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New Research

Australia's 2019 to 2020 wildfires destroyed more than 3,000 homes. New research shows how they also temporarily depleted the ozone layer.

Here’s How Wildfires Can Destroy the Ozone Layer

Massive blazes like the ones in Australia three years ago deplete the crucial blanket surrounding our planet through chemical reactions in the atmosphere

A long-tailed macaque uses a stone to get at food. The striking of one stone on another accidentally creates stone flakes the monkeys don't use.

Stone Flakes Made by Monkeys Raise Questions About Early Human Tools

The flakes accidentally produced by long-tailed macaques resemble those thought to have been made by early humans

Joseph Dituri is spending 100 days underwater for scientific research.

Meet the Man Spending 100 Days Underwater for Science

Joseph Dituri aims to set a world record, conduct research and inspire students to conserve the oceans

A fruit fly sits on a grape. Adult fruit flies are typically only a few millimeters long.

See the First Complete Map of an Insect’s Brain

Over 12 years, scientists charted more than 3,000 neurons and the nearly 550,000 connections between them in a larval fruit fly

Ponderosa pines at Yosemite National Park

California’s ‘Zombie Forests’ Are Cheating Death—but Maybe Not for Long

A fifth of conifer forests in the state’s Sierra Nevada mountains are stranded in unsuitably warm conditions

In the study, members of bee colonies mimicked the strategy of a "demonstrator" bee, which had been trained to open a puzzle box in a specific way.

Bumblebees Learn to Open Puzzle Boxes From Each Other

New findings might suggest the insects have a capacity for culture, researchers say

Two dogs walk around the abandoned city of Pripyat, Ukraine, in 2022, near the site of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster.

Why Scientists Are Studying the Stray Dogs Living at Chernobyl

A new study is a first step toward understanding how radiation exposure might affect DNA

A just-hatched chick stands next to its egg.

Why Newborn Chicks Love Objects That Defy Gravity

A clever new study shows the cute critters will often scuttle toward a video of a rising ball

The Malalmuerzo Cave in southern Spain, where archaeologists uncovered the fossilized teeth of an ancient hunter-gatherer.

Ancient DNA Sheds Light on Europe’s Hunter-Gatherers

Researchers looked at the genomes of several hundred people who lived before, during and after the last ice age

Tourists on a cruise spotted a rare, giant phantom jellyfish in Fournier Bay of Anvers Island off the Antarctic Peninsula last year.

How Vacationers on Antarctic Cruises Are Filling in Scientific Gaps

From ships and submarines, citizen scientists can access remote areas ripe for new discoveries. But does the research make up for the climate impact?

Studying skeletal remains, researchers identified six criteria that could indicate whether someone rode horses.

Archaeologists Find Evidence of Earliest Known Horseback Riders

New research indicates that humans were riding horses as early as 5,000 years ago

Scan of a porpoise head showing the phonic lips, which help produce echolocation clicks, and the round, fatty melon that conducts sound into the water

Some Whales Use a Creaky ‘Vocal Fry’ Voice to Find Food

Like humans, toothed whales have three vocal registers: chest, falsetto and vocal fry

After returning to Earth, EpiPen solution sent into space showed no signs of containing epinephrine, the life-saving drug that reverses the effects of a severe allergic reaction.

Kids Discover That EpiPens May Not Work in Space

After returning from space, the life-saving drug epinephrine had partially changed into poisonous benzoic acid

An illustration of Tillyardembia, an earwig-like insect that may have pollinated non-flowering plants some 280 million years ago.

Scientists Discover Oldest Known Fossils of Pollen-Carrying Insects

It’s unclear whether the creatures were pollinating prehistoric plants or just getting a snack

Tourists visiting the Great Pyramid in Giza, Egypt, earlier this week

Cool Finds

Hidden Chamber Revealed Inside Great Pyramid of Giza

Researchers used cosmic-ray imaging to uncover the 30-foot-long corridor

Giant lacewings date back to the Jurassic Era and hadn't been seen in eastern North America for more than 50 years, until this discovery.

Rare Jurassic-Era Insect Discovered at Arkansas Walmart

The species had not been recorded in eastern North America for more than 50 years—and never documented in the state

Researchers used Barbie dolls to test liquid nitrogen's effectiveness at removing Moon dust simulants from a replica spacesuit. (Left: before spraying; center: after spraying; right: after spot cleaning)

NASA’s Moon Dust Problem Might Finally Have a Solution

Researchers sprayed liquid nitrogen at spacesuit-clad Barbie dolls to test their novel idea

A digital reconstruction of a humpback whale trap feeding, a behavior with striking similarities to the feeding habits of the "hafgufa" described in medieval Norse texts.

These Mythical Sea Monsters May Have Been Whales With Unusual Dining Habits

Tales of creatures like the Norse “hafgufa” suggest ancient and medieval people may have seen whales trap feeding

The artificial sweetener erythritol is widely used a sugar substitute. 

Artificial Sweetener Tied to Risk of Heart Attack and Stroke, Study Finds

Erythritol was not proven to cause these health problems, but some experts recommend limiting intake

Snapping shrimp create an air bubble in the water when they clamp their claws shut.

These Young Shrimp Can Snap Their Claws as Fast as a Speeding Bullet

Juvenile snapping shrimp can achieve the fastest acceleration of any repeatable, underwater motion by a living thing, per a new study

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