The soil in high-elevation, cooler, drier tropical forests in the Colombian Andes stores more carbon from fires than lower, warmer regions, new research shows.
The COVID-19 Pandemic May Have Aged Our Brains, According to a New Study
A new study, led by experts at the University of Nottingham, has found that the Covid-19 pandemic may have accelerated people’s brain health, even if they were never infected with the virus.
Millipedes make ants dizzy — and might soon treat human pain
Millipedes, often dismissed as creepy crawlies, may hold the secret to future painkillers and neurological drugs. Researchers at Virginia Tech discovered unique alkaloid compounds in the defensive secretions of a native millipede species. These complex molecules, which cause disorientation in ants, interact with human neuroreceptors linked to pain and cognition....
Ice Recovered from European Alps Holds 12,000-Year Record of History
Glacial ice offers a detailed record of the atmosphere, preserved in discrete layers, providing researchers with a valuable tool for studying planetary history.
Clearcutting Can Lead to Severe Floods, But It Doesn’t Have To
It has long been understood that clearcutting forests leads to more runoff, worsening flooding.
In a First, Solar Was Europe’s Biggest Source of Power Last Month
For the first time, solar was the largest source of electricity in the EU last month, supplying a record 22 percent of the bloc’s power.
A tiny dinosaur bone just rewrote the origin of bird flight
A tiny, overlooked wrist bone called the pisiform may have played a pivotal role in bird flight and it turns out it evolved far earlier than scientists thought. Fossils from bird-like dinosaurs in Mongolia reveal that this bone, once thought to vanish and reappear, was actually hiding in plain sight....
A dusty fossil drawer held a 300-million-year-old evolutionary game-changer
A century-old fossil long mislabeled as a caterpillar has been reidentified as the first-known nonmarine lobopodian—rewriting what we know about ancient life. Discovered in Harvard’s museum drawers, Palaeocampa anthrax predates even the famous Cambrian lobopodians and reveals that these soft-bodied ancestors of arthropods once lived not only in oceans, but...
A 500-million-year-old fossil just rewrote the spider origin story
Half a billion years ago, a strange sea-dwelling creature called Mollisonia symmetrica may have paved the way for modern spiders. Using detailed fossil brain analysis, researchers uncovered neural patterns strikingly similar to today's arachnids—suggesting spiders evolved in the ocean, not on land as previously believed. This brain structure even hints...
Concrete that lasts centuries and captures carbon? AI just made it possible
Imagine concrete that not only survives wildfires and extreme weather, but heals itself and absorbs carbon from the air. Scientists at USC have created an AI model called Allegro-FM that simulates billions of atoms at once, helping design futuristic materials like carbon-neutral concrete. This tech could transform cities by reducing...