A cosmic leviathan stirs across the great, quiet expanse of the early universe. About 12 billion years old, a supermassive black hole has unleashed a jet of energy so strong it defies understanding illuminated not by starlight but by the fading echo of the Big Bang itself. Three times the width of our Milky Way, ...
Imagine a time when mushrooms will make your shoes, handbag, even phone cover rather than synthetic plastics or animal hides. Though it sounds like science fiction, researchers at McMaster University have opened a radical new frontier in sustainable materials using an improbable hero: the modest split gill mushroom (Schizophyllum commune). Having more than 23,000 genetic ...
Scientists have pursued the illusive dream of slowing aging not only to extend life but also to guarantee good health during those extra years. Now, from an improbable location your medicine cabinet an unannounced competitor has surfaced. Prescribed widely as a blood pressure medication, rilmenidine has been shown in animals to extend lifespan and enhance ...
Beneath Bermuda’s bustling cities and sun-kissed beaches lies an undiscovered world full of evolutionary mysteries. Scientists have discovered Tetragoniceps bermudensis, a newly identified species of copepod, in the limestone caves of the Walsingham system, which are part of a complex cave system within Bermuda’s limestone mountains. This tiny crustacean, measuring only a few millimeters, is ...
Imagine leaving and discovering, from a dinosaur taller than a house, a huge, three-toed footprint pressed into the ground not from a bird. Not science fiction is this situation. Recent findings in Brazil and Cameroon show that dinosaurs did in fact wander areas today including city streets, farms, and highways 120 million years ago. Originally ...
Astronomers have discovered a cosmic goldmine in the whirling disk of a young star 330 light-years away, rare isotopes of methanol molecules possibly holding the key to the beginnings of life. The discovery of HD 100453, a star hardly a million years old, provides an unparalleled window into the chemical soup that generates planets and ...
Scientists have found the fossilized remains of a prehistoric giant penguin unlike any other deep in the craggy coastlines of New Zealand’s South Island. Named Kumimanu fordycei, this enormous seabird exceeded even the biggest contemporary emperor penguins in weight an amazing 154 kg (340 lbs. Published in the Journal of Paleontology, the discovery forces researchers ...
A fossil hunter’s accidental discovery in a quiet Scottish quarry in 1984 has challenged our knowledge of one of evolution’s biggest leaps the moment life crawled from water onto land. Dubbed “Lizzie,” the small, lizard-like creature proved to be Westlothiana lizziae, a key species bridging the divide between fish and land animals. Now, ground-breaking studies ...
For decades, the grand narratives of Mesopotamia, Egypt, and the Indus Valley dominated the story of early human civilization, pushing Southeast Asia to the margins. But a revolutionary finding on the Philippine islands is rewriting history. One that mastered deep-sea fishing, long-distance trade, and ceremonial burials millennia before the advent of agriculture, archaeologists have found ...
Under every forest, grassland, and even some deserts sits a vast, linked web of life one that is still mostly unknown. Particularly mycorrhizal species, underground fungus create symbiotic interactions with plants that move nutrients, store carbon, and help ecosystems resist climate change. Scientists estimate, however, that up to 83% of these fungus remain unidentified and ...
Gargi Chakravorty
