The Wall that defends the Game of Thrones universe would need to be made of more than pure ice if it had stood for over 8,000 years.
According to the plot of George R. R. Martin's famous book and television series, the massive wall of ice protects humanity from the blue-eyed White Walkers, an ancient race of ice zombies that threaten all living things. But if the wall that shields the realm was made of pure water ice, it would not remain a wall for long; instead, it would quickly become a ...read more
By: Julia Travers
Songbirds may be nature’s pop stars, but the females are still waiting for a turn in the spotlight -- we don’t even know if females sing in about 70 percent of songbird species. This is because the study of birds has a gender gap: most previous research has focused on male song. Participants in the Female Bird Song Project are looking to right this imbalance.
“I think this is a very important project. It involves citizen science in gathering fundamental info ...read more
This week has been a tragic one for parts of Southern California. Heavy rains have triggered landslides and mudflows that have killed over 17 people with dozens more missing. Now, this tragedy is a sequel to an earlier disaster: wildfires that ravaged the coastal mountains near Santa Barbara. However, they are two events that tend to go together because the effects of one prompt the other.
The wildfires that burned forests and homes in 2017 have the net impact of destabilizing rugged terr ...read more
Despite the fact that Mars has an atmosphere just 1 percent as dense as Earth’s, the surface of the Red Planet still has to deal with plenty of weathering and erosion. In 2008, researchers even captured a full-scale avalanche on Mars as it plunged down a 2,300-foot slope into a valley. These types of geological events often expose the structures beneath the martian surface, revealing layers of rock, dry ice and even water ice.
In a study published Thursday in the journal Science, res ...read more
When it comes to playing the odds, there are times when gambling feels more enticing than others. But is there a pattern to when people indulge in games of luck and when they abstain? Well, according to this study, there is! Apparently, when other circumstances dictated by "luck" are going well, people are more likely to play the lottery. Specifically, they found that people are more likely to play the lottery during a long string of sunny days, or when a local sports team is playing well. S ...read more
(Credit: VGstockstudio/Shutterstock)
Losing weight may not be that hard — for rodents, a new study shows. Researchers have discovered an internal scale in rats and mice that sends signals to the brain to cut back on food if weight gain is detected. Now, the researchers hope to translate the findings to humans.
For the study, the team mimicked weight gain by implanting capsules into the abdomens of obese rats and mice. Mice received a capsule that weighed about six grams, while rats were ...read more
Last month, a 1,400-pound horse named John competed with speed and style at the World Series of Team Roping in Las Vegas.
Fourteen months earlier, John couldn’t even stand without the help of six handlers and a sling.
After qualifying for a 2016 competition, John was found down at his owner’s ranch near Sacramento, felled by botulism. Despite receiving an antidote, he battled paralysis for 26 days. For most of his stay in an intensive care unit, he lay on the floor of his stall. He ...read more
New fossil find Vulcanops hails from New Zealand, home of burrowing bats including the now-extinct Mystacina robusta, shown here in an artist rendering. (Credit Gavin Mouldey)
Where might you expect to find fossils of a giant burrowing bat, three times bigger than today’s average bat? Why, in St. Bathans, New Zealand, of course. Vulcanops jennyworthyae, which lived more than 15 million years ago, tells a fascinating story of a lost world.
No offense to Jenny Worthy, the team member h ...read more
Motherly love. (Credit: Shutterstock)
Years ago, we believed that we weren’t animals and that animals were here solely for our use. Indeed, a cow was just a walking burger, a Sunday roast, keeping itself fresh and tasty ready for when we were hungry.
Luckily, for their sake, things have progressed significantly from then and now we recognize that animals (including our “superior” human selves in that category) can experience emotions from more simple ones such as happiness and ...read more
