(Credit: melissaf84/Shutterstock)
Humpback whales are crooners. During the breeding season, all the males typically sing the same tune, which changes over time.
Now, researchers find the humpback whales’ song doesn’t just change, it gets gradually more complex each year. That is, until the progression abruptly ends and restarts with a new song, something the researchers term a “cultural revolution”. The new song is simpler and may represent a cap on social learning ...read more
A cholla cactus. (Credit: Focqus/Shutterstock)
As anyone who’s gotten too close to a jumping cholla cactus can attest, the experience is singularly painful — and difficult to resolve, as the cactus’ spines are particularly stubborn to remove.
Cactus spines have many functions, from protection to the collection of vital water in dry climates, but some are so much harder to remove than others. Now researchers have found out why.
Microstructure Matters
Stephanie Crofts and ...read more
A newly-described dinosaur from Brazil is the oldest long-necked dino ever found, dating back 225 million years. (Credit: Müller et al 2018)
There’s a lot missing from the fossil record when it comes to the earliest dinosaurs. That makes the discovery of not one but three well-preserved skeletons, two of them nearly complete, all the more significant. Even better: The new species they represent, Macrocollum itaquii, is the oldest long-necked dinosaur known. The trio gives us a s ...read more
Destroyed homes and cars in Ventura, California after the 2018 Thomas Fire. Wildfires and other climate-related hazards will be more commonplace over the next century, a report predicts. (Credit: Joseph Sohm/Shutterstock)
If you think recent natural disasters have been terrifying — just wait. Things will only get worse over the next century, a group of leading climate change researchers warns in a paper published in Nature Climate Change this week.
Currently ...read more
Researchers 3D-printed these pieces using fake moon dust, or regolith. (Credit: ESA–G. Porter, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO)
A Future on the Moon
To support a potential, future lunar base, researchers at the European Space Agency (ESA) have 3D-printed and baked fake moon dust into screws, gears, and even a coin.
Both private and government space agencies have expressed serious intentions and started developing plans to build a human-inhabited base on the moon. But it takes a lot of fu ...read more
Author Vishay SinghPosted on Categories Discover Magazine
