The terror bird — an extinct group of carnivorous birds that once dominated the current territory of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Uruguay after the extinction of dinosaurs — persisted between 23 million years ago and up to about 17 thousand years ago.With the head of an eagle, curved beak, body and legs of an African ostrich, and claws as big as those of the Jurassic Park raptors, “you wouldn't want to be in a cage with one of them,” remarked Washington Jones, a paleo-ornithologist at t ...read more

“We haven’t had a full night’s sleep since our son was born eight years ago,” said Mrs. B, pointing to her son’s dry, red and itchy skin.Her son has had eczema his entire life. Also known as atopic dermatitis, this chronic skin disease affects about 1 in 5 children in the industrialized world. Some studies have found rates of eczema in developing nations to be over thirtyfold lower compared with industrialized nations.However, rates of eczema didn’t spike with the Industrial Revoluti ...read more

In March 2024, a group of boaters in Venice Beach, Florida ran into a great white shark feeding on a whale carcass. While white sharks’ diet consists primarily of large marine mammals such as seals and sea lions, scavenging off of whale carcasses is an important way for them to maintain their diet. From the southern tip of South Africa to the California coast, we’ve observed white sharks, also known as great white sharks, engaging in fascinating hunting patterns from shorelines around the w ...read more

Few drugs have achieved the stardom that semaglutide, marketed in the United States as Ozempic or Wegovy, has today. A synthetic, injectable version of an intestinal hormone, it is the flagship of a new category of drugs initially developed for diabetes that rose to fame in the medical and public arena as an effective weapon against obesity. Semaglutide has proved so successful that its manufacturer, the Danish company Novo Nordisk, is unable to keep up with demand.The US Food and Drug Administr ...read more

Many things can throw one’s microbiome out of kilter. Not eating enough fiber or relying too much on highly processed food can starve the “good bacteria” dwelling in your gut. Frequent and sustained antibiotic use can also unintentionally kill them off. With today’s busy schedule, many people forgo the things that maintain good gut health. “Modern lifestyles hit the microbiome at many different angles," says Christopher Damman, a gastroenterologist at the University of Washington in Se ...read more

The quokka, an adorable marsupial hailing from southwestern Australia, is bound to put a smile on anyone’s face. They’re small and fuzzy, and the distinctive shape of their mouth gives quokkas the appearance of an ever-present grin. And despite their limited range, these herbivorous marsupials have captured the hearts of millions around the world — the viral #quokkaselfie trend on social media features thousands of selfies taken with quokkas.  Yet as the quokka population rapidly declin ...read more

The deeper you go, the bigger they get. This is an adage that applies to much of the life eking out an existence in the crushing depths of our oceans. Near the surface, tiny crabs are terrified of larger predators. In the deep, 13-foot-wide giant spider crabs are usually the predators themselves. Perhaps the most infamous example of this deep-sea gigantism is the giant squid, capable of attaining lengths of over 40 feet and possibly even longer should it stretch out its tremendous tentacles. Gi ...read more

The magnetic field shields Earth from cosmic radiation and the solar wind that the Sun pelts the planet with. In a new study, researchers found our current magnetic field could be the same to what it was 3.7 billion years ago.The findings published in the Journal of Geophysical Research are scientists' oldest estimates of Earth's magnetic field strength. It was found using rocks dating 3.7 billion years old. "This is a really important step forward as we try and determine the role of the ancient ...read more

A giant, tusked salmon was once thought to resemble a fish version of a saber-toothed tiger. But turns out, it looked more closely to an aquatic warthog. A newly reported fossil find is now prompting paleontologists to rethink the nickname of the largest known salmon species — Oncorhynchus rastrosus, according to an article in PLOS ONE. The fish, which grew to nearly nine feet long, lived 3 million to 5 million years ago in the Pacific Northwest.A Saber-Toothed Salmon?When paleontologists firs ...read more

Between the solar eclipse and the upcoming Pink Moon, there are many events in the night sky to take note of in 2024. The moon itself has different phases and different colors that represent changing seasons. Thus giving us the names Pink or Blue Moon.If you’re hoping to see the moon take on a new hue, though, you’re out of luck. The reason behind the Pink Moon’s colorful name is not what you may expect.The Pink Moon Represents a FlowerThe Pink Moon is a full moon that takes place during t ...read more