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Animals
Here’s how many shark bites there were in 2023
The chance of being bitten by a shark is still incredibly slim, according to a new report from the Florida Museum of Natural History.
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Space
How ‘Our Moon’ shaped life on Earth and human history
Science News reviews Rebecca Boyle’s new wide-ranging book, which tells the story of the moon and its relationship with the inhabitants of Earth.
By Shi En Kim -
Animals
The first known scorpion to live with ants carries mini hitchhikers
Small arachnids hitch a ride on the scorpion, possibly to get inside food-rich ant nests.
By Jake Buehler -
Health & Medicine
A 25-year-effort uncovers clues to unexplained deaths in children
When Laura Gould’s daughter died in 1997, there was almost no research in unexpected deaths in children older than one. Gould helped change that.
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Plants
Here’s why blueberries are blue
Nanostructures in a blueberry’s waxy coating make it look blue, despite having dark red pigments — and no blue ones — in its skin, a new study reports.
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Planetary Science
Saturn’s ‘Death Star’ moon might contain a hidden ocean
A fresh look at Cassini data reveals slight changes in the tiny moon’s orbit that suggest the presence of a vast ocean beneath the satellite’s icy shell.
By Adam Mann -
Plants
This weird fern is the first known plant that turns its dead leaves into new roots
Cyathea rojasiana tree ferns seem to thrive in Panama’s Quebrada Chorro forest by turning dead leaves into roots that seek out nutrient-rich soil.
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Earth
Where are U.S. earthquakes most likely? A new map shows the hazard risks
Updates to the National Seismic Hazard Model have elevated the average ground shaking hazard across the country.
By Nikk Ogasa -
Paleontology
A rare 3-D tree fossil may be the earliest glimpse at a forest understory
The 350-million-year-old tree, which was wider than it was tall thanks to a mop-top crown of 3-meter-long leaves, would look at home in a Dr. Seuss book.
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Planetary Science
An asteroid may have exploded over Antarctica about 2.5 million years ago
Tiny spherules of rock found in Antarctic ice may point to the oldest known “airburst,” or midair disintegration of an incoming asteroid.
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Chemistry
The smallest known molecular knot is made of just 54 atoms
Chemists are still trying to figure out why this combination of gold, phosphorus, oxygen and carbon atoms resulted in a molecular knot in the first place.
By Anna Gibbs