What, exactly, is science? It's something people in lab coats do, right? Science has been a potent tool, providing us with technology we once never dreamt possible. It has also helped us answer questions that have sat dormant in the human psyche for millennia.The history of science, however, is filled with revolutions or modifications of accepted theory. Newton described gravity as an immutable background entity, an ever-present force that permeated the cosmos. That was until Einstein came along ...read more

If you've ever watched an ice cube melt or stirred creamer into a pool of black coffee, you've witnessed a fundamental truth about the universe: The "arrow of time" always marches forward. Time flows from past to future. What we call the present is a never-ending series of inflection points, where the collection of events that have already happened (the past) meets the collection of events that have yet to happen (the future). And while time doesn’t ever stop, it can slow down.Slowing Down Tim ...read more

With words like "unprecedented" "remarkable," and "utterly unbelievable," scientists are raising the alarm about climatic developments that have already been unfolding in 2023."This is getting to be utterly unbelievable," University of Miami researcher Brian McNoldy said of sizzling sea surface temperatures. In a Twitter post, he noted that "North Atlantic SSTs have just set a new record anomaly on June 20, beating the previous one from June 10." The chances of this occurring are more than one i ...read more

Tanystropheus, a strange marine reptile that lived alongside dinosaurs, has puzzled paleontologists since its discovery in the mid-1800s. At first, scientists mistook the species for flying reptiles, due to their extremely elongated neck bones. Only later did they realize that the vertebrae framed a neck so long that it looked like evolution was trying to create a cartoon.Now, a new paper seeks to answer a nearly 170-year-old question: Wasn’t such a long and awkward neck a liability?Just How L ...read more

Determining what is and isn’t art is tough. Determining who did and didn’t make a particular art piece is tougher. That’s the problem that torments the paleoarchaeologists and paleoanthropologists who study prehistoric paintings, anyway. And though they typically agree about which ancient scrapes, scratches and marks were made by human artists and which were not, they sometimes struggle to attribute those ancient markings to specific human species.According to a new paper in PLOS ONE, howe ...read more

Dinosaurs roamed Earth for millions of years, during a major geologic era known as the Mesozoic. Fossils, scientific discoveries and tireless research efforts have gradually unveiled the mesmerizing tapestry of the dinosaur timeline. Their captivating tale begins in the Triassic period, reaches its peak during the well-known Jurassic period and comes to a dramatic end in the late Cretaceous period. Discover how each of these distinct periods served as a stage for the evolutionary dramas that unf ...read more

Whether you’re at the dog park or just taking a stroll around the block, you’ve surely seen this before: A pup who looks — almost uncannily — like a miniature version of the human holding its leash.Maybe it’s the muscular pit bull who resembles its similarly-buff owner. Or the prim-and-proper poodle whose coiffed fur is a perfect match for its human's stylish hairdo. You may have even suppressed a chuckle at the basset hound whose mellow demeanor mirrors that of its droopy-eyed handler ...read more

The search continues for the missing Titan submersible, which lost contact with its parent ship on the morning of June 18, 2023, 1 hour and 45 minutes into a planned multi-hour dive to the wreck of the Titanic. The capsule-shaped vessel belongs to the OceanGate company, which offers seats on the submersible, and a chance to visit the famous ocean liner, at a cost of $250,000 person.As the Boston Coast Guard leads a challenging rescue effort, details have begun to emerge about the cramped, exhila ...read more

For centuries, physicians were puzzled by a rare phenomenon. Children, often siblings, were born healthy to healthy parents. But around six years old, they began experiencing a cognitive decline. They lost their speech, sight and motor skills. They died within a few years.What Is Childhood Dementia?British scientist Frederick Batten described the condition in 1903 and named it after himself. In the last 50 years, scientists have further identified Batten’s disease as a juvenile form of a neu ...read more

Millions of years ago, our ancestors, like us today, had to contend with viruses. No doubt the infections were unpleasant for them at the time, but their suffering wasn’t for naught — some of those viruses left traces in our DNA. And, according to scientists at the Francis Crick Institute, these remnants may aid the body’s immune response to cancer today. Discovering Ancient VirusesWhile studying lung cancer in mice and in human tumor samples, the team found that immunotherapy treatment se ...read more