Native to the Sonoran Desert of the American southwest and Mexico, the Gila monster (Heloderma suspectum) might look and sound threatening. But to many, it’s known for its status as the largest lizard — and the only venomous lizard —native to the United States.  The Gila monster, distinguished by its black-and-pink patterned scales, spends the majority of its life beating the Arizona heat underground. Because of this, though, its habits have long been a mystery to scientists. Growing up ...read more

These days, when it comes to meat alternatives, most eyes are on lab-grown and plant-based products. But one of the latest breakthroughs in sustainable, cruelty-free food comes from yet another kingdom of life: fungi.The human-fungus bond has been cementing for thousands of years, during which our ancestors found countless ways to fit these nutritious organisms into their diet. Now, putting a distinctly modern twist on the relationship, scientists at UC Berkeley reported in Nature Communications ...read more

They are the moments that jolt you into awareness. You’re minding your own business, and all of a sudden, you’re reminded of how mortified you felt at that moment, weeks, months, or even years ago. Embarrassing moments can still carry the same emotional weight as they did in the moment they were happening. It’s the brain’s way of telling us not to make the same mistake twice.The good news is that you don’t have to suffer at the hands of embarrassing moments, and over time, their power ...read more

The cicadas emerging this year have waited 17 years to resurface. Their buzzing sounds are part of their life cycle and it's going to get pretty loud. The insects will chorus and buzz as they mate and communicate, reaching up to 106 decibels, or nearly the sound of a motorcycle. The year’s double brood is a once-in-a-lifetime event because two broods of cicadas do not usually emerge at the same time. But those sensitive to sound might find the continuous buzzing uncomfortable or overwhelming. ...read more

In 1869, swindler George Hull pitched a tent in upstate New York and charged people 50 cents to step right up and view the remains of a petrified giant.The Cardiff Giant was supposedly the skeleton of an extinct human species. In reality, Hull had two sculptors carve a 10-foot-tall, realistic giant from stone. He made $56,000 (more than $1 million in today’s money) before his scam was debunked.For decades, Hull boasted he had tricked the public into believing his giant was real. But he actuall ...read more

It’s become common to read that microplastics – little bits of plastic, smaller than a pencil eraser – are turning up everywhere and in everything, including the ocean, farmland, food and human bodies. Now a new term is gaining attention: nanoplastics. These particles are even tinier than microplastics – so small that they’re invisible to the naked eye.Nanoplastics are a type of microplastic, distinguished by their extremely small size. Microplastics are usually less than 5 millimeters ...read more

If you were to draw a simple kitty on a piece of paper, maybe you would include three lines on each side of the cat’s face to signify whiskers. In reality, our feline friends typically have about 12 on each side of the face (except for say, hairless cats, or sphynx cats, who might have short, broken ones, or none at all). Cats can also have shorter whiskers on their eyebrows and the back of their wrists.We all know cats have whiskers, but do you ever wonder why and what they’re used for exac ...read more

The last pandemic was bad, but COVID-19 is only one of many infectious diseases that emerged since the turn of this century.Since 2000, the world has experienced 15 novel Ebola epidemics, the global spread of a 1918-like influenza strain and major outbreaks of three new and unusually deadly coronavirus infections: SARS, MERS and, of course, COVID-19. Every year, researchers discover two or three entirely new pathogens: the viruses, bacteria and microparasites that sicken and kill people.While so ...read more

In the summer of 2022, Luke Carpenter-Bundhoo, a researcher with the Australian Rivers Institute at Griffith University, wasn’t primarily searching for interesting fish species. Instead, he was investigating the effects of 2019-2020 bushfires in K’gari (formerly Fraser Island), the world’s largest sand island, which is located of Australia’s east coast, about 150 miles north of Brisbane. Although Carpenter-Bundhoo wasn’t fishing for lampreys, he managed quite a catch — an Australian ...read more

Have you ever wondered how your brain creates thoughts or why something randomly popped into your head? It may seem like magic – but actually the brain is like a supercomputer inside your head that helps you think, learn and make decisions.Imagine your brain as a busy city with lots of streets and buildings. Each part of the brain has a specific job to do, just like certain areas of a city or certain buildings serve different purposes. When you have a thought, it’s like a message traveling t ...read more