Throughout the animal kingdom, resourcefulness often means the difference between a good meal and an empty stomach. And near coral reefs, where competition for food is particularly fierce, nature has cooked up an extraordinary solution: octopus and fish teaming up to hunt. This collaboration isn't just about sharing a meal. It’s a carefully coordinated dance where each species plays a distinct and dynamic role. And when a fish slacks off, the octopus isn’t shy about delivering it a swift sla ...read more

After burning for 24 days, the deadly Palisades Fire in the Los Angeles area finally was declared 100 percent contained on Jan. 31, 2025. Two days later, an analysis found last month to be the warmest January on record globally. Scientists believe climate change had raised wildfire risks in Southern California prior to the blaze. In the false-color satellite view above, scorched areas are depicted in tones of orange and red. (Credit: Modified Copernicus Sentinel data processed by Tom Yulsman)Ja ...read more

We’ve all felt it — that midday slump when your back aches, your shoulders are tight, and your focus starts to fade. The culprit? Hours of sitting at your desk. Although the demands of modern work often tether us to our chairs, staying active doesn’t require you to abandon your workspace. By doing just a few simple stretches at your desk, you can loosen up stiff muscles, boost your energy, and improve your focus throughout the day. The Benefits of Stretching at Your DeskSitting for prolong ...read more

It’s customary to wish people a Happy New Year on January 1. But after the confetti clears and the noisemakers are thrown away, it is becoming increasingly common for people to celebrate “Divorce Day.” The first Monday of January has traditionally seen a spike in people either consulting lawyers or looking up web information for a way to end their marriages. In fact, some lawyers label all of January as Divorce Month.“Many New Year's resolutions entail self-improvement, including fitness ...read more

They wiggle, though they don’t do much else. That’s what we’ve long thought about the auricular muscles — the useless ear muscles that once helped our ancient ancestors hear. But recent research in Frontiers in Neuroscience reveals that these muscles are still trying hard to help us, activating during difficult listening situations.“There are three large muscles [that] connect the auricle [the outer ear] to the skull and scalp,” said Andreas Schröer, a study author and a neuroscient ...read more

Humans are social creatures. Many of us enjoy spending time with friends and family doing social activities, like going out to dinner, attending sporting events, and participating in book clubs. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), being social offers a myriad of health benefits, including emotional regulation, reduced stress and anxiety, better sleep, and a reduced risk of heart disease and stroke. And now, thanks to a new study published in Alzheimer's & Deme ...read more

Pain relief without addiction has been a pharmaceutical goal long before the opioid crisis. A newly approved medicine appears to have achieved that.The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Journavx to treat short-term pain. The drug, which was developed by Vertex Pharmaceuticals in Boston and tested as a pain treatment following surgeries, targets the nerves near an injury site instead of in the brain.“It works in a way that is different than previous medications,” says Paul Negu ...read more

About seven years from now, in 2032, an asteroid orbiting the Sun will fly so close to Earth that it has a little over 1 percent chance of impact. The asteroid, named 2024 YR4, stands out as the only near-Earth asteroid out of the over 37,000 currently recognized to have an impact probability above 1 percent. Scientists calculated this probability after the asteroid was reported on December 27, 2024 at a telescope in Chile belonging to the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS), ...read more

At long last, the Eaton and Palisades wildfires in Los Angeles are almost fully contained.It has been more than three weeks since the blazes erupted on Jan. 7, 2025, and now, as I'm writing this on Friday, Jan. 31, they are finally just a percent or two from full containment, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. Driven by hurricane force winds, the fires quickly roared through a desiccated landscape. Together they've scorched 37,469 acres — an area more than ...read more

Although we often associate dogs as man’s best friend, new information suggests that sheep may have been by our side all along.A team of geneticists and zooarchaeologists in Europe have analyzed 188 genomes from a selection of domestic and wild sheep bones from across the past 12,000 years. In these samples, they discovered that sheep have existed alongside humans during many important transitional phases in our history. “This research demonstrates how the relationship between humans and sh ...read more