Does life exist elsewhere in the universe? If so, how do scientists search for and identify it? Finding life beyond Earth is extremely difficult, partly because other planets are so far away and partly because we are not sure what to look for.Yet, astrobiologists have learned a lot about how to find life in extraterrestrial environments, mainly by studying how and when the early Earth became livable.While research teams at NASA are directly combing the surface of Mars for signs of life, our� ...read more

If every rock has a tale to tell, those of the Waitaki District on New Zealand’s South Island would fill a library. This is a land of limestone, sandstone, siltstone, and mudstone — basic sedimentary rock. Yet from this simple matter, time, wind, and rain have composed a wondrous story.The narrative is in the Elephant Rocks, giant dollops of limestone scattered among grazing sheep on a farmer’s field. Their scooped shapes take on different forms, depending on where you stand and at what el ...read more

Have you ever been out on a walk and as you take that next step, you feel the slippery squish of poop under your foot?It’s not just gross. Beyond the mess and the smell, it’s potentially infectious. That’s why signs reminding pet owners to “curb your dog” and scoop their poop have been joined in some places by posted warnings that pet waste can spread disease.As a small-animal primary care veterinarian, I deal with the diseases of dog and cat poop on a daily basis. Feces represent pote ...read more

It’s no surprise that modern-day human bone structure varies greatly from that of our ancient ancestors. As society has advanced and new technologies developed, so too has our bone structure. Thanks to modern technology, researchers are now better able to pinpoint just when those bony changes began. Food played a major factor in shaping our skeletal frame, but not in the way you may think. Biological Anthropology and the Evolution of BonesAlthough the study of anthropology dates back centurie ...read more

Researchers have commonly found that just like humans, elephants have a strong ability to show empathy. These massive animals can understand and share feelings with other elephants and even different animals. Despite their intimidating size, elephants are emotionally intelligent and form deep familial bonds within their herd. Masson and McCarthy, in their book, "When Elephants Weep," described elephants clustered around a dying matriarch. They stroked her, and put food into her mouth, knowing sh ...read more

The Euphrates River has been one of the most important rivers throughout human history. Along with the Tigris River, it makes up the cradle of civilization, known as the Fertile Crescent. The river was critical to the development of some of the world’s first agricultural societies like the Sumerians and the Mesopotamians. In the Bible, the Euphrates was even mentioned as one of the four rivers that served the Garden of Eden.But now, in the face of global climate change and human impact, the ri ...read more

Flexible dieting isn’t really dieting at all. It’s about meeting your nutritional needs on a daily basis while having the flexibility to choose your favorite foods from within the five food groups: fruits, vegetables, grains, protein, and dairy. For those who find traditional dieting constraining and downright ineffective, flexible dieting might be just the thing that moves the scale. What Is Flexible Dieting?According to registered dietitian Catherine Gervacio from the E-Health Project, th ...read more

Maybe you're shivering in your sheets, while your partner slumbers away, snug as a bug, right next to you. Or perhaps you have that one relative who's always wrapped in a blanket, even when the thermostat is cranked all the way up. You might simply feel like you can never get toasty enough, no matter how many layers you toss on. Of course, it's a common enough phenomenon. But why do some people seem to be naturally colder than others? The answer may surprise you, and it has a lot more to do wit ...read more

Using tools seems like second nature for humans today, but our prehistoric ancestors didn’t acquire this practical skill set overnight. The timeline of stone tool development by humans has been rearranged by new research, shaking up traditional views about the evolution of ancient human ingenuity. The study, published in Nature Communications, suggests that humans went through a period of gradual cultural change after they started moving throughout Eurasia 50,000 years to 40,000 years ago. Th ...read more

Sloths live in perpetual slow motion in the tropical rainforests of Central and South America today. But Roughly 10,000 years ago, a family of ancient, giant relatives would roam any number of terrains in the Americas. Giant ground sloths were directly related to their modern-day cousins, which are arboreal, or tree dwelling, and are limited in how big they can grow. But the largest of the land dwelling giant ground sloths, Megalonyx jeffersonii, could grow up to an astonishing three meters long ...read more