New Research

An artist's rendering of the quasar that set the record for the universe's brightest object, with its black hole at its center.

Astronomers Discover the Brightest Known Object in the Universe, Shining 500 Trillion Times as Bright as the Sun

The quasar—a glowing, active core of a galaxy—has a black hole at its center that consumes more than a sun’s-worth of mass each day

A single locust swarm can comprise between four billion and eight billion individual insects.

Giant Locust Swarms Could Expand to New Areas With Climate Change, Study Suggests

In the coming decades, erratic periods of rain and drought could create new hot spots for the ravenous grasshoppers in west India and west central Asia, threatening crops and food security

The ancient red pigment was held in an intricately decorated chlorite vial.

Tube of Ancient Red Lipstick Unearthed in Iran

New research suggests the nearly 4,000-year-old cosmetic may be among the oldest discoveries of its kind

The world's oldest living wild platypus (not pictured) is nearly 24 years old.

The World's Oldest Wild Platypus Shocks Scientists at 24 Years of Age

The animal was tagged in 2000, when it was estimated to be about one year old, and re-discovered alive in the wild last year

The Treasure of Villena was discovered in Spain's Iberian Peninsula in 1963.

These 3,000-Year-Old Treasures Were Forged From Meteoritic Iron

New research reveals that two Bronze Age artifacts from the Treasure of Villena contain iron from a meteor that hit a million years ago

An example of the cave art found in northwestern Patagonia, Argentina. Researchers dated the paintings to as early as 8,200 years ago.

This Ancient Cave Art Passed Survival Information Across 130 Human Generations in Patagonia, Study Suggests

Dating to as early as 8,200 years ago, the paintings may have maintained collective memories during an extremely dry period in history

Today, the rongorongo script survives on less than 30 objects.

Did the People of Easter Island Invent a Writing System From Scratch?

Radiocarbon dating has found that a tablet inscribed with the mysterious rongorongo script predates European contact

In a study of great apes' playful antics, chimpanzees seemed to enjoy slapping adults, especially those that were dozing off.

Great Apes Love to Tease, Poke and Pester, Suggesting the Urge to Annoy Is Millions of Years Old

The desire to get a rise out of others is a 13-million-year-old trait humans and great apes share with a common ancestor, new research suggests

The hollow bone containing the seeds was discovered at a Roman-era settlement in 2017.

Romans Stored Hallucinogenic Seeds in a Vial Made From an Animal Bone

Ancient scholars wrote about the medicinal, poisonous and psychoactive properties of black henbane seeds

Babies might start learning the words for objects at around six to nine months old. In a new study, an A.I. was also able to match some objects to their names after getting trained on video recordings from a headcam worn by a young child.

A.I. Learns Words From a Human Baby's Perspective, Using Headcam Footage

With only limited training, the model could correctly identify certain objects, suggesting some elements of learning language are not innate to humans

An etching of Darwin's study, commissioned a week after he died.

See What Charles Darwin Kept in His 'Insanely Eclectic' Personal Library, Revealed for the First Time

On the English naturalist's 215th birthday, more than 9,000 titles from his expansive collection are now accessible online

In a photo illustration, a hawk moth lands on a flower with an exhaust pipe polluting the interaction.

Air Pollution Makes Flowers Smell Less Appealing to Pollinators, Study Suggests

Nocturnal hawk moths are less likely to visit primroses in air polluted by nitrate radicals, which break down important wild fragrances, researchers find

An artist’s illustration of Glikmanius careforum swimming beneath Troglocladodus trimblei in ancient waters.

Paleontologists Discover Two New Shark Species From Fossils in Mammoth Cave National Park

The "active predators" prowled the oceans more than 325 million years ago, before the time of Pangea

Saturn's moon Mimas has a giant impact crater, named Hershel, that stretches across a third of its surface and makes it resemble the "Death Star" from Star Wars.

An Icy Moon of Saturn May Be Hiding a Vast Ocean Under Its Crust, Surprising Astronomers

Researchers suggest a global ocean lies 15 miles beneath the surface of Saturn's "Death Star" moon, Mimas—a shocking discovery that could redefine what a habitable world looks like

Dry and cracked ground at the La Vinuela reservoir near Málaga, Spain, last year. Reservoirs in the country's Catalonia region have fallen to 16 percent capacity amid years of drought and extreme heat.

Earth Clocks Hottest January on Record, Marking 12 Months Above 1.5 Degree Celsius Warming Threshold

Though the world has not officially breached the Paris Agreement, the historic heat on land and at sea is a "significant milestone"

People march in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in 2021, after police in Louisville, Kentucky, killed Breonna Taylor, a Black woman, the year before. Tawanna Gordon, Taylor's cousin, leads the march.

After Police Kill Unarmed Black People, Black Americans Lose Sleep, Study Finds

New research draws a link between unequal exposure to police violence and lack of sleep for Black adults

Io, Jupiter's third-largest moon, photographed by NASA's Juno spacecraft.

See Detailed New Images of Io From Another NASA Flyby of the Solar System's Most Volcanic World

The stunning views show lava flows and volcanic plumes, as scientists seek to learn what causes such volatile conditions on the moon of Jupiter

Orange elephant ear sponge, in the Gulf of Mexico.

Ocean Sponge Skeletons Suggest a More Significant History of Global Warming Than Originally Thought

Analysis of the sea creatures’ skeletal chemistry suggests the world’s temperatures have increased by 1.7 degrees Celsius since pre-industrial times

An entire neighborhood in Tacloban, Leyte, Philippines, destroyed by Typhoon Haiyan in 2013. More than 6,500 people died during the storm, which had maximum sustained winds of 195 miles per hour. Winds of those speeds would be above the threshold for a hypothetical Category 6 for tropical cyclones proposed by researchers.

Do We Need a Category 6 Designation for Hurricanes?

Global warming is leading to more intense storms well above the threshold for Category 5 hurricanes, scientists write in a new paper

Common clownfish have three white stripes, which they "count" to identify other members of their species as potential threats, a new study suggests.

Clownfish Can 'Count' Stripes on Other Fish to Identify Intruders, Study Suggests

Notoriously aggressive, common clownfish may be using basic mathematics to determine if another fish is a friend or foe

Page 5 of 241