(Credit: Neil Bromhall/Shutterstock) In colonies of naked mole rats—wrinkly, pink-skinned rodents with oversized front teeth that live in extensive underground tunnel systems—one special couple gets to reproduce, creating the entire next generation for the colony. For most mammals, breeding comes at a heavy cost — reproduction shortens lifespans. But for naked mole rats, procreating appears to slow aging, the exact opposite of whatâ ...read more
The view of the main plaza at Tikal. (Credit: WitR/Shutterstock) Though today it is a wilderness, in the time of the Maya, the Central American lowlands they called home would have looked far different. Where emerald jungle canopies roll for miles on end, cities, roads, reservoirs and terraced fields would have covered the hilly landscape in southern Mexico, Guatemala and Belize. Millions of people called this land home, members of a loose alliance of interconnected city-states. The Maya devel ...read more
Prepare to be smashed. (Credit: Roy L. Caldwell, Department of Integrative Biology, UC Berkeley) A version of this article originally appeared on The Conversation. When you think about fearsome predators in the ocean, the first thing that pops into your mind is probably a shark. Sure, sharks are OK, with their sleek, menacing shape and their gaping jaws with rows of jagged teeth. But if you were a fish living on a coral reef or cruising along the shore over the sands of a tropical island, you ...read more
Astronomers have long theorized that newly formed stars can occasionally consume their planets, but until now, they have never observed such a feeding frenzy. This artist’s concept illustrates the destruction of a young planet around a star, which can knock material directly into the star itself.(Credit: NASA/CXC/M. Weiss) Astronomers generally agree that planets form out of the massive disks of leftover debris that surround most newborn stars. As these disks of gas and dust ...read more
Indonesia’s Flores Island, once home to diminutive Homo floresiensis (skull cast shown above), also has modern pygmy populations. Researchers sequenced DNA from some of the individuals to determine if they might be descended from the archaic “hobbit.� (Credit: Australian Museum) From the home of the “hobbit� (and I’m not talking about The Shire): Researchers have sequenc ...read more
This spectacular impact crater on Mars, imaged by HiRISE on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, spans 100 feet (30 meters) and shows a clear system of rays in enhanced color.(Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona) Fiery chunks of rock are constantly bombarding the planetary bodies of our solar system, leaving behind long-lasting scars. These gouges, in the form of craters, can be used to learn about the history of our little nook in the vast universe, prompting scientists to feverishly study ...read more
Stonehenge. (Credit: Brian C. Weed/Shutterstock) New analysis of the remains of Neolithic people buried at Stonehenge suggests many did not live anywhere near the prehistoric monument, according to a study in Nature Scientific Reports. After a century of research into Stonehenge’s construction, we still know little about the people who lived and died there. But now, with a fresh method for obtaining biological information from cremated remains, scientists are re-envisioning ...read more
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This artist’s concept shows Kepler 452b, an exoplanet just 1,400 light years away. Known as Earth’s “cousin,� the terrestrial world falls within its host star’s habitable zone and receives enough UV light for RNA-forming chemical reactions to take place. (Credit: NASA Ames/JPL-Caltech/T. Pyle) Want to know if a planet has what it takes to develop life? Look at its light. Research published August 1 ...read more
Zebra finches. (Credit: Natia Tsuleiskiri/Shutterstock) Is the blue I see the same as the blue you see? It’s an age-old stoner question, and while it might not ever be possible to find a conclusive answer, it does touch on a fundamental mystery for linguists and neuroscientists alike. Where do colors come from? Not the physical colors themselves, of course – that’s just different wavelengths of light. But where do the categories that we ...read more
