Over Prey

A study of croc teeth show many species during the time of the dinos were herbivores and omnivores, not strict meat eaters

Melanosomes linked with blue feathers are much longer than they are wide

Cool Finds

Scientists Identify Blue Hues in Fossilized Bird Feathers for the First Time

A new study shows how the shapes of tiny pigment-carrying structures called melanosomes are associated with different colors

Cool Finds

More Than 50 Lakes Found Under Greenland Ice Sheet

Prior to the finding, researchers only knew of four bodies of water below the ice sheet

Cool Finds

Fear of Foreign Food May Have Led to the Death of This Crusader King

A new analysis shows France’s Louis IX and much of his army suffered from advanced scurvy during the Eighth Crusade in Tunisia

Cool Finds

Listen to the First Known Song of the North Pacific Right Whale

Researchers spent years trying to trace the source of the rhythmic, gunshot pattern to the endangered whale species

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