China planted so many trees that the entire country’s water distribution changed
China’s efforts to slow land degradation and climate change by planting trees and restoring grasslands are moving water around the country in huge and unexpected ways, a new study finds. From 2001 to 2020, vegetation changes reduced the amount of freshwater available to humans and ecosystems in the eastern monsoon region and northwestern arid region, […]
Death Valley’s “world’s highest temperature” record may be due to human error
Death Valley has held the record for the hottest temperature ever measured near Earth’s surface for 112 years, but now scientists are calling for that title to be revoked. According to data from the National Weather Service, temperatures at Greenland Ranch in Death Valley reached a scorching 134 degrees Fahrenheit (56.7 degrees Celsius) on July […]
When an AI algorithm is labeled as “female-friendly”, people are more likely to abuse it
People are more likely to exploit female AI partners than male AI partners, indicating that gender-based discrimination has implications beyond human interactions. A recent study published November 2 in the journal iScience investigated how people’s willingness to cooperate changes when their human or AI partner is not labeled as female, nonbinary, male, or gender. The […]
Diagnostic dilemma: Woman develops rare parasitic lung infection after eating raw frog
Patient: 32-year-old female living in Shanghai Symptoms: A woman presented to the hospital with a persistent cough that occasionally produced bloody sputum, and coughed 2 to 3 times a day. She said the cough started four months before she visited the hospital. Then, about a month before the cough started, she developed a fever that […]
James Webb Telescope discovers strange ‘superpuff’ planet chasing its own atmosphere through space
A “super-inflated” exoplanet is leaking massive amounts of helium into space and may be losing much of its atmosphere, new observations show. A large plume of helium gas has been discovered evaporating from a giant planet known as WASP-107b, according to a study based on observations from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). The results, […]
Anacondas became gigantic 12 million years ago. It worked very well and the size has not changed since then.
Anacondas have been huge for millions of years, a new study has found. The average body size of giant snakes has remained constant since they first appeared in the fossil record some 12.4 million years ago during the Miocene (16 million to 11.6 million years ago), according to a new study published Monday in the […]
New physics equations explain universal laws of how things break, from glass to pasta
A fallen vase, a crushed sugar cube, and exploding bubbles all have something in common. A new mathematical equation reveals that they break down in a similar way. French scientists recently discovered a mathematical formula that describes the size distribution of the pieces that form when something is crushed. According to a new study published […]
A woman wearing an upside-down crown is buried in an elaborate 2,700-year-old tomb in Greece
Greek archaeologists have discovered the tomb of an exiled aristocratic woman and call her the “Lady with the Upside Down Crown.” A burial from the 7th century BC is notable for an elaborate bronze crown placed upside down on the woman’s head. This may have meant the final end of her power. The Lady’s tomb […]
‘I don’t know of any similar cases’: 4,000-year-old burial in little-known African kingdom baffles archaeologists
An isolated burial in Sudan has revealed the first evidence of an unknown funerary ritual practiced in a little-known African kingdom some 4,000 years ago, a new study has found. In the grave, archaeologists found ceramic vessels containing charred plant and wood remains, animal bones and insect fragments, all of which the team believes were […]
2025’s ‘Cold Supermoon’: Why this year’s last full moon will also be the tallest
Skywatchers will be treated to a spectacular sight this week as the Cold Supermoon, the second largest full moon of 2025, rises in the east at dusk, appearing higher in the night sky than any other full moon this year. The official full moon will be Thursday (December 4th) at 6:14pm EST, when the moon […]