Under the watchful eye of scientists, volunteers clean the skeleton of a mastodonsaurus A huge fossilised skeleton weighing 1,300 kilograms (2,865 pounds) that was found in southern Poland is currently being chipped out of solid rock by a group of more than 2,000 public volunteers.According to a report by the Associated Press, this unusual public…
Two people can start the same ambitious project and expect completely different timelines for it to pay off. One assumes real progress should be visible within weeks, gets discouraged when it isn’t, and quietly abandons the work. The other accepts from the outset that meaningful results might take years, and keeps going long after the…
In a dry, remote stretch of central Queensland, tiny springs bubble up from deep underground to form shallow, ankle-deep pools in the middle of the desert. Living only in these springs is a fish so small it barely reaches the size of a thumbnail, called the red-finned blue-eye. It exists nowhere else on earth. For…
pc: Study: Fossil leaves of Pandanaceae from India suggest Paleogene persistence of the family in South Asia For most people, Kevda is recognised by its unmistakable fragrance. Its flowers are distilled into the aromatic essence used in sweets, perfumes, religious offerings and traditional remedies across India. Yet the plant has quietly carried a far older…
Life aboard the International Space Station (ISS) depends on making the most of every available resource, especially water. Transporting supplies from Earth is enormously expensive, so astronauts cannot simply rely on regular deliveries for drinking water. Instead, the ISS uses one of the most sophisticated recycling systems ever built. At the heart of that system…
A scientific paper describing a previously unknown group of rove beetles has produced an unusual meeting point between taxonomy and popular culture. Researchers have introduced a new beetle genus named Luffy, borrowing the name of Monkey D. Luffy, the central character from the long-running manga and anime series One Piece. While the choice may appear…
A worker ant of the species Temnothorax nylanderi infected with the tapeworm Anomotaenia brevis, recognizable by its yellowish coloration, alongside an uninfected worker (Credit: Susanne Foitzik) Deep inside the damp leaf litter of the Lenneberg Forest near Mainz, Germany, tiny worker ants of the species Temnothorax nylanderi are living surprisingly long lives. While a normal…
For 25,000 years, the GunaiKurnai (an Australian Aboriginal nation) people carried grass into Cloggs Cave and burned it. Archaeologists have finally found physical evidence that proves the ritual existed. These people burned the grass as part of rituals tied to magic, healing and the spiritual realm. Researchers unearthed layers of ash rich in phytoliths, microscopic…
Two new studies published in the journal Science are reshaping what scientists understood about how dogs became so physically varied and how closely their history has tracked our own. Comparing a village dog, a toy poodle, and a mastiff makes clear just how extreme the physical range within a single species can be. Roughly 700…
Image Credit: Jake Brooker / Chimfunshi Wildlife Orphanage Trust Our closest animal relatives, bonobos and chimpanzees, share a quick hug or a pat on the back before having their meal, to keep the tensions from rising and maintain peace among them, as their hunger could create conflict within the group. For years, scientists believed these…