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New Research

Illustration of the GRAPES-3 Muon telescope in a lightning storm.

New Research

How Much Electricity Can Thunderstorms Produce?

Researchers used a cosmic ray detector to clock one storm in at a shocking 1.3 billion volts

A new study looks at the role “pro-social” religions play in fostering large-scale societies

New Research

Which Came First, Vengeful Gods or Complex Civilizations?

A new study pushes back against the hypothesis that moralizing gods were necessary to keep large societies civil

An illustration of what Avimaia schweitzerae and its nest may have looked like.

Cool Finds

First-Ever Fossilized Mother Bird Found With Unlaid Egg

The rare 110-million-year-old bits of shell shine light on the reproduction during the age of dinosaurs

New Research

Some People’s Brains Can Sense Earth’s Magnetic Field—but No, It Doesn’t Mean We Have Magnetoreception ‘Superpowers’

A new experiment reveals signs our brains may respond to changes in Earth’s magnetic field, but it’s unclear whether it impacts behavior

Cool Finds

Mariner’s Astrolabe Recovered From Shipwreck Is the World’s Oldest

The navigational gadget comes from the wreck of the Esmerelda, part of Vasco da Gama’s fleet that sunk off the coast of Oman in 1503

Ewe can't hurry love.

New Research

Healthy Baby Lambs Born Using World’s Oldest Sperm

Ram semen survived 50 years frozen in liquid nitrogen, matched insemination success rate of sperm frozen for just one year

One of a series of images from the Illustrated London News for October 13, 1888 carrying the overall caption, "With the Vigilance Committee in the East End".

New Research

No, We Still Cannot Confirm the Identity of Jack the Ripper

The case for the unmasking is tied to a shawl alleged to have been found next to Ripper victim Catherine Eddowes, but its provenance is uncertain

A 2,325-year-old bog butter weighing almost 30 pounds, alongside the keg it was found in.

Bronze Age Irish ‘Bog Butter’ Is Actually Made From Dairy, Study Finds

It previously was not clear whether the strange swampy snack originated from milk or animal fats

Trending Today

Scientists Played Music to Cheese as It Aged. Hip-Hop Produced the Funkiest Flavor

Researchers played nonstop loops of Led Zeppelin, A Tribe Called Quest and Mozart to cheese wheels to find out how sound waves impacted flavor

New Research

Stonehenge Pig Roasts Drew People From All Over Neolithic Britain

Isotopic analysis of pig bones in feasting sites near the monument show people were traveling as far as Scotland with their own pigs

Hungry Otters Are Creating a Unique Archaeological Record

By bashing mussel shells onto stones, otters leave behind traces of their activity

New Research

The Carcasses That Mountain Lions Leave Behind Power Entire Insect Ecosystems

A new study shows 215 species of beetles rely on the big cats’ leftovers

Cool Finds

Birds and Humans Are Depicted Together in This Rare Scene From 12,000 Years Ago

Researchers believe the discovery, detailed in a new study, represent an “exceptional milestone in European Paleolithic rock art”

Rami Malek, Olivia Colman, Regina King and Mahershala Ali pose with the Oscars they won for acting at the 91st Academy Awards.

Actors’ Brain Activity May Change When They Are in Character

A new study of actors’ brain activity suggests that they may ‘lose themselves’ when performing

New Research

Dog Walks Are Good Exercise for Seniors—But Be Careful, Fractures Are on the Rise

Injuries caused by walking a dog on a leash have doubled in the last 15 years for Americans aged 65 and over

Alcatraz's recreation yard, where the structures were discovered.

Cool Finds

Radar Scans Reveal Traces of 19th-Century Fort Beneath Alcatraz

Before Capone took up residence, the island was home to military installation that guarded San Francisco Bay

New Research

Beer Yeast Is a True International Collaboration

A new study looking at the genomics of brewer’s yeast indicates it’s a combination of European grape wine and Asian rice wine strains

The positions of the globular clusters used to estimate the mass of the Milky Way.

Cool Finds

How Much Does the Milky Way Weigh?

Measurements from the Gaia satellite and Hubble Space Telescope show our galaxy tips the scales at about 1.5 trillion solar masses

Humans Are Destroying Chimpanzee Culture

A new study has found that chimps living in areas of high human impact are 88 percent less likely to engage in certain learned behaviors

Women in Science Receive Less Grant Money Than Their Male Peers

Researchers found that on average, first-time male lead investigators were awarded $41,000 more than their female counterparts

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