Science

Fossils often preserve bones well enough to reveal the shape of an ancient animal, but traces of soft tissues are much less common. That is why a newly described dinosaur from north-eastern China has drawn such close attention from palaeontologists. Dating back around 125 million years to the Early Cretaceous period, the specimen offers more…

Fossils from this period are displayed at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History. South Dakota is one of the most landlocked states in the United States. It is more than 1,000 miles away from both the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. It is hard to imagine that this dry landscape was once covered by water.But…

For centuries, the ancient Maya have been celebrated for their remarkable achievements in astronomy, mathematics and calendar-making. They tracked the movements of planets with extraordinary precision, developed one of the world’s earliest concepts of zero and created complex calendars that guided agriculture, religion and governance. Yet the brilliant minds behind these discoveries have largely remained…

Whales are well known for their songs. But scientists have discovered that, for some whales, those songs may also help them stay alive. A researcher from the University of Washington has found that some baleen whales, including blue, fin and minke whales, have evolved to sing at such low frequencies that killer whales, their only…

A palm-sized AI drone weighing just 40 grams has achieved an engineering first by autonomously hunting and killing a flying insect in mid-air, paving the way for a new approach to mosquito control. Developed by US startup Tornyol, the tiny drone successfully detected, tracked and intercepted a flying moth during a controlled indoor demonstration without…

Space and its mysterious world never fail to surprise humans. According to the latest report, 14 years after touching down on the Red Planet, NASA’s Curiosity rover has snapped a photo of a mysterious honeycomb-like texture on the Martian surface, lending yet another mystery to an ever-expanding list of Martian geological features.NASA’s veteran Curiosity rover…

Charles Darwin (Image source: Wikipedia) A bad experience is supposed to teach a lesson, yet people return to habits they already know are harmful more often than logic would suggest. Charles Darwin noticed the same contradiction and put it more bluntly than most. “An American monkey, after getting drunk on brandy, would never touch it…

Bees have a reputation for being tireless workers, but it turns out that reputation only really applies to some of them. Researchers at the University of Illinois glued tiny numbered tags onto thousands of individual honeybees and tracked their comings and goings for almost two months across several separate colonies. What they found flips the…

Bees are among the world’s most important pollinators, helping sustain ecosystems and supporting the production of many fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds. Yet bee populations have been declining for years due to habitat loss, pesticides, diseases, parasites and climate change. More recently, another potential threat has entered the conversation: the rapid expansion of data centres….

A small mark on an ancient jaw has opened a window into a moment of violence from a time far removed from written history. The remains of an early Homo sapiens individual from Qafzeh Cave in Israel have revealed signs of a serious facial injury, likely caused by a sharp stone tool. What makes the…