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New Research

Using satellite-based datasets from 2003 to 2017, a new study identified significant decreases in average rainfall in Southeast Asia, as well as the Amazon and the Congo.

Deforestation Is Linked to Lower Rainfall, Study Says

The Amazon rainforest and other tropical regions face drying climates due to loss of trees

Researchers use microphones to measure the noises emitted by tomato plants.

Plants Make Noises When Stressed, Study Finds

Scientists detected high-frequency sounds emitted by plants that had been cut or dehydrated

New research suggests Native Americans used horses of European descent long before colonizers arrived in the American West.

New Research Rewrites the History of American Horses

Native Americans spread the animals across the West before Europeans arrived in the region, archaeological evidence and Indigenous knowledge show

The Tyrannosaurus rex may have had lips.

T. Rex Had Lips That Concealed Its Teeth, Study Says

Paleontologists say popular, toothy depictions of the dinosaur may have missed the mark

Scientists theorize that hydrogen from solar wind combines with oxygen in tiny glass beads to form water on the moon's surface.

Scientists Find Water in Glass Beads From the Moon

This means the lunar surface could hold up to 300 billion tons of water, a new study estimates

Swahili people maintained matrilineal family burial gardens such as this one in Faza, Kenya.

Ancient DNA Confirms the Origin Story of the Swahili People

Medieval individuals in the coastal East African civilization had almost equal parts African and Asian ancestry, a new study finds

Researchers think old masters like Sandro Botticelli, who painted Lamentation Over the Dead Christ, may have mixed egg into their oil paints to alter certain qualities.

Art Meets Science

Why Did Old Masters Use Eggs in Oil Paintings?

A new study explores how artists may have added yolk to alter the properties of their paints

Gut bacteria, more than genetics, impact mice's motivation to exercise, a recent study suggests.

Could Gut Bacteria Impact Your Motivation to Exercise?

In a study of mice, researchers show their microbiomes play a role in how much they run and how quickly they grow fatigued

Infinitely many copies of a 13-sided shape can be arranged with no overlaps or gaps in a pattern that never repeats.

At Long Last, Mathematicians Have Found a Shape With a Pattern That Never Repeats

Experts have searched for decades for a polygon that only makes non-repeating patterns. But no one knew it was possible until now

Black widows are the most venomous spider in North America, with venom about 15 times as potent as a rattlesnake's.

Black Widow Spiders Are Being Killed Off by Non-Native Brown Widows

Despite their reputation as fearsome predators, black widows are on the defensive due to attacks by their cousins, a study shows

Zebrafish experience what's known as "emotional contagion" and react when their peers are afraid.

Fish May Sense Each Other’s Fear

Zebrafish respond when their peers act afraid, an ability regulated by the same hormone that drives human empathy, a new study shows

An illustration of exoplanet VHS 1256 b, which is surrounded by clouds of hot silicate particles.

James Webb Telescope Spots Raging Dust Storms on an Exoplanet

The far-off world also has signs of water, methane, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide

A portrait of Ludwig van Beethoven by August von Kloeber. The composer suffered from health problems throughout his adult life, including hearing loss and gastrointestinal issues.

DNA From Beethoven’s Hair Reveals Clues About His Death

The composer was predisposed to liver disease and had hepatitis B at the end of his life, a new study finds

Snow petrels were among the seabird species that did not reproduce in Antarctica's Dronning Maud Land region in 2021-22.

Strong Snowstorms Prevented Tens of Thousands of Antarctic Seabirds From Breeding

With their nesting sites buried under a blanket of snow, some petrels and skuas made no attempts at reproducing in December 2021 and January 2022

A halved slice of edible 3D-printed cake.

Scientists 3D Printed a Slice of Cake

The seven-ingredient recipe shows potential for the future of making food with this technology, researchers say

Solar panels float on a mountain lake in Switzerland. The first such system was installed in 2008.

Are Floating Solar Panels the Future of Clean Energy Production?

“Floatovoltaics” could drastically raise power generation and conserve water in reservoirs, according to a new study

An analysis of genetic samples taken in 2020 from a market in Wuhan, China, found both the coronavirus and raccoon dog DNA.

Genetic Evidence Ties Covid’s Origin to Raccoon Dogs

New data support the theory that the virus causing Covid-19 first spread to humans from animals

An aerial view of the ongoing efforts to reconstruct Paris' Notre-Dame Cathedral, pictured in June 2021

Cool Finds

The 2019 Notre-Dame Fire Revealed Iron Staples Holding the Cathedral Together

The Paris landmark is the first known Gothic cathedral to use iron in this way, researchers say

A rendering of Mamenchisaurus sinocanadorum dinosaurs with their 50-foot-long necks.

This Dinosaur Had a 50-Foot-Long Neck, Scientists Say

They compared vertebrae discovered in 1987 to more complete remains to make this new estimate

A computer-generated three-dimensional image of Maat Mons, the tallest volcano on Venus, from NASA's Magellan mission

Scientists Spot Recent Volcanic Activity on Venus

The findings in 30-year-old radar image data all but confirm that volcanoes on Earth’s hellish sister planet are still active today

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