To Save the Amazon Rainforest, It Helps to Learn About Fish
High fish diversity is a good indicator of forest health. Think of the Amazon, and you probably think of jaguars, monkeys, or parrots. But many…
Field Museum
How Millipedes Actually “Do It” – Scientists Finally Figure Out Mystery of Millipede Mating
High-tech imaging under UV light shows which parts go where when millipedes mate. Scientists have a pretty good handle on how the birds and the…
Moon Rocks Analyzed Atom by Atom Using New Technique
One Small Grain of Moon Dust, One Giant Leap for Lunar Studies Back in 1972, NASA sent their last team of astronauts to the Moon…
Pancake-Shaped Structures in Hummingbird Feathers Produce Their Iridescent Rainbow Colors
Hummingbirds are some of the most brightly-colored things in the entire world. Their feathers are iridescent—light bounces off them like a soap bubble, resulting in…
Climate May Affect Biodiversity in Rainforests Even More Than Deforestation
Small Mammals in South America Help Scientists See Forest-Wide Patterns “Save the rainforests” is a snappy slogan, but it doesn’t tell the full story of…
Oldest Material on Earth Discovered: 7-Billion-Year-Old Stardust Found in Meteorite
The ancient stardust reveals a “baby boom” in star formation. Stars have life cycles. They’re born when bits of dust and gas floating through space…
Birds and Bats Have Strange Gut Microbiomes — Why? Scientists Have a Theory
At a time when kombucha is commonplace on cafe menus and “probiotic-fortified” has become the newest health buzzword, our guts have never been more relevant….
Scientists Cracked the Case of Why Octopuses of the Same Species Can Look Totally Different
Deep beneath the ocean’s surface, surprisingly cute warty pink octopuses creep along the seafloor. But not all these octopuses look alike. While we humans love…
How Mammals’ Complex “Frankenstein’s Monster” Backbones Evolved
Mammals’ backbones are weird. Compared to other four-legged animals like reptiles, mammal spines are a complex mix of sections of differently-shaped bones. Our Frankenstein’s monster…
Lichens Are Way Younger Than Scientists Thought – Likely Evolved Millions of Years After Plants
You’ve probably seen a lichen, even if you didn’t realize it. If you’ve ever meandered through the forest and wondered what the crusty stuff on…
Long Before Dinosaurs, a Giant Asteroid Crash Caused an Ancient Ice Age
About 466 million years ago, long before the age of the dinosaurs, the Earth froze. The seas began to ice over at the Earth’s poles,…
Ancient Civilizations Were Already Messing Up the Planet
As issues like climate change, global warming, and renewable energy dominate the national conversation, it’s easy to assume these topics are exclusive to the modern…
Scientists Surprised to Find New Species of Horseshoe Bats
There are way more species of horseshoe bats than scientists thought. If you’ve never seen a horseshoe bat, you’re missing out. Their comically large ears…
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…
Ancient Blue Crystals Reveal What the Early Sun Was Like
Our Sun’s beginnings are a mystery. It burst into being 4.6 billion years ago, about 50 million years before the Earth formed. Since the Sun…