Cats have captivated our hearts for centuries with their endearing behaviors. These enigmatic feline companions often leave us with a myriad of questions about their habits, physiology and interactions. From the curious quirks of their daily routines to the intricacies of their senses, the world of cats is a fascinating realm. Learn more about this realm with these 10 facts about our furry friends. 1. When Were Cats Domesticated?A 2007 study concluded Felis silvestris lybica was domesticated at ...read more
Both NOAA and NASA have made it official: Earth sweltered through both the warmest August and most sizzling summer on record.“Not only was last month the warmest August on record by quite a lot, it was also the globe’s 45th-consecutive August and the 534th-consecutive month with temperatures above the 20th-century average," said NOAA Chief Scientist Sarah Kapnick, in a statement. "Global marine heat waves and a growing El Niño are driving additional warming this year, but as long as emissio ...read more
Even if you don’t share your home with a cat, you probably know from social media that cats love to get in boxes. My favorite cats-in-boxes memes show several cats sitting in boxes with the caption “Cat traps.”But have you ever wondered why cats have this weird thing for boxes? The answer is pretty much what you’d expect: They feel safer and more secure, all tucked up in a tiny space.Why Do Cats Like Boxes?(Credit:Khomulo Anna/Shutter)Some studies have found that when shelter cats are ...read more
If you looked up 66 million years ago you might have seen, for a split second, a bright light as a mountain-sized asteroid burned through the atmosphere and smashed into Earth. It was springtime and the literal end of an era, the Mesozoic.If you somehow survived the initial impact, you would have witnessed the devastation that followed. Raging firestorms, megatsunamis, and a nuclear winter lasting months to years. The 180-million-year reign of non-avian dinosaurs was over in the blink of an ...read more
The recent discovery of a long-legged bird that lived about 150 million years ago shows how the evolution of modern birds occasionally took an odd turn. The bird also fills an important gap in the fossil record of early birds, which evolved from theropod dinosaurs.Fujianvenator prodigiosus “exhibits a bizarre assembly of morphologies” borrowed from various groups of early birds, including the avialans that preceded modern birds, according to a press release. Read More: 99-Million-Year-Old Ba ...read more
There’s a lot that can be done with a blank slab of stone. It can be scored, splattered with paint, or plastered with clay. Transformed with a smattering of scrapes or scratches or a smear of red ochre, its surface can become a swirl of abstract shapes or a field of frolicking antelopes. Ancient rock artists tried it all, becoming remarkably skilled at representing themselves and their surroundings in stone.In the Later Stone Age of southern Africa between around 5,000 years and 1,000 years ag ...read more
A single bite from a tick can cause a permanent allergy to pork, beef and other kinds of red meat. This condition is increasing in the United States, with a jump in positive test cases from 2017 to 2021, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). According to the CDC, as many as 450,000 people in the U.S. have been estimated to have been infected with alpha-gal syndrome, which can cause an assortment of symptoms when they eat red meat.The connection between a tick b ...read more
In 1993, cave explorers entered a long, narrow tunnel at the Lamalunga Cave near the town of Altamura in southern Italy. At the far end, they found an upside-down human skull fused into the rock alongside a large collection of other human bones.The skull’s jutting brow was covered in a layer of pearl-like coralloid, calcium deposits otherwise known as cave popcorn. Much of the remains were covered in some form of the mineral that had leached down from the surrounding limestone.Today, scientist ...read more
This article contains affiliate links to products. Discover may receive a commission for purchases made through these links.Is your body too hot to sleep? You’re not alone. In fact, studies have shown that up to 41% of all people are hot sleepers. Turns out that the brain can’t regulate body temperature during REM sleep, and allowing the sleeping environment to become too warm (or cold) can disturb slumber during that stage. And while according to research, it helps to set the thermos ...read more
Much of the coverage of the wildfire that destroyed the Maui city of Lahaina on Aug. 8 labels it the deadliest wildfire “in modern American history” or “in America in over a century.” With 115 people known dead and dozens still missing, it’s hard to grasp what a worse fire could look like.But on the evening of Oct. 8, 1871, the deadliest wildfire in recorded world history burned through 1.5 million acres of northern Wisconsin. By the next day, the booming town of Peshtigo had been anni ...read more
