Arguably, one of the defining features of humanity is our curiosity. We’ve built microscopes to peek into the world of the very small, and we’ve built telescopes to see the world of the very large.And though the natural world is often the subject of our curiosity, so are other people — and even ourselves. When someone tells you they have a secret, for example, you can’t help but wonder what they might be concealing.But is our propensity for curiosity really that unique? Isn’t curiosity ...read more
The most significant paleological discovery to hit Maryland in 100 years – the uncovering of a historic "bone bed" – was announced earlier this month.But getting to the bottom of the fossil collection and documenting it all took researchers about 10 years.Discovering the FossilsIn 2013, an employee at Dinosaur Park – a small fossil preserve in Laurel, Maryland – first spotted something blue-green buried in the ground. The former riverbed and mining site had a long history of fossil finds ...read more
English, like the vast majority of languages, is spatially egocentric. We speak of bending over backward, walking forward, turning left and right — whenever we describe space, we do so with relation to ourselves.Grammatically, we take for granted our own centrality. But not all languages operate this way.If you were to ask the way to the supermarket in Hopevale, Australia, the Aboriginal residents wouldn’t dream of offering a confusing series of “lefts” and “rights.” In their native ...read more
Sabretooth cats, known for their elongated and sharp teeth resembling a canine, were found across the planet from the Eocene to the Pleistocene Epoch, between 56 million years to 11,700 years ago. And now, paleontologists discovered two new species of sabretooth cat after re-analyzing a collection of fossils in Langebaanweg, South Africa.The collection is the largest global assortment of Pliocene fossils containing various late Cainozoic fossil vertebrates and invertebrates. They are housed at t ...read more
In some of their earliest iterations, they were considered to be responsible for natural disasters or destructive forces like thunder and lightning. In other tales, they appear as grotesque, loincloth-clad ogres with sharp teeth and horns. Sometimes, they are depicted as mountain-dwelling crones shunned by society. In some modern iterations, they can even be cute and gentle. These entities can all be categorized as oni — supernatural figures that appear across Japanese literature, folklore, ar ...read more
One of the greatest mysteries of modern science is how life on Earth began. Scientists believe Earth formed about 4.5 billion years ago and that life emerged a few hundred million years later during a period known as the Hadean eon. But exactly how this happened is the subject of huge debate.One widely championed theory is that Earth was covered with a prebiotic soup that catalyzed the formation of ribonucleic acid encapsulated within clusters of surfactant molecules. These clusters eventually f ...read more
Whether you grew up with Hans Christan Anderson fairy tales or watched Peter Pan, Pirates of the Caribbean and Harry Potter, you’ve probably heard of mermaid legends. There isn’t much evidence, except for speculation, that mermaids existed. However, these legends can be found all over the world. Some believe that aquatic mammals such as manatees and dugongs inspired mermaid legends. There is even an account from Christopher Columbus saying that members of his crew had spotted “mermai ...read more
Mike Bear had just slipped underwater, offshore near San Diego, and was floating among the long fronds of a kelp forest when a long shadow passed between him and his diving partner. Gliding by, nearly within arm’s reach, was the sleek bulk of a sevengill shark, which Bear estimated at about nine feet long.“To say we were startled would be an understatement,” Bear, a lifelong diver, says. The encounter, not uncommon among sevengill sharks, which inhabit the Pacific coast of the United State ...read more
Earth’s beautiful, neon-colored aurorae occur when charged particles from the sun (the solar wind) collide with the planet’s outer atmosphere, called the ionosphere. While this bombardment could spell trouble for Earth-dwellers, the Earth’s magnetic field lassos the particles and channels them up above the poles. Brightly luminescent, the aurorae manifest as clouds and ribbons in the sky. New research released by the Europlanet Society details the cause behind an even stranger aurora, the ...read more
By itself, Dirofilaria immitis looks about as threatening as a strand of limp spaghetti. In fact, it looks a lot like a strand of limp spaghetti. But in their hundreds, when these unassuming little roundworms grow to adulthood, they can cause serious and often fatal problems for your pet. And the worst part is, you might not see the signs until it’s too late.We’re talking, of course, about heartworms, a devastating parasite that infects about 1 in every 100 dogs. Here’s what you need to kn ...read more
