Scientists looked at deaths in the United States going back decades and were astonished at the exponential rise in fatal drug overdoses. (Credit: Yaroslau Mikheyeu/shutterstock) Drug overdoses kill close to 200 people everyday in the United States. And while opioids are a major contributor to those deaths today, a new analysis of nearly 600,000 accidental drug overdose deaths between 1979 and 2016 reveals the current crisis is part of a much larger trend. “We think of [the current epidem ...read more

The super-Earth Kepler 62f, estimated to be around 40% larger than Earth. (Credit: NASA/Ames/JPL-Caltech) If we wish to colonize another world, finding a planet with a gravitational field that humans can survive and thrive under will be crucial. If its gravity is too strong our blood will be pulled down into our legs, our bones might break, and we could even be pinned helplessly to the ground. Finding the gravitational limit of the human body is something that’s better done before we lan ...read more

The male praying mantis (Hierodula tenuidentata) eating a guppy fish (Poecilia reticulata) starting from the tail, while the fish is still alive and breathing in the water. (Credit: Rajesh Puttaswamaiah) There’s nowhere you can hide from the praying mantis. The ferocious insects are known to feast on a veritable buffet of living creatures, including everything from butterflies and newts to snakes, mice and hummingbirds. And now, just when you thought it was safe to live in the ...read more

(Credit: g-stockstudio/shutterstock) Firms in competitive industries are often seen as cutthroat and intense places to work. But while the work might be intense, the employees tend to trust and cooperate with each other, according to a study published Wednesday in Science Advances. The high stakes appear to bring about group cohesiveness, which might have deep evolutionary roots. The Canadian and American researchers examined several workplace surveys for America, such as the US Census of Firm ...read more

(Credit: Aerovista Luchtfotografie/Shutterstock) An adult albatross can spend days without ever touching the ground. Long wings that lock into place provide enormous amounts of lift. And a keen sense for thermals and air currents lets the birds soar with little energy expenditure. Sleeping, eating, drinking and bathing all take place on the wing, over the course of journeys that can span up to 10,000 miles. Entrepreneurs like Mark Zuckerberg wish they could fly like an albatross ...read more

Scientists studied captured shipments of ivory tusks and managed to tie them to cartels. (Credit: Joe Mercier/shutterstock) Nearly 40,000 elephants die each year from illegal poaching orchestrated by large criminal organizations. The perpetrators are after ivory — the white, teeth-like material that forms the main part of elephants’ tusks. It also funds an illicit $4 billion annual industry. Now, an international team of scientists has used forensic genetics to identify three major ...read more