Easter Island’s Moai Provide Hints of a Complex Society
You probably know Easter Island as “the place with the giant stone heads.” This remote island 2,300 miles off the coast of Chile has long…
Science News
NASA Tracks Carbon Monoxide from California Wildfires As It Drifts East
California is being plagued by massive wildfires, and the effects on air quality from those fires can extend far beyond the state’s borders. In addition…
Paleontologists Discover a New Species of Lobopodian
Yale paleontologist Derek Briggs was part of a research team that identified Thanahita distos, a new species of lobopodian, an ancient relative of modern-day onychophorans,…
Researchers Discover Tunnels From Tiny Boring Microorganisms in Garnet Crystals
Complex systems of microscopic tunnels found inside garnet crystals from Thailand are most likely the result of microorganisms making their homes inside these minerals, according…
Scientists Toughening Graphene by Integrating Carbon Nanotubes
Rice University researchers have found that fracture-resistant “rebar graphene” is more than twice as tough as pristine graphene. Graphene is a one-atom-thick sheet of carbon….
Archaeologists Shed New Light on the People Who Built Stonehenge
Despite over a century of intense study, we still know very little about the people buried at Stonehenge or how they came to be there….
It May Soon Be Easy And Practical To Use Metals With 3D Printing
In the last several years, 3D printing with plastics has advanced rapidly. Now, a team of researchers have shown that it may soon be as…
Machine-Learning Models Capture Subtle Variations in Facial Expressions
Personalized machine-learning models capture subtle variations in facial expressions to better gauge how we feel. MIT Media Lab researchers have developed a machine-learning model that…
Celebrating 60 Years of NASA, Where Art and Science Meet
To celebrate NASA’s 60th anniversary this year, the agency partnered with the National Symphony Orchestra to present a concert in Washington entitled “NSO Pops: Space,…
New Discovery Suggests Humans Left Africa Earlier Than Previously Thought
Ancient tools and bones discovered in China by archaeologists suggest early humans left Africa and arrived in Asia earlier than previously thought. The artefacts show…
Kirigami-Inspired Technique Manipulates Light, Could Enable Microchip-Based 3D Optical Devices
Nanokirigami has taken off as a field of research in the last few years; the approach is based on the ancient arts of origami (making…
MIT Develops Nontoxic Alternative to Water-Repellent Coatings
Fabrics that resist water are essential for everything from rainwear to military tents, but conventional water-repellent coatings have been shown to persist in the environment…
Researchers Identify Two New Ancient Mammals in Bolivia
Researchers at Case Western Reserve University and two other universities have discovered the 13-million-year-old fossils of a pair of new species of extinct hoofed mammals…
‘Promiscuous’ Enzyme Turns Plant Waste into Sustainable Products
A new family of enzymes has been discovered which paves the way to convert plant waste into sustainable and high-value products such as nylon, plastics,…
Archaeologists Reveal Swedes Have Been Brewing Beer Since The Iron Age
Archaeologists at Lund University in Sweden have found carbonised germinated grains showing that malt was produced for beer brewing as early as the Iron Age…
Image of the Day – ARADS Rover Under the Milky Way
The Moon begins to rise behind the ARADS rover during the 2017 season of field tests in Chile’s Atacama Desert. The Milky Way is visible…
Clovis Burial Site Raises New Questions About Early Inhabitants
Scientists have shown that at the Anzick site in Montana – the only known Clovis burial site – the skeletal remains of a young child…
Ground-Breaking Discovery Could Create Superior Alloys
Many current and future technologies require alloys that can withstand high temperatures without corroding. Now, researchers at Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, have hailed a…