Natural tower imaged on rotting pear from orchard in Konstanz, Germany.

Cool Finds

Researchers Discover That Living Worm Towers Exist in Nature, Not Just in Horror Movies

A new study reveals that nematodes assemble into coordinated structures to catch a ride on passersby

Many sea horse traders operate on the black market.

Sea Horse Smuggling Is a Big Problem, Despite Global Efforts to Protect These Beloved Aquatic Creatures

Between 2010 and 2021, authorities seized around five million individual sea horses worth more than $21 million

Radiocarbon dating requires destroying small samples of the fragile scrolls.

New Research

The Dead Sea Scrolls Changed Our Understanding of the Bible. Could Some of Them Be Even Older Than We Thought?

A new study combines A.I., radiocarbon dating and handwriting analysis to estimate new dates for some of the ancient scrolls, thought to be some of the earliest surviving fragments of the Old Testament

Scientists determined the most effective method of halting the disease was covering a coral colony with a weighted plastic bag, then injecting a seawater solution that contains the probiotic. They left the colony covered for two hours to allow the probiotic bacteria to colonize the coral.

A Deadly Disease Is Eating Away at Caribbean Corals and Wreaking Havoc on Reefs. Could Probiotics Be the Solution?

New research suggests the probiotic McH1-7 could help stop the spread of stony coral tissue loss disease among wild corals near Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Cockatoos in the western suburbs of Sydney, Australia, will wait in line for a taste of drinking fountain water.

These Australian Cockatoos Learned to Operate Drinking Fountains With Their Feet to Quench Their Thirst

Birds in Sydney’s western suburbs have figured out how to get a sip from the fountains, even though they have access to nearby streams

In this 2012 visualization, the Andromeda galaxy (left) appears in Earth's skies and begins to distort the Milky Way as the two galaxies merge. This hypothetical scenario was previously expected to play out billions of years in the future—now, astronomers say it might not be inevitable.

Our Milky Way Might Not Crash Into the Andromeda Galaxy After All—New Simulations Suggest a 50-50 Chance of Merging

Scientists previously predicted the pair of galaxies would merge in about five billion years. Now, research suggests that outcome is less certain than thought

Crossing roads is a dangerous part of the migratory journey for many amphibians. In Monkton, Vermont, two tunnels beneath a street are helping frogs, salamanders and other creatures reach their destinations safely, according to a new study.

Two Wildlife Tunnels Are Saving Thousands of Amphibians From Being Crushed by Cars in Vermont

New research finds a pair of underpasses installed under a road that crosses a migration corridor have led to an 80.2 percent reduction in amphibian deaths

Researchers monitored the sniffing behavior of 30 cats in a new study.

Cats Can Recognize Their Owner’s Scent Compared to a Stranger’s, New Research Suggests

In an experiment, domestic cats spent longer sniffing cotton swabs with the scents of unfamiliar people than swabs with the scent of their owner

Discovered in a rock shelter in central Spain in July 2022, the stone measures more than eight inches long and more than four inches wide.

New Research

Did a Neanderthal Who Lived 43,000 Years Ago Paint a Red Nose on a Rock That Looked Like a Face?

Researchers theorize that an adult male dipped his finger in red ocher and intentionally used the pigment to complete the face he saw on a small granite stone

This skull of a 1.8-million-year-old Paranthropus robustus individual was unearthed in South Africa, but it was not one of the fossils included in the study.

Scientists Investigate 2.2-Million-Year-Old Tooth Enamel to Unravel the Mysteries of Ancient Human Relatives

By studying proteins preserved in teeth, researchers determined the sex of four Paranthropus robustus individuals that lived in southern Africa

A little brown bat (Myotis lucifugus) is seen with white fuzz on its nose, a characteristic of the deadly white-nose syndrome.

A Fungal Disease Ravaged North American Bats. Now, Researchers Found a Second Species That Suggests It Could Happen Again

White-nose syndrome caused millions of bat deaths, and scientists are sounding the alarm that a second fungus could be disastrous if it reaches American wildlife

An artistic reconstruction of the extinct megalodon. Scientists' ideas about how the megalodon looked are based on its fossilized teeth.

The Fearsome Megalodon Ate Basically Whatever It Wanted to Reach Its Daily 100,000-Calorie Need, Study Suggests

Scientists previously assumed the giant, prehistoric sharks mostly feasted on whales, but it turns out they probably weren’t so picky

Geoscientist Martin Köhler stands in front of Maka Lahi, which measures 46 feet by 39 feet by 22 feet—about the same size as a two-story house.

A 164-Foot Tsunami Pushed This Enormous Boulder Atop a Cliff in Tonga 7,000 Years Ago

The hulking rock, called Maka Lahi, is the size of a two-story house and sits on a 120-foot-tall cliff, covered in vegetation

The Bromeswell Bucket, restored its original form, is on display in the High Hall at Sutton Hoo.

New Research

This Bewildering Byzantine Bucket Stumped Archaeologists for Decades. Now, They’ve Finally Discovered Its Purpose

Fragments of the bucket were first found at England’s Sutton Hoo burial site in 1986. New research has revealed that the 1,500-year-old artifact was probably used as a cremation vessel

The five dwarf planets recognized by the International Astronomical Union are Pluto, Ceres, Eris, Haumea and Makemake—and these are pictured with 2017 OF201 in a telescope image.

Astronomers Discover a Possible Dwarf Planet Far Beyond Neptune, Where There Should Have Only Been Empty Space

As it orbits the sun once every 25,000 years, the celestial body 2017 OF201 travels beyond the Kuiper Belt into a region thought to be largely devoid of objects

Bedbugs that feed on humans experienced a sharp rise in numbers after the development of the first cities, according to new research.

Bedbugs Could Have Been the First Urban Pest to Plague Human Cities, New Study Suggests

Scientists examined the genomes of two bedbug lineages to trace how their population sizes have changed over time

The Aska figurine is the only known depiction of pregnancy from the Viking Age.

New Research

How Did Vikings View Pregnant Women? New Research Reveals That They Were Sometimes Depicted With Weapons

Researchers studied Old Norse literature and archaeological evidence to shed new light on women’s experiences of pregnancy during the Viking Age

Stone Age humans were likely scavenging the remains of whales that washed ashore along the Bay of Biscay and fashioning them into tools. This projectile point made from a gray whale bone was found in Landes, France, and dated to between 17,500 and 18,000 years ago.

Scientists Discover the Oldest Known Tools Made From Whale Bones, Crafted in Western Europe 20,000 Years Ago

Stone Age humans scavenged the skeletons of several whale species along the Bay of Biscay in what is now southwestern France and northern Spain, according to a new study

A study participant puts in a contact lens. Researchers developed lenses with nanoparticles that convert infrared wavelengths into visible light that humans can perceive.

New Contact Lenses Give Users Super-Vision to See Infrared Light—Even With Their Eyes Closed

Researchers have developed experimental contact lenses that use nanoparticles to convert the invisible wavelengths of near-infrared light into visible colors

Anna's hummingbirds seem to be thriving amid urbanization in California, even as other hummingbird species have declined due to human activity.

California’s Hummingbirds Have Changed Their Beaks in Response to Backyard Feeders, Study Finds

With plenty of artificial nectar available, Anna’s hummingbirds have expanded their range northward and their beaks have tended to become longer and larger

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