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New Research

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

People are maybe good?

People Are Surprisingly Honest About Returning Lost Wallets

A large new study has found that unwitting subjects were more likely to report a lost wallet as the amount of money inside increased

No horns here!

Cell Phones Are Probably Not Making Us Grow Horns

Scientists and doctors cast doubts on study claiming that prolonged cell phone use is creating bone protrusions on young people’s heads

Boaty McBoatface, awaiting orders.

New Research

Results of Boaty McBoatface’s First Research Mission Published

The little yellow submarine named by the internet explored the Southern Ocean, finding surface winds drive mixing in the deep abyss

New Research

Decades After DDT Was Banned, It Still Impacts Canadian Lakes

A study of sediment cores in remote bodies of water shows the insecticide is still present in high levels, likely altering ecosystems

Cool Finds

Scotland’s Tiny Artificial Islands Date to the Stone Age

Five crannogs in the Outer Hebrides were built 5,000 years ago, perhaps for ritual purposes

Participants likely used wooden bowls known as braziers to burn cannabis and release its mind-altering vapors

Cool Finds

The First Evidence of Smoking Pot Was Found in a 2,500-Year-Old Pot

A new study suggests ancient humans used cannabis to commune with nature, spirits or even the dead

Some of the charred Cheerios.

Cool Finds

Ancient, Inedible ‘Cheerios’ Found in Austrian Archaeological Site

Made from wheat and barley, researchers believe the dough rings were likely ritual objects, not breakfast cereal

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