News
- Animals
Polar bears sometimes bludgeon walruses to death with stones or ice
Inuit reports of polar bears using tools to kill walruses were historically dismissed as stories, but new research suggests the behavior does occur.
- Life
If confirmed, tubes in 890-million-year-old rock may be the oldest animal fossils
Newly described wormlike fossils may be ancient sea sponges. If confirmed, the fossils would reveal a remarkably early start to animal life.
- Life
Near-invincible tardigrades may see only in black and white
A genetic analysis suggests that water bears don’t have light-sensing proteins to detect ultraviolet light or color.
- Astronomy
The tiny dot in this image may be the first look at exomoons in the making
New ALMA observations offer some of the strongest evidence yet that planets around other stars have moons.
- Health & Medicine
Why the CDC says it’s crucial to start wearing masks indoors again
While unvaccinated people are driving the spread of the coronavirus, vaccinated people infected with the delta variant may also easily transmit it.
- Health & Medicine
Why it’s still so hard to find treatments for early COVID-19
Small studies, unexpected side effects and incomplete information about how drugs work can stymie clinical trials for drugs that can treat COVID-19.
- Paleontology
3.42-billion-year-old fossil threads may be the oldest known archaea microbes
The structure and chemistry of these ancient cell-like fossils may hint where Earth’s early inhabitants evolved and how they got their energy.
- Health & Medicine
What experts know so far about COVID-19 boosters for immunocompromised people
Some immunocompromised people remain at risk for severe COVID-19 despite being vaccinated. Studies hint that an additional vaccine dose might help.
- Space
How do scientists calculate the age of a star?
There are a few different methods to determine the age of a star, but none are perfect.
- Anthropology
A partial skeleton reveals the world’s oldest known shark attack
An ancient shark bite victim died quickly, before his body was recovered and buried, a new study finds.
- Planetary Science
Marsquakes reveal the Red Planet boasts a liquid core half its diameter
Analyses of seismic waves picked up by NASA’s InSight lander shed new light on the planet’s core and give clues to the thickness of the crust.
- Paleontology
Pterosaurs may have been able to fly as soon as they hatched
A fossil analysis shows the flying reptile hatchlings had a stronger bone crucial for lift-off that adults and shorter, broader wings for agility.
