For decades, biologists have held onto a powerful idea: if you’re a strong, well-fed mammal, your best evolutionary bet is…
New Fossil Analysis Suggests Our Ancestors Lived in Fear of Big Cats
For generations, the story of human evolution has been told as a steady climb toward dominance. We imagine our ancestors…
Astronomers Warn: Hidden Asteroids Near Venus Could One Day Slam Into Earth
For centuries, humanity has watched the skies with a mixture of wonder and caution. From ancient civilizations who feared falling…
The Quantum Many-Body Problem May Finally Have Met Its Match
For nearly a century, physicists have had a solid grasp of the fundamental laws governing elementary particles. Quantum mechanics, born…
Scientists Finally Reveal the Truth About the World’s “Largest Natural Mirror”
High on the Andean plateau of southwestern Bolivia lies one of the most otherworldly places on Earth: the Salar de…
The Secret Ingredient in a 4,000-Year-Old Sicilian Stew? Scientists Say It Was Horse Meat
For decades, archaeologists believed that horses did not arrive on the Mediterranean island of Sicily until around the beginning of…
World’s Oldest Jewelry Workshop Found in France—And It’s 42,000 Years Old
At La Roche-à-Pierrot in Saint-Césaire, Charente-Maritime, archaeologists have uncovered something extraordinary: the oldest known workshop for making shell jewelry in…
Archaeologists Discover 9,000-Year-Old Beans That Could Transform Our Understanding of Agriculture
Every so often, a discovery reshapes the way we think about the beginnings of human civilization. Such is the case…
The Largest Fake Universe Ever Created Could Reveal the True Nature of Dark Energy
Since humanity first looked to the stars, we have dreamed of understanding the grand structure of the universe. That dream…
Scientists Captured Atomic Vibrations for the First Time—And It Could Change Technology Forever
For centuries, humanity has searched for ways to peer deeper into nature, to see not just the things around us…
Physicists Spot a Quantum Dance Between Light and Matter in Atom-Thin Materials
Physics has always been the science of uncovering hidden patterns in the fabric of reality. From Newton’s falling apple to…
Scientists Uncover a “Hidden Order” in Crystals That Could Transform Future Materials
Physics has always been about seeing beyond the obvious—finding patterns where others see only chaos. From the orbits of planets…
Dark Matter May Not Be Dark After All: Scientists Eye Charged Gravitinos as Cosmic Ghosts
The universe we see—the stars, the galaxies, the glowing webs of cosmic filaments—is only a small fraction of what is…
Astronomers Stunned as JWST Reveals “Secret” Stars Buried Deep Inside Galactic Cloud
At the center of the Milky Way lies a realm of cosmic extremes—dense star clusters, raging black holes, and colossal…
The Secret Weapon Hiding in Pine Trees for 300 Million Years
Walk through a pine forest on a summer day, and you will notice the scent long before you see the…
Scientists May Have Finally Solved Mercury’s Bizarre Origin Story
Mercury, the smallest planet in our solar system and the one that orbits closest to the Sun, has long baffled…
Scientists Finally Solve 20-Year Mystery of the Crater Hidden Beneath the North Sea
For more than two decades, a strange structure hidden beneath the southern North Sea has puzzled scientists, sparking heated arguments…
24-Million-Year-Old Bees Found with Pollen Still Attached—Unlocking the Oldest Pollination Story Ever Told
Twenty-four million years ago, in what is now Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, a volcanic crater lake quietly held the remains of plants…
Scientists Unearth Giant Ancestor of Australia’s Lyrebird—And It Couldn’t Fly
Deep in the rugged landscapes of Boodjamulla National Park in northwestern Queensland, a fossil has been uncovered that whispers of…
Older Than Egypt? Scientists Uncover 10,000-Year-Old Smoke-Dried Mummies in Asia
When most people think of mummies, their minds immediately turn to the golden sands of Egypt, where bandage-wrapped pharaohs rest…
Astronomers Spot a “Half-Exploded” Star 72 Million Light-Years Away—And It’s Unlike Anything Seen Before
In the grand theater of the universe, stars live brilliant but finite lives. Some fade quietly, while others die in…
Billions of Invisible Particles Pass Through You Every Second—But They Might Be Making the Universe’s Gold
Few events in the universe are as violent, spectacular, and meaningful as the collision of two neutron stars. These compact…