Underneath miles-deep ice sheets covering Antarctica lies the largest mountain range no one on Earth has ever seen. Even though a few of its tallest points peek through in some places, relatively few people know of the entire range’s existence.However, geologists studying it have long argued about how and when these buried peaks were formed. A team of geologists propose a new explanation in an article in the journal Earth and Planetary Science Letters.“The ice conceals some of Earth’s most ...read more

The exotic pet trade brings millions of animals into the U.S. every year. One of these animals, the tegu, is a popular reptile import thanks to its flashy looks and docile personality. Once it grows to its full 5-foot, 10-pound size, however, it often ends up escaping or being set free into the wild. In Florida, it is considered an invasive species and is of special interest to wildlife biologists and conservationists since it’s a menace to local ecosystems. Recently, the tegu has become of s ...read more

Humans display different ways of attaching to one another, shaped largely by how our caregivers responded to us in early childhood. Some of us may shy away from closeness and prefer emotional distance, while others feel anxious in relationships, seeking reassurance and fearing abandonment. Understanding these underlying attachment styles can help us navigate emotions and relationships — and, as it turns out, might even help us better understand ourselves through the eyes of our primate relativ ...read more

During an excavation, amidst the Patagonian winds and hard rock, a fossil began to turn green. It was an unexpected reaction: the adhesive applied to protect the bones, fragile after millions of years beneath the ice, had interacted with plant matter trapped in the rock’s cracks. This greenish hue earned the fossil the nickname Fiona, like the ogre from Shrek.But Fionais much more than a ogre-themed name. It is the first complete ichthyosaur ever excavated in Chile and, even more remarkably, t ...read more

There are animals out there that glow, and a lot more of them than you might think. Indeed, you may assume that it’s only the gleaming fish, squid, and shrimp that make their own light. But many mammals glow, too, not through bioluminescence, but through photoluminescence, a distinct biological process that’s best spotted by observing animals under ultraviolet, violet, or blue light.A team of researchers recently set out to identify the chemistry that makes some mammals glow under these wave ...read more

The Aztec — or Mexica — people oversaw an extensive economic network that involved trade with communities outside of the Mexica Empire, even rivals. By examining more than 700 artifacts from the Templo Mayor of Tenochtitlan in the largest study of its kind to date, archaeologists writing in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences highlight the extent of this trade and the influence it had on life and politics in Tenochtitlan, the Mexica Empire’s capital.“This kind of compositiona ...read more

Call it a follow-up question to a beyond-the-grave debate: Albert Einstein theorized that black holes can only grow. Stephen Hawking postulated that they can decay. After a group of scientists published a paper supporting Team Hawking, inquiring minds wanted to know how long before the Universe itself completely fades away.The answer, according to an article in the Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics, is a “1” followed by 78 zeroes and the word “years.” That is much faster tha ...read more

Is there anything more spectacular than a towering lava fountain? Think about what it is: glowing red molten rock being shot into the sky, potentially hundreds or thousands of feet. As ubiquitous and dramatic as lava fountains might be, they are also not well understood to the point where we’re not even sure where they fit in the types of volcanic eruptions.Lava Fountains at Volcanoes"Pele's hair" on a black reflective surface. This curious form of volcanic glass forms when liquid lava is thro ...read more

Ancient snail shells helped archeologists re-evaluate the age of the oldest known wooden weapons collection: a site in Lower Saxony, Germany, famous for its arsenal of hunting equipment, including nine spears, one lance, and six double-pointed sticks. Researchers now say the weapons date back closer to 200,000 years, rather than the 300,000 years to 400,000 years of earlier estimates, according to an article in Science Advances.Neanderthal and Early Man AncestorsThis has important implications t ...read more

The title for World’s Oldest Dog goes to Bluey, the Australian cattle dog, who reportedly lived to the grand old age of 29. However, the average life expectancy for most canines is a relatively meagre 10 to 13 years. So, why is it that the lifespan of a dog is so much lower than that of species like the rhino, which can live up to 50 years?The lifespans of mammals vary dramatically, from species of shrew that don’t make it to their first birthday to the bowhead whale, which celebrates two ce ...read more