Patagonia’s pumas started eating penguins, but now they’re behaving strangely, a new study finds
Patagonian pumas are preying on penguins, changing the way big cats interact with each other. The mountain lion re-established itself in an Argentine national park with a breeding colony of penguins, and the cats quickly began eating the bird. Now it turns out that normally solitary cats that eat penguins tolerate each other more often […]
Jupiter spider? Scientists have uncovered the secret origins of an arachnid “devil” lurking on the gas giant’s moon.
A mysterious spider-like structure lurking on Jupiter’s fourth largest moon Europa may finally have a good explanation, nearly 30 years after its discovery. The arachnid impostor has also been given a devilish new name. In March 1998, NASA’s Galileo spacecraft (which studied Jupiter and its major moons from 1995 to 2003) approached the frozen ocean […]
Explorers discover Anglo-Saxon treasure trove that may have been part of ‘ritual killings’
British metal detectors have unearthed an impressive collection of Anglo-Saxon gold and garnet pendants that may have been buried underground after being ritually ‘killed’ 1,400 years ago. In the spring of 2023, two detectorists discovered a collection of four gold pendants and a gold brooch on a hillside in the village of Donnington-on-Bain, about 125 […]
‘Muddy tunnels’ and ‘Arctic sea ice’ may bury Saturn’s largest moon Titan – good news for the search for extraterrestrial life
Saturn’s largest moon, Titan, may harbor a habitable world covered in slimy sea ice, new research suggests. Back in 2008, NASA’s Cassini spacecraft collected data on Titan that suggested there may be an open ocean beneath the moon’s frozen crust. But researchers say new analysis suggests that what lies beneath is more “muddy tunnels and […]
James Webb Telescope discovers supermassive black hole hidden inside ‘Jekyll and Hyde’ galaxy
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has detected a supermassive black hole hidden in an ancient “Jekyll and Hyde” galaxy that changes its appearance depending on the angle from which it is viewed. The galaxy, nicknamed Virgil, looked like a normal star-forming galaxy when observed at optical wavelengths (the kind of light that the human […]
Snakes’ amazing ‘thermal vision’ inspires scientists to build 4K imaging systems that could one day fit into smartphones
Scientists in China have developed a first-of-its-kind artificial imaging system inspired by snakes that can ‘see’ the heat emitted by their prey in complete darkness. This sensor captures ultra-high-resolution infrared (IR) images at 4K resolution (3,840 x 2,160 pixels), comparable to the quality of the iPhone 17 Pro camera. Objects with temperatures above absolute zero […]
Pompeii victims were wearing woolen cloaks when they died in August, but experts disagree on what that means.
Pompeii may have been unseasonably cold when the eruption of Mount Vesuvius destroyed the Roman city in 79 AD, a new study suggests. A new analysis of 14 iconic plaster casts made from Pompeii victims reveals that at least four of them wore woolen clothing when they were buried, despite the region’s typically hot weather […]
Diagnostic dilemma: otherwise ‘healthy’ man suffers stroke after drinking eight ‘high-potency’ energy drinks a day
Patient: A man in his 50s living in Nottingham, UK. Symptoms: A man suddenly developed numbness and light-headedness on the left side of his body. What happened next: According to the incident report, the man was admitted to the hospital where his blood pressure was found to be 254/150 millimeters of mercury (mmHg). This very […]
Scientists discover that ancient burrowing bees built nests in tooth cavities and vertebrae of dead rodents
More than 5,000 years ago, new fossil research suggests that burrowing bees made a home among piles of rodent bones buried in caves on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, which is part of the Dominican Republic and Haiti. The bees encountered the bones while digging in the soil to their desired depth. Researchers stopped to […]
Heart attacks are less dangerous at night. One study suggests why.
Cardiologists have observed for decades that heart attacks are more damaging when they occur during the day than at night, and understanding why that happens may be the key to treating the condition, a new study finds. There are many theories as to why daytime heart attacks are more harmful. Some suggest that stress hormones […]