From the bubbling hot springs of Yellowstone National Park, researchers from Montana State University (MSU) have analyzed three thermophilic microbes, revealing how they may have adapted in a low-oxygen environment and evolved to live today. After over two decades of research, the new study published in Nature Communications, highlights three microbes collected from two different hot springs within Yellowstone National Park.With the new information gathered, researchers are hoping it can shed l ...read more

In Southern California, the growing risk of landslides has put many communities on edge, demonstrated by radar data from NASA focused on the Palos Verdes Peninsula in Los Angeles County. The peninsula, which sits south of Los Angeles and juts out into the Pacific Ocean, contains an ancient landslide complex that has been active for the past six decades. However, exacerbated by intensifying bursts of rainfall due to climate change, the gradual movement of the landslides has drastically accelerate ...read more

People quite literally have plastic on their brain — or, more accurately, in it. A new study detected microplastics in human brains at much higher concentrations than in other organs. Microplastics are tiny pieces of broken-down polymers. They are building up in the air, water, and soil. They have also been detected in human livers, kidneys, placentas, and testes.However, their accumulation in the brain appears to be increasing much faster and at higher concentrations than in those other organ ...read more

We tend to think of magnets as binary. Batteries have positive and negative ends. Compasses point north and south. And, until late last year, there were two kinds of magnetism: ferromagnetism and antiferromagnetism.Late in 2024, scientists discovered a third kind: altermagnetism. This class of magnetism — which has some characteristics of the other two — could greatly increase computer memory storage, and, in doing so, also save on both energy and rare earth materials. It could also boost th ...read more

In 1862, an American antiquities dealer was in an Egyptian marketplace, squinting at a scroll. The scroll was written in hieratic, a type of ancient Egyptian cursive, and the dealer, Edwin Smith, wasn’t fluent enough to decode the text. Smith sensed the scroll had great value, and he also suspected the merchant selling the ancient text didn’t recognize its value. Smith purchased the papyrus and returned to buy additional pieces he later identified as a continuation of the scroll.Now known a ...read more

In 1997, Jeanne Calment set the record for the longest recorded time a person has lived, passing away at the age of 122 years old. So far, no one has broken this record. But even before Calment, the 20th Century heralded the last radical expansion of human lifespans thus far, spawning what some researchers call the “longevity revolution” by skyrocketing our chances of living longer. Thanks largely to improvements in medicine and public health measures, the average life expectancy is no longe ...read more

Outer space could use a set of traffic laws — and cops who can enforce them.The amount of both space junk and satellites orbiting the Earth now, the moon soon, and Mars eventually, poses a massive, unseen threat to people on the ground, wrote three scientists in a commentary. Risks of Space JunkThe threat to humans isn’t so much about debris falling from the sky (although a major hunk did land in Kenya in January 2025) and hitting someone (the odds of that are possible, but infinitesimal) as ...read more

The enigmatic origins of runic writings used by early Germanic peoples have invited much debate over the years, but a fragmented runestone from a Norwegian grave site may settle some questions. Researchers found that several pieces of sandstone, excavated from the Svingerud grave field in Hole, Norway and dated to between 50 B.C.E. to 275 C.E., fit together into a single slab that contains perplexing runic inscriptions. The meanings behind these carved markings are explored in a new study publi ...read more

The octopus is a marvel of the sea. With their eight flexible, sucker-lined tentacles, their vast intelligence, and the ability to squeeze themselves into tight spaces, these cephalopods have long captured our wonder. While the octopus still holds many secrets, a new study helps answer the long-held question of how these creatures determine their sex. Dating back 480 million years, octopuses have one of the oldest known sex chromosomes, according to a new study published in Current Biology. The ...read more

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