science

Ask most people to name the longest mountain range on Earth and you'll hear the Andes, or maybe the Himalayas. Both are wrong, and not by a little.

Ask most people to name the longest mountain range on Earth and you’ll hear the Andes, or maybe the Himalayas. Both are wrong, and not by a little. The real answer is a chain of undersea volcanoes a…

Across the world, entire species of frogs and toads are being wiped out by a relentless fungal infection, commonly known as the chytrid fungus.

Across the world, entire species of frogs and toads are being wiped out by a relentless fungal infection, commonly known as the chytrid fungus. For most amphibians, the fungus Batrachochytrium dendr…

Paleontologists in China have discovered what they say is the earliest confirmed pieces of amber ever found, a fossilized resin roughly 385 million years old (Middle Devonian epoch) that predates the previous record-holder by about 65 million years.

Paleontologists in China have discovered what they say is the earliest confirmed pieces of amber ever found, a fossilized resin roughly 385 million years old (Middle Devonian epoch) that predates the…

A new study by Queen Mary University of London mathematician Professor Ginestra Bianconi proposes a new perspective on one of the deepest questions in modern physics: How can the universe become increasingly structured and complex while still obeying the seco…

A new study by Queen Mary University of London mathematician Professor Ginestra Bianconi proposes a new perspective on one of the deepest questions in modern physics: How can the universe become incr…

A new review in Limnology and Oceanography led by scientists at UC San Diego's Scripps Institution of Oceanography warns that the rapid loss of oxygen from the ocean and other aquatic ecosystems is pushing Earth toward an "unsafe space," with consequences tha…

A new review in Limnology and Oceanography led by scientists at UC San Diego's Scripps Institution of Oceanography warns that the rapid loss of oxygen from the ocean and other aquatic ecosystems is p…

According to one researcher, this observation "promises new insights into the evolution of the early universe."

The most impressive celestial event of the year begins Friday evening, as Earth starts to pass through debris of a comet, producing the Perseid meteor shower. The Perseids will streak across the night sky through Aug. 23, giving viewers plenty of opportunitie…

The most impressive celestial event of the year begins Friday evening, as Earth starts to pass through debris of a comet, producing the Perseid meteor shower. The Perseids will streak across the nig…

Long before dinosaurs ruled the continents and modern crocodiles first appeared, their ancestors were already going through a decisive phase in their evolutionary history. It was in this ancient world, shortly after the greatest mass extinction in Earth's his…

Long before dinosaurs ruled the continents and modern crocodiles first appeared, their ancestors were already going through a decisive phase in their evolutionary history. It was in this ancient worl…

Constant acceleration builds a horizon out of nothing but motion, walling off part of the universe forever. Meet Wolfgang Rindler, the coffee date you'll never reach, and the light that can chase you for infinite time without ever catching up.

(This is Part 3 of a series on what it's like to travel near the speed of light. Read Part 1 and Part 2 first.) There's a guy. His name was Wolfgang Rindler. Born in Vienna, shipped out as a child t…

The burying beetle Nicrophorus vespilloides is famously good at parenting. In the leaf litter of forests around the United Kingdom, the beetles scurry around in search of the small carcasses of mice and birds. Once the beetles find a suitable corpse, they get…

The burying beetle Nicrophorus vespilloides is famously good at parenting. In the leaf litter of forests around the United Kingdom, the beetles scurry around in search of the small carcasses of mice …

Cosmic rays are made primarily of protons with a few electrons sprinkled in, and they can reach energies even higher than what human-made accelerators can produce. Considering human-made accelerators, such as the Large Hadron Collider on the border of Switzer…

Cosmic rays are made primarily of protons with a few electrons sprinkled in, and they can reach energies even higher than what human-made accelerators can produce. Considering human-made accelerators…

Called graphene nanoribbons, these materials could help clear a key hurdle to bringing fusion energy to the electric grid.

Researchers in the United States have showcased that a nanoscale semiconductor material can withstand extreme environments. Called graphene nanoribbons, these materials could help clear a key hurdle …

What could possibly go wrong?

Screengrab from ‘The Truman Show’ when Christof (played by Ed Harris) turns the moon into a searchlight. Picture this: you’re photographing in the middle of the night, it’s dark, and you desperately…

Astronomers have spotted helium escaping from LHS 1140b, an exoplanet orbiting in its star’s ‘habitable zone’.

An artists impression of an exoplanet orbiting its star. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech Scientists have discovered a rocky planet that is likely to have an atmosphere and could be a host for life. In a p…

Trunko, the furry sea monster seen fighting whales in 1924, was decayed whale collagen. Photos surfaced in 2010.

On October 25, 1924, witnesses at Margate, South Africa reported watching a huge white creature battle two killer whales offshore for three hours, using its tail to attack and lifting itself an estim…

It's a very rare case.

When Joël Lapointe was planning an epic camping trip through the Côte-Nord region of Quebec on Google Maps, an area gave him pause for thought: it looked like a giant meteor crater. “I get lots of …

World's highest-living mouse survives in thin air by solving a problem that no other mammal can—not even you, human

The adorable-looking Andean leaf-eared mouse. Credit: Marcial Quiroga-Carmona Mammals shouldn’t permanently live much above 5,500 meters (18,000 feet). Above this altitude, the combination of oxygen…