News
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PaleontologyThis dinosaur had a weapon shaped like an Aztec war club on its tail
The flat and spiky tail club of a newly discovered ankylosaur was unique, even for this often weirdly armored group of dinosaurs.
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AnthropologyAncient giant orangutans evolved smaller bodies surprisingly slowly
Fossil teeth from Chinese caves indicate that a single, ancient orangutan species gradually trimmed down over nearly 2 million years.
By Bruce Bower -
ChemistryHere’s the chemistry behind marijuana’s skunky scent
Newly ID’d sulfur compounds in cannabis flowers give the plant its telltale odor. One, prenylthiol, is what also gives “skunked beer” its funky flavor.
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LifeFungi may be crucial to storing carbon in soil as the Earth warms
Fungi help soil-making bacteria churn out carbon compounds that are resilient to heat, keeping those compounds in the ground, a study suggests.