Armadillos are expanding their range northward.
Armadillos roamed the Western Hemisphere during the Ice Age. But by the time naturalist John James Audubon first noted their presence in 1854, the mammals had just a tiny toehold north of the U.S.-Mexico border along Texas’ hot Rio Grande Valley, with a broader range across Mexico and countries farther south. Since then, armadillos have been ceaselessly marching north and east, with scientists citing climate change as a likely factor. Th ...read more
Sites of ancient conflicts reignite a debate over when members of our species first took up arms against each other.
The skull, though weathered from millennia of brutal heat and scouring sands, is unmistakably human. Unmistakable, too, are the signs of a violent death: massive fractures from the blunt force of a weapon wielded by another human. The shattered cranium is one of several from a site in Kenya known as Nataruk, where, long ago, a band of hunter-gatherers met its end. Described i ...read more
About twice each century, a star in our galaxy explodes in a supernova. Only a few of those explosions happen close enough to Earth to be visible with the naked eye. By comparing ancient observations with today’s spacecraft data on supernova remains, scientists hope to nail down when those stars exploded. Here’s a look at eight supernovas that caught earthlings’ attention throughout history.
RCW 86 (A.D. 185): Chinese and possibly Roman astronomers recorded a strange new star i ...read more
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Just one twister can cause devastation. But when outbreaks bring dozens of tornadoes over days, they can leave a path of death and destruction across vast regions. And new research shows tornado outbreaks are getting more dangerous: More tornadoes are hitting during each round, even though the overall annual number of American twisters hasn’t changed. Scientists aren’t sure yet if there’s a climate change connection, or whether things will continue to get worse. ...read more
Author Vishay SinghPosted on Categories Discover Magazine
