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New Research

A wildlife biologist checks a big brown bat for signs of white nose syndrome, which can cause tears or even dime-sized holes in their delicate wings.

Three Ways Bats Could Bounce Back From Devastating White Nose Syndrome

Scientists are testing light therapy, a fungus-killing fungus—and maybe, doing nothing

New Research

Where Did the Aztecs Get Their Turquoise?

New analysis shows the blue-green mineral found in Aztec art was likely mined in Mexico, not the American Southwest as previously believed

Double burial of two plague victims in the Samara region, Russia

Bacteria in Ancient Teeth Push Back Origins of the Bubonic Plague

The deadly disease may have been transmitted to humans at least 800 years earlier than previously believed

I can haz more habitats?

New Research

The UK’s Hedgehogs (and Other Mammals) Are In Danger

The island nation’s mammal populations have seen a steep decline in the last two decades, with hedgehog numbers decreasing by two-thirds

You'd expect to see a raccoon snuffling around at midnight. A sun bear, not so much.

New Research

Fear of Humans Is Forcing Daytime Animals Into Night Mode

The stress is pushing some animals to adjust their schedules—but not all will be quick enough to adapt

A narwhal being capture and tagged for the study

New Research

Researchers Record the Sounds of the Elusive Narwhal

Skreee—-click——whirrr.

Apollo 15 Lunar Module Pilot James Irwin salutes the U.S. flag. This photograph was taken by Astronaut David R. Scott, Apollo 15 commander.

Astronauts’ Footprints May Have Warmed the Moon

“Lost” data from the 1970s helped scientists solve an enduring lunar mystery

Hangry like the wolf.

New Research

Being Hangry Is Real, But You Can Control It

Hunger elicits similar responses as emotions, but it only turns into “hanger” when people are already primed with negative feelings

New Research

Inca Skull Surgeons Had Better Success Rates Than American Civil War Doctors

Survival rates among later Inca cultures was significantly higher. However, the 19th-century soldiers were facing trauma caused by industrial-age warfare

Don't judge a bat by its cover ... of Barry White.

New Research

Like Birds, Some Bats Warble to Woo Their Mates

They join an elite club of mammals—including mice, whales and humans—whose melodies convey complex information

Fully 73 percent of the patents studied in the paper pertained to microbial species, which account for about 20 percent of marine life.

New Research

Nearly Half the Patents on Marine Genes Belong to Just One Company

Who owns biodiversity? No one and everyone—or maybe, a German chemical company

An example of a moai wearing a red scoria pukao.

New Research

The Clever Way the Easter Island Statues Got Hats

A new analysis of the 13-ton red stone pukao show the carvings were likely rolled up ramps to the leaning statues

New Research

Something Is Killing Off Africa’s Largest Baobab Trees

In the last dozen years, four of the 13 largest, and likely oldest, trees have died. Another five are ailing

A large dust storm, or haboob, sweeps across downtown Phoenix on July 21, 2012.

New Research

How Climate Changed-Fueled “Mega Droughts” Could Harm Human Health

Researchers looked at the little-studied danger of dust and worsening air quality in the American Southwest

We now know that velociraptors were closer to dog-sized than horse-sized, meaning full-grown Blue should be closer to these dimensions. Also: FEATHERS.

Five Ways Real Science Would Make the New Jurassic World So Much Better

It appears that Fallen Kingdom has not evolved alongside 21st century research

New Research

Oldest Footprints Show When Life On Earth Got Legs

Tiny fossil tracks found in South China firmly date appendages back to the Ediacaran period

New Research

New Gadget Brings Fish Up From the Ocean’s “Twilight Zone”

The portable decompression chamber allows SCUBA-diving scientists to safely collect specimens without them, well, exploding

A 2010 picture of the statue of Nathan Bedford Forrest, which was removed from Health Sciences Park (formerly Nathan Bedford Forrest Park) in downtown Memphis last December.

At Least 110 Confederate Monuments and Symbols Have Been Removed Since 2015

But more than 1700 remain, including 772 monuments, more than 300 of which are located in Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia

The Next Flu Pandemic Might Come From Dogs

A new study found two strains of swine flu in sickly pups in China

An illustration of lightning on Jupiter's northern hemisphere, using an image from the JunoCam.

New Research

Jupiter’s Lightning Is More Earth-Like Than We Thought

Juno is providing scientists with new insights into the gas giant’s flashes of light

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