Category: 7. Science

Carnivorans, from mongooses to bears, evolved diverse body shapes in response to two major global cooling events, according to a study of 850 skeletons.

Researchers at the University of Washington (UW) in Seattle traced the timing of body changes…

Abstract:

A research group led by Professor Hiroaki SUZUKI and Takeshi HAYAKAWA from the Faculty of Science and Engineering at Chuo University, graduate student Zhitai HUANG, graduate students Kanji KANEKO (at the time) and Ryotaro…

Patches of the moon are destined to become spacecraft graveyards where dead lunar satellites and other defunct hardware can be crashed into the ground, far away from sites of cultural and scientific importance, researchers say.

The number of…

Large doses of vitamin C may provide our lungs with a degree of protection from the harmful effects of fine particles in the air. Referred to as PM2.5, in reference to their micrometer-wide particle size, these pollutants have been linked to…

Before a space telescope ever reaches orbit, and long after satellites are up there, NASA has another way to do frontier science: high-altitude scientific balloons. These helium balloons can loft instruments to roughly 120,000 feet (about 36.6…

Far away in the universe, something surprising happened that no astronomer saw coming. NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope spotted the glowing remains of two space rocks crashing together in a nearby planetary system, a rare cosmic event that looked…

When it comes to landslides, some of our planet’s largest have occurred underwater. But out of sight shouldn’t mean out of mind—submarine landslides can be both damaging and dangerous.

Researchers have now mapped the Stad Slide, an…

Researchers are building a computer chip-like device that mimics the brain, and eventually dissolves into the dirt after use. 

The Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) in South Korea has developed a fully biodegradable…

The question is playful and unrealistic, but it points to a serious idea: the tension between quantity and quality. New research suggests this same tradeoff has shaped evolution, especially in the rise of complex animal societies.

How ants…