The –est
- Animals
To zip through water, swordfish reduce drag
A newly discovered oil-producing organ inside the swordfish’s head gives the animal slick skin to swim faster.
- Archaeology
Ancient Europeans may have been first wine makers
A new chemical analysis uncovers the earliest known wine making in Europe.
- Oceans
Coral bleaching event is longest on record
Widespread coral bleaching continues, in the longest episode, over the largest area to date.
- Life
Fruit fly’s giant sperm is quite an exaggeration
Giant sperm, about 20 times a male fruit fly’s body length, could make the insects the champs of supersized sexual ornaments.
- Archaeology
Bear bone rewrites human history in Ireland
A rediscovered bear bone puts humans in Ireland at least 12,600 years ago.
- Astronomy
This eclipse goes on and on
The longest known stellar eclipse hides a nearby star for nearly 3.5 years behind a thick clump of orbiting dust once every 69 years.
- Astronomy
Earth’s hurricanes have nothing on this quasar
In a remote galaxy, a cosmic hurricane around a supermassive black hole is driving winds at nearly 20 percent of the speed of light.
- Archaeology
Tailored Egyptian dress is the oldest ever found
A pleated dress found in an ancient Egyptian cemetery called Tarkhan was cut, fitted and tailored between 5,400 and 5,100 years ago.
- Anthropology
Iceman has the world’s oldest tattoos
A more than 5,000-year-old European mummy gets his tattoos confirmed as world’s oldest.
- Astronomy
This white dwarf is hotter than the rest
A new record holder for hottest white dwarf sizzles at about 250,000˚ Celsius.
- Planetary Science
Way-out world is solar system’s most distant object — for now
An icy world over 15 billion kilometers from the sun is the new record holder for most distant object in the solar system.
- Anthropology
More than 9,000-year-old decapitated head discovered in Brazil
Human decapitation goes back more than 9,000 years in the Americas.
