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New Research

Electric eels can discharge up to 860 volts of electricity.

Eels Can Genetically Modify Nearby Fish With Their Electrical Pulses

In laboratory experiments, gene transfer occurred in 5 percent of zebrafish larvae that were near eels when they discharged electricity

Boat docks sit on dry, cracked earth at the Great Salt Lake's Antelope Island Marina on August 1, 2021.

Could a 550-Mile Pipeline From the Ocean Save the Great Salt Lake? Scientists Say Probably Not

New research suggests the electricity costs would exceed $300 million per year and carbon dioxide emissions could approach one million metric tons annually

Ancient baboon skulls from the site of Gabbanat el-Qurud, known as the Valley of the Monkeys

New Research

Ancient Egyptians Kept Baboons in Captivity and Mummified Their Remains

A new analysis of the animals’ skeletal remains reveals a lack of sunlight and an inadequate diet

Two fossilized specimens, each less than 2.5 inches in length, were originally thought to be plants. Now, scientists say they are preserved hatchling turtles.

Once Thought to Be Plants, These Rare Fossils Are Actually Baby Turtles, Scientists Say

The prehistoric specimens found in Colombia could represent one of the oldest and largest turtle species to ever exist

Adding water to beans before grinding them can help produce a more flavorful brew and cut down on mess, according to a new study.

This Simple Trick Will Help You Brew Better Coffee, According to Scientists

New research explores how moisture affects static electricity and clumping of ground coffee beans

Polar bears live in rugged, hard-to-reach places in the Arctic.

DNA Pulled From Paw Prints May Help Researchers Study Elusive Polar Bears

As rising temperatures threaten the Arctic mammals, scientists are turning to new, non-invasive methods to study them

Female mosquitoes need to drink blood in order to produce their eggs.

Male Mosquitoes May Have Once Sucked Blood, Amber Fossils Suggest

Today, only female mosquitoes feed on the blood of animals, while males are satisfied with plant juices

An illustration of life in medieval Cambridge

New Research

‘Bone Biographies’ Reconstruct Lives of Medieval Cambridge Commoners

Researchers have used skeletal remains to compile information about the lives of ordinary residents of the city

Researchers studied brainstem activity of mice while the animals were awake and eating.

Scientists Examine Brain Cells That Control How Much Mice Eat

The study—the first to look at these neurons while animals are awake and consuming food—could tell us about our own appetites

Illustration of the thalamus, a region of the brain linked to learning and memory.

Brain Implants Show Promise for People With Traumatic Brain Injuries in Small Study

Electrodes placed in the brains of five patients led to “profound” improvements in cognitive function, even years after their injuries

Eczema affects almost 32 million people in the United States.

Here’s What Can Cause Itchiness, According to New Research

Scientists discovered a connection between a bacteria linked to eczema and an itch-causing enzyme in a study of mice

Fossilized Trisauropodiscus tracks from more than 210 million years ago (marked with 4 cm scale) compared to modern bird tracks from March 2018 (marked with 3 cm scale)

Mysterious Creatures With Bird-Like Feet Made These Tracks Long Before Birds Evolved

The footprints pre-date the earliest known fossils of avian ancestors by roughly 60 million years, per a new study

A De Winton's golden mole. A member of the species hadn't been definitely seen since 1936.

Scientists Uncover a Golden Mole Species Thought to Be ‘Possibly Extinct’

A scent-detecting dog led the team to the discovery in South Africa, and traces of mole DNA helped confirm it

For the inner four planets in this solar system, each planet orbits the sun three times for every two orbits of the planet immediately to its outside. For the fourth, fifth and sixth planets, they orbit four times for every three orbits of its outer neighbor.

Astronomers Discover Rare Solar System Where Planets Orbit in Mathematical Harmony

The “resonant” planets could provide insight about how such systems form and evolve—and why our own solar system is not synced up

German researchers tested dolphins' ability to detect electric fields.

Bottlenose Dolphins May Have an Electric Sense, Study Finds

Dimples called vibrissal pits on the beaks of the mammals can perceive electricity and might help with hunting and navigation

Alice Tate-Harte, a conservator at English Heritage, works on a 17th-century portrait of Diana Cecil.

See a 17th-Century Portrait Restored to Its Original Appearance, Minus Lip Fillers and Other Touch-Ups

Conservators removed cosmetic changes made to a painting of English aristocrat Diana Cecil, likely to match 19th-century beauty standards

An artist's rendition of the detection of the cosmic ray by the Telescope Array experiment. When high-energy cosmic rays reach Earth's atmosphere, they collide with and break apart atomic nuclei, creating a shower of particles that is picked up by detectors on the ground.

Scientists Mystified by Rare, High-Energy Cosmic Ray, the Most Powerful Since 1991

Researchers have been unable to locate an obvious source for the particle—it seems to have traveled from an empty spot in space

Researchers studied African penguins in the colony at Zoomarine Italia in Rome.

African Penguins Tell Each Other Apart by Their Polka Dot Patterns

New research suggests the birds may find their mates in crowded colonies by looking at their chest plumage

Researchers at the Ohio State University collected 9,287 Asian longhorned ticks in just 90 minutes using lint rollers.

An Invasive Tick That Can Clone Itself Is Spreading Across the U.S., Threatening Livestock

Researchers documented three cows in Ohio killed by Asian longhorned ticks, which can lay up to 2,000 eggs without needing to mate

Striated caracaras are falcons, but they don't act much like other birds of prey.

These Brainy Falcons Are Smarter Than You Might Think

Striated caracaras solved up to eight puzzle box problems in a new study, suggesting they are cognitively complex, like crows and parrots

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