Researchers in Australia recently discovered a new species of demon catshark – a dusky deepwater shark with striking white eyes – by following a trail of some odd-looking eggs. Years ago, Brett Human, then a volunteer at the Western Australian Museum, came across an odd, yolk-yellow shark egg in the museum’s collection that had deep T-shaped ridges. Female catsharks incubate the eggs in their bodies for a while before sticking them to the sea floor, where they can take many months to hatch ...read more

Wild honeyguide birds and humans have hunted for honey together in Africa for centuries, if not longer. In some parts of the continent, the process starts when a hunter makes a loud, trilling “brr-hm” sound to attract the dull brown birds. They hop from tree to tree and chatter eagerly as they lead the honey hunter to a beehive in a baobab or other tree. After the human has looted the honey, the honeyguide dines on the beeswax left behind.A new study has found evidence that the famously reso ...read more

We’ve known about the colossal squid for nearly 150 years. Zoologist Japetus Steenstrup first reported on the species in 1857 after reading reports of it washing up on ocean shores. But there’s still a lot that we don’t know about it because it’s so hard to study. Its reproductive patterns, mating and hunting patterns are still largely unknown because we hardly ever see it in action. Nonetheless, ever since Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas, we’ve been captivated by this supersiz ...read more

In the realm of insects, where the buzz of translucent wings and the patter of tiny feet reign, something troubling is unfolding: these small animals are quickly vanishing from the world. But how do scientists detect insects’ often silent disappearances? Because they’re tiny and often well hidden, detecting and preventing extinctions is no easy feat, explains Eliza Grames, a postdoctoral researcher at University of Nevada, Reno. “There are so many different things contributing to insect d ...read more

As Antarctica plunges deeper and deeper into winter at this time of year, the frigid continent’s surrounding lid of floating sea ice should be expanding rapidly. But this year, sea ice has been growing at an agonizingly sluggish pace that has been setting records day after day. “In the midst of its winter growth phase, Antarctic sea ice has reached a record smashing-low extent for this time of year,” according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. “Sea ice extent is app ...read more

Sauropods that tower above treetops and tyrannosaurs that make the Earth tremble beneath their weighty footsteps are two iconic dinosaur images. These prehistoric giants have fascinated us for centuries, igniting our imagination and curiosity about the world that existed long before we set foot on this planet. Among the myriad of questions that arise when we ponder these magnificent creatures, two stand out. Why were some dinosaurs so big? How did their environment play a role in their size?� ...read more

Physicists have long studied soap bubbles for their extraordinary geometric properties as minimal surfaces, for the way they oscillate and for the beautiful interference patterns that appear on their surfaces.So it would be easy to think that soap bubbles have little more to give in terms of exotic physics and no new applications beyond the bathtub. But that would be wrong. Enter Zala Potŏcnik and Matjaž Humar at the University of Ljubljana in Slovenia, who have found a way to turn soap bubble ...read more

Causality is kind of important.Causality — the concept that causes always come before effects — forms the bedrock for our physical understanding of the universe. It isn’t just a theory or law of physics. Causality is physics.Therefore, we assume causality to be true every time we construct a new theory or develop a new model. And we always bake it into each of our equations, automatically constructing models where (you guessed it) causes lead into effects.But causality doesn’t just form ...read more

Perhaps no name is more recognizable in connection with The Manhattan Project than Robert Oppenheimer. Oppenheimer, a genius theoretical physicist, was the director of the Los Alamos Lab, where the first atomic bomb was developed. (Credit:Jeffrey M. Frank/Shutterstock) replica nuclear weapon With a high level of intelligence and curiosity that started in childhood, Oppenheimer was a polymath. His breadth of knowledge exceeded the realm of physics and included history, the arts, language and ...read more

If you’ve heard Michael Jackson’s familiar refrain “Annie, are you OK?,” you know one of the first steps of performing CPR: assessing whether the other person is responsive. And that’s not a coincidence. It’s said that this particular lyric was directly inspired by Resusci Anne — the name given to the anatomical manikin found in first aid classes around the world. And she’s far more than just a pretty face.Receiving cardiopulmonary resuscitation, or CPR, can double or triple the ...read more