Mars is a frigid world today, and all of its surface water is frozen solid. However, there’s ample evidence that liquid water once coursed over the Red Planet. That paradox has sparked an ongoing debate: What warmed up Mars’s climate billions of years ago? A team now has proposed that giant asteroid impacts—the kinds that carve out basins exceeding 1,200 kilometers in diameter—might have played an important role. The team reported its results in March in Geophysical Research Letters.Th ...read more

You’d be forgiven for thinking that brushing your cat’s teeth is not worth the risk to life and limb (or at least fingers). But it’s something you might want to reconsider.We know that if we don’t brush our own teeth, they’ll eventually fall out, right? Well, that can happen to cats, too. In fact, periodontal disease is distressingly common in our furry friends.According to the Feline Health Center at Cornell University’s College of Veterinary Medicine, between 50 and 90 percent of c ...read more

As science uncovers the more fine-tuned and unique ways that human brains operate, the terms neurodivergence and neurodiversity are becoming more popular.The word neurodiversity only emerged in the late 1990s, thanks to Australian sociologist Judy Singer.What Does Neurodivergent Mean?Neurodivergent is a non-medical umbrella term that refers to a wide range of conditions including autism, dyslexia and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). And it is now appearing more frequently in ever ...read more

This article was originally published in Eos. New Zealand straddles the boundary of two tectonic plates and as a result is in a constant state of upheaval. As mountains rise and fall, rivers are split, diverted, and joined. In some cases, they have even reversed flow.A geologist, a biologist, and an ecologist recently put their expertise together to simultaneously trace the movement of fish and gold through the country’s rivers. The results point to hidden riches, and the team’s approach has ...read more

Neil deGrasse Tyson's latest book, Starry Messenger, analyzes real-world issues like race, gender and politics using scientific methods. In a recent interview with Tyson, we asked why he thought it was important to view these issues through a scientific lens. He answered in true Tyson fashion, "Well, nobody else was."A Starry MessengerStarry Messenger wants us to take a step back and look at contradictions from a different perspective — a cosmic perspective if you will. Tyson takes a ra ...read more

Imagine living in a world with a bus-sized “three-horned face” dinosaur that has epic battles with an intimidating carnivore like the Tyrannosaurus rex (or so the legend says). From all we’ve gathered so far, it is not hard to see that Triceratops horridus, also known as Triceratops (genus), is a distinct beast. Triceratops is a quadrupedal dinosaur of the ceratopsian family – herbivores from the Cretaceous period with a bony frill and distinct beaklike bone. They used to live in western ...read more

This story was originally published in our May/June 2023 issue as "The Archaeology of Flavor." Click here to subscribe to read more stories like this one.When it comes to ancient foods, archaeologists can easily glean main ingredients based on butchered bones and plant remains found in cooking areas. But every chef — and diner — knows dietary staples don’t make meals delectable or distinctive. It’s flavor, rendered through spices, herbs and culinary craft, that defines a dish. Certain ...read more

Pity the poor slime mold. As if that name itself wasn’t bad enough, some species have even worse monikers, like dog vomit or scrambled egg slime. And despite the fact that they come in many striking shapes and colors, even the researchers who study them have to admit that many slime molds aren’t going to win you any lawn-and-garden contests if you find them growing in your flowerbed or mulch pile.But in their own quiet way, they are much cooler — and smarter — than most people realize. H ...read more

The rings of Saturn are one of the most spectacular sights in the Solar System and one of the most photographed. Despite the interest they garner, astronomers still puzzle over how the rings formed and why they have survived. One clue is that Saturn’s rings sit within the Roche limit, the theoretical distance at which gravitational tidal forces from the parent planet would tear apart any ordinary moon. Indeed, that has turned out to be a common feature of other rings. In 1977, astronomers disc ...read more