Researchers have found a way to turn an unlikely waste product, human urine, into a high-value material for medical implants, construction, and even archaeology. This sounds like something out of science fiction. A team at the University of California, Irvine, is in charge of this new idea, which is funded by the U.S. military’s Defense ...
A newly identified wrist bone in two non-avian dinosaurs has challenged long-held assumptions about the evolution of flight. Researchers have discovered that theropods, bird-like meat-eating dinosaurs, possessed a carpal bone called the pisiform, once thought to be unique to birds. This finding suggests that the anatomical foundations for flight were already in place millions of ...
Tragic and bestowed with a sense of ambition, a German aerospace startup’s endeavor to deliver heavenly memorials and perform unique agricultural experiments in space ended in the Pacific Ocean. Aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, the Exploration Company launched a Nyx capsule containing human remains and cannabis seeds. The female capsule’s operational orbit was reached ...
The Japanese quail has a résumé that is very strange for a bird. What started out as a songbird in 11th-century Japan has become a scientific wonder that produces foamy semen, struts around after mating, and even hatches in space. These small birds, no bigger than a human hand, have strange evolutionary traits that have ...
A new study suggests that some modern brain malformations may be linked to Neanderthal ancestry. Researchers have found that people with Chiari malformation type 1, a condition where the lower part of the brain extends into the spinal canal, share skull traits with Neanderthals, including a flatter and smaller occipital bone. The findings raise the ...
A strange ceramic vessel shaped like a penguin stands out in the dry deserts of southern Peru, where the Nazca culture thrived between 100 BCE and 800 CE. It shows how curious and aware they were of their surroundings. This 1,600-year-old “Penguin Vessel,” which is now in the Art Institute of Chicago, makes us wonder: ...
Picture a robot that not only sees the world, but also feels it. A soft pat, a searing burn, or even the sharp cut of a scalpel. Scientists have created a new type of “electronic skin” made of gelatin that could make machines feel almost like humans do. This new material passed a lot of ...
Long before whales ruled the oceans, ancient bone-eating worms were already thriving on the seafloor, feasting on the skeletons of marine reptiles like mosasaurs, ichthyosaurs, and plesiosaurs. New fossil evidence reveals that these specialized worms, similar to modern Osedax, were boring into bones over 100 million years ago, leaving behind distinctive burrows that mark one ...
The postcard-perfect sandy beaches and nostalgic piers of England’s beautiful coastal towns hide a darker truth. Young people in these areas are having a mental health crisis at rates much higher than their peers in the inland areas, even though they look like they are having a great time on vacation. New research shows that ...
Holloman Lake used to be an unlikely oasis in the dry Chihuahuan Desert of New Mexico. It was a shimmering mirage for migratory birds, campers, and wildlife. But underneath its calm surface is a nightmare that can’t be seen: the highest levels of “forever chemicals” ever found in a natural ecosystem. What started out as ...
