Birds and scorpions — and an apparently headless human (lower right) — adorn a pillar from one of the buildings excavated at the Neolithic site of Göbekli Tepe, where newly-discovered carved skulls point to unique ritual treatment of the dead. (Credit German Archaeological Institute (DAI))
Fragments of uniquely carved skulls — at least one of which may have also been decorated — have turned up at one of Turkey’s most important Neolithic sites. Investigation in ...read more
Researchers in the Cornish lab at Columbia University examine baker’s yeast, modified to detect pathogens, growing in a petri dish. (Credit: Courtesy of Columbia University Office of Communications and Public Affairs)
Yeast, the ubiquitous little fungus that can seemingly do it all, is doing more.
If you aren’t familiar with yeast’s accolades, here’s a refresher: It gives beer its buzz, it can produce textiles, safer opioids, tasty food and is the workhorse model organi ...read more
With hot, dry and windy conditions continuing, the dangerous Brian Head fire is expected to grow significantly
A giant smoke plume from Utah’s Brian Head Fire is seen streaming across much of the state and on into Wyoming and Colorado in this animation created from images captured by the GOES-West weather satellite on Monday, June 26, 2017. The white arrow in the first frame marks the location of the fire, near the Brian Head ski resort. (Source: RAMSDIS Online/RAMMB/CIRA)
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A new study examines the blurry distinction between “hard” and “soft” drugs.
The “hardness” of drugs is a concept that makes intuitive sense, but is difficult to put into precise terms. “Hard” drugs are those which are viewed as more addictive, more potent and more toxic than the comparatively benign “soft” variety. The concept has a normative aspect: “hard” drugs are bad, and you should avoid them, even if you use soft dru ...read more
Your dog may act like a good listener—but does she really notice when you’re feeling down? Or does she just know how to deploy a wet nose and a tail-wag to earn treats? A new study says negative emotions are contagious for dogs. They’ll pick up a companion’s bad feelings just by sound, whether that companion is human or canine.
“Emotional contagion” is the most basic form of empathy, write Annika Huber of the University of Vienna’s Cleve ...read more
Airglow, as seen from the International Space Station. (Credit: NASA)
On rare occasions throughout history, the darkness of night fails to materialize. Even with the moon darkened, the sky fills with a diffuse glow that seems to filter out of the very air itself. Such “bright nights” have been recorded back to the days of Pliny the Elder around 132 B.C., although explanations for the phenomenon have been lacking.
Using a special interferometer and data from the 1990s, two Can ...read more
“Waste not, want not.”
The origin of this proverb traces back centuries, but time has hardly tarnished its relevance. It’s a warning every generation would do well to heed: Mismanaging precious commodities today will lead to an impoverished future. It’s so simple. It’s so true. It’s so often ignored.
Case-in-point: global industrial fishing operations. Over the past decade, fishing fleets simply threw away more than 10 percent—enough to fill 4,500 Olymp ...read more
