For millennia, people have seen intelligence as a singular evolutionary triumph, a pinnacle attained only by mammals, with primates (and finally, humans) at the top. But apparently nature had other ideas. Modern ground-breaking studies show that intelligence developed twice in two quite different spheres of life: mammals and birds, not once. Birds have long surprised ...
Deep in Mongolia’s windswept deserts, a long-forgotten fossil has surfaced from the shadows of prehistory exposing a vital missing link in the narrative of the most terrifying predators to have ever trotted the planet. Meet Khan khuluu mongoliensis, the “Dragon Prince of Mongolia,” a recently discovered tyrannosaur that fills in between early, small-sized hunters and ...
The highest mountain in Africa, Mount Kilimanjaro, is a land of extremes where equatorial heat gives way to Arctic ice in barely a few thousand meters. But tucked among its dramatic slopes is one of the most unusual botanical beauties in nature: the giant groundsel (Dendrosenecio kilimanjari). Rising nowhere else on Earth, these towering plants ...
For tens of thousands of years, people have been enthralled with red not only for its beauty but also for its power, symbolism, and usefulness. Red colors have shaped art, trade, war, even survival from the deep, earthy tones of ochre to the vivid carmine of crushed cochineal bugs. But why did prehistoric people travel ...
Earth’s silent regulator in heat absorption, oxygen generation, and life sustaining action has always been the ocean. But under the waves something concerning is occurring: sunlight is disappearing. According to a new study, over the past two decades, 21% of the surface waters of the ocean have darkened; some areas have lost light penetration over ...
Dinosaur fossils have captivated our minds for decades by providing windows into a lost world of tall predators and gentle giants. But suppose these old bones contain more than just paleontological marvels? Imagine if they could open medical discoveries in our cancer fight. Published in Biology, a groundbreaking study reveals that dinosaur fossils especially their ...
Benevolently hidden beneath our feet, the core of Earth is a seething sphere of molten and solid metal bursting with gold, platinum, and other precious metals. Scientists thought these treasures were locked away permanently, buried under thousands of miles of rock decades ago. New studies, however, point to something quite remarkable: gold is leaking from ...
Combining two FDA-approved cancer drugs trametinib and rapamycin increases the lifespan of mice by an amazing 30%, according to a ground-breaking study that strays the line between anti-aging science and cancer treatment. Published in Nature Aging on May 28, 2025, the results imply that already used to fight tumors, these medications could also slow aging ...
For decades, donated eggs or sperm have been the mainstay of infertility treatments, leaving many hopeful parents without a genetic relationship to their offspring. But suppose the secret to producing a biologically related child was something as common as skin rather than hidden in reproductive cells? Researchers are getting closer to a radical breakthrough whereby ...
A recently discovered celestial body is rewriting our knowledge of the Kuiper Belt and maybe challenging the existence of the elusive Planet Nine deep in the cold margins of our solar system. Called 2017 OF 201, this mysterious trans-Neptunian object (TNO) has an orbit so extreme it takes 25,000 years to complete one trip around ...
Gargi Chakravorty
