Six monotremes living in the same place at the same time, 100 million years ago at Lightning Ridge, NSw. Clockwise from lower left: Opalios splendens, a newly described species dubbed an ‘echidnapus’; Stirtodon elizabethae, the largest monotreme of the time; Kollikodon ritchiei, with hot-cross-bun shaped molars; Steropodon galmani, now known from additional opalised fossils; Parvopalus clytiei, the smallest monotreme of the time; and Dharragarra aurora, the earliest known species of platypus ...read more

It’s often appropriate to say that a particular practice “isn’t brain surgery” — except when it is. That may be the case in incisions to an ancient Egyptian skull that shows signs of an operation, according to a new study in Frontiers in Medicine.Researchers in the study examined two skulls from the University of Cambridge’s Duckworth Collection, curious about the role of cancer in ancient Egypt. In ”Skull 236” (dating from between 2687 and 2345 B.C.E., from a male), microscopic ...read more

One of the strangest looking crocodiles didn’t swim — it walked on land in the Late Cretaceous with a heavy set of interlocking armor and replaceable teeth. “It has a shell on its back similar to armadillos,” says Bruno Borsoni, a master’s student in evolutionary biology at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. In fact, the extinct species' name — Armadillosuchus arrudai — comes from a combination of the words “armadillo” and “suchus,” which means crocodile in ...read more

When people think about what we get from the U.S. space program, it may be along the lines of NASA technology spin-offs such as freeze-dried food and emergency space blankets.But space activities do much more that benefits life on Earth. Research in space helps scientists study our environment, develop new technologies, create jobs, grow the economy and foster international collaboration.Of course, with reports of Russia developing an anti-satellite nuclear weapon, members of Congress and the me ...read more

When a wild orangutan in Sumatra recently suffered a facial wound, apparently after fighting with another male, he did something that caught the attention of the scientists observing him.The animal chewed the leaves of a liana vine—a plant not normally eaten by apes. Over several days, the orangutan carefully applied the juice to its wound, then covered it with a paste of chewed-up liana. The wound healed with only a faint scar. The tropical plant he selected has antibacterial and antioxidant ...read more

Starting with the Space Race of the 20th century, humans have embarked on a journey through time and space with some of the most pioneering and life-changing space missions. As we stand on the cusp of another age of space exploration with the upcoming Artemis missions and other space observatories set to go online this year, here are 15 space missions that not only set the groundwork for the future, but also ignite our curiosity about the universe we inhabit. 1. Sputnik 1 (Credit: NASA/Asif A. S ...read more

Whether it’s stressing about an upcoming deadline, date, or performance, most of us are all too familiar with the encroaching dread of anxiety. In essence, anxiety is our body’s way of telling us to be alert and vigilant, but sometimes our limbic system can go a bit overboard. Anxiety originates in the amygdala, which is the brain’s emotional center, and was once a useful tool in the minds of our Paleolithic ancestors.But that was hundreds of thousands of years ago. Nowadays, most of us ar ...read more

While robots with a human touch are still not a common sight, they are slowly appearing in public. For years, recreating the softness sensation of a person’s touch remained the ultimate technological challenge for humanoid robot scientists. Recent innovations effectively address these constraints, showing a glimpse of a future where robots can interact with humans in more advanced ways.Humanoid Robots Are Far From Perfect Robots have long been synonymous with cold, mechanical precision — sou ...read more

Physicists consider black holes one of the most mysterious objects that exist. Ironically, they’re also considered one of the simplest. For years, physicists like me have been looking to prove that black holes are more complex than they seem. And a newly approved European space mission called LISA will help us with this hunt.Research from the 1970s suggests that you can comprehensively describe a black hole using only three physical attributes – their mass, charge and spin. All the other pro ...read more

Sir Percival Pott, a London physician in 1775, felt sorry for chimney sweeps. They were child laborers who Pott thought were treated cruelly. They were poorly fed, barely clothed, and forced to ascend into sooty chimneys. Too often, Pott saw they were “bruised, burned, and almost suffocated.”In his practice at St. Bartholomew’s Hospital, Pott observed a tragic trend among the young chimney sweeps. Many of them suffered from scrotal cancer by the time they reached puberty. Pott connected th ...read more