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New Research

The Tsavo lions' teeth bore marks indicating that they ate soft food, similar to those seen on the teeth of captive lions today. Wild lions, like these pictured in South Africa's Greater Kruger National Park, show different microwear patterns.

New Research

Man-Eating Lions of Tsavo Did Indeed Eat People, Teeth Reveal

Dental clues confirm some rumors about the ravenous cats of Tsavo, while also raising new questions

Later Stone Age paintings

New Research

New Technique Shows San Rock Art Is 5,000 Years Old

Using a highly refined form of carbon dating, researchers were able to date the pigments in art in Botswana, Lesotho and South Africa

The giant shipworm, out of its tube

New Research

After Centuries of Searching, Scientists Finally Find the Mysterious Giant Shipworm Alive

The three-foot long creature has long eluded scientists, but they finally got a closer look

The slimy skin of Hydrophylax bahuvistara harbors antimicrobial powers

The Next Pandemic

This Frog’s Slime Kills Flu Viruses

But don’t go kissing frogs just yet

A serpentinite sample

New Research

How Low Can Life Go? New Study Suggests Six Miles Down

Evidence of life from below a mud volcano hints at life beneath the crust

New Research

Scientists Want to Freeze and Pulverize Your Old Computers

E-waste is a growing problem worldwide, but a new method could help take a byte out of the issue

A new study recommends that the peanut-allergic try consuming other nuts—but only under the supervision of a licensed allergist.

New Research

Tree Nut Allergies May Be Massively Overdiagnosed

But don’t go for the jar of almond butter just yet

Artist's rendering of what DeeDee may look like

New Research

Meet DeeDee, the Solar System’s Newest Dwarf Planet (Maybe)

Though the tiny icy orb meets all the criteria, it has yet to receive the official designation

Matabele ant carries a wounded comrade home

New Research

This Ant Species Rescues Wounded Comrades on the Battlefield

Though it may be counterintuitive, a new study suggests saving the injured benefits the colony more than leaving them for dead

Gentoo penguin takes on a slope near its nesting colony.

New Research

A Penguin Colony’s Rise and Fall, Recorded in Poop

A nearby volcano has decimated the gentoo colony on Ardley Island three times

An artist's rendition of Maven as it spies on Mars' atmosphere.

New Research

Mars Has Metal in Its Atmosphere

Metallic ions have a permanent presence in the red planet’s atmosphere—kind of like on Earth

You can't sit with us. You smell like poo.

New Research

Gut Check: Mandrills Sniff Poop to Avoid Peers With Parasites

Researchers have documented one of the first instances of social avoidance in a non-human animal

An artist's rendering of the new species Teleocrater rhadinus hunting a cynodont, a close relative of mammals.

New Research

Before There Were Dinosaurs, There Was This Weird Crocodile-Looking Thing

A new analysis of an ancient enigma offers clues as to how dino evolution unfolded

This snapshot shows Jupiter's swirling, banded atmosphere and signature vortices.

New Research

“Great Cold Spot” Discovered on Jupiter

The ancient storm was hiding in plain sight

Ingenious leafcutter ants have developed a successful symbiotic relationship with the fungi they farm. New genetic analysis helps pinpoint when, and why.

New Research

How Ants Became the World’s Best Fungus Farmers

Ancient climate change may have spurred a revolution in ant agriculture, Smithsonian researchers find

Are creatures like this at the bottom of animals' family tree?

New Research

Scientists Think Comb Jellies May Have Come Before All Other Animals

Sorry, sponges—there’s a new oldest ancestor in town

Computer-assisted reconstruction of the cavities

New Research

13,000-Year-Old Fillings Were “Drilled” With Stone and Packed With Tar

You can’t handle the tooth

Califorctenus cacachilensis

Cool Finds

Huge New Spider Species Discovered in Mexican Cave

Califorctenus cacachilensis is the width of a softball and represents a new genus of arachnids

New Research

New Survey Estimates Earth Has 60,065 Tree Species

Researchers from Botanic Gardens Conservation International compiled the list, finding that at least 10,000 tree species are at risk of extinction

Are orangutans aware that others have different minds than their own?

New Research

Monkeys May Recognize False Beliefs—Knocking Over Yet Another Pillar of Human Cognition

Apes may be aware of the minds of others—yet another remarkable finding about the cognitive abilities of non-human animals

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