Did viruses play a role in the extinction of Neanderthals? That’s what researchers from the Federal University of São Paulo have been trying to figure out, and in doing so, ended up uncovering the oldest known human viruses in a set of Neanderthal bones from over 50,000 years ago. To make this finding, the team … Read moreOldest Known Human Viruses Discovered In 50,000-Year-Old Neanderthal Bones
Graphene is a very weird material. It’s a single layer of carbon atoms organized in a honeycomb lattice. It has incredible strength and can conduct heat and electricity in a record-breaking way. The conductivity is based on the fact that electrons in the material behave like a viscous liquid. And like in any liquid, vortices … Read moreVortex Of Electrons Seen In Graphene At Room-Temperature For First Time
In 2013, geologists claimed they had confirmed the existence of the “largest single volcano” ever discovered on planet Earth: a geological monster named Tamu Massif. Located below the Pacific Ocean about 1,609 kilometers (1,000 miles) east of Japan, the deepsea giant spans an area of over 310,000 square kilometers (120,000 square miles) – that’s larger … Read moreEarth’s Biggest Volcano Was Briefly Usurped By A Deep Sea Imposter
Child labor protections in America are being challenged at the state level and, in some cases, reversed in ways we haven’t seen in decades. In 2022 and 2023, Arkansas, Iowa, New Hampshire, and New Jersey passed laws weakening protections for child workers. At least eight other states are considering similar laws. Most recently, Missouri is … Read moreThe Forgotten History of the Child Labor Amendment
An invasive river monster has become a big problem for native wildlife in parts of the US and Canda. The flathead catfish is set to become an apex predator as it eats its way through America, having been detected as far as Canada. The flathead catfish (Pylodictis olivaris) really is a river monster, with the … Read moreA 100-Pound River Monster That Feeds At Night Is Eating Way Too Much
A while back, I went on a quest to figure out and—and live by—the original meaning of America’s Founding document: the Constitution. I bore a musket on the streets of New York. I renounced social media in favor of expressing his First Amendment right to scribble pamphlets with a quill pen. The reason for this … Read moreI Asked Chat GPT to Take on the Persona of James Madison. Here’s What It Said
How and when flowering plants evolved has been a longstanding question in botany – one that has a huge impact on the field and beyond, also affecting conservation, agriculture, and even medicine. Now, with the creation of the most detailed tree of life so far, we are poised to get some answers. After a mammoth sequencing … Read moreWhen Did Flowering Plants Evolve? Huge Study Shakes Up Their Tree Of Life
In the bubbling, super-acidic hot springs of Yellowstone National Park there lives a strange gang of viruses with an ancient origin. Because thermophiles – organisms that thrive at scorching hot temperatures – are deeply rooted in the evolutionary “tree of life,” it might even be possible to learn about the origins of life by studying … Read moreGiant Viruses With Ancient Origins Lurk In Yellowstone’s Hot Springs
If you are even vaguely interested in the way the universe works, you have likely read about a mysterious substance proposed by physicists called “dark matter“. Dark matter is invisible matter that doesn’t emit, reflect, or absorb light, and only interacts with normal matter through gravity. We have never detected it directly – but physicists … Read moreWhat Dr Vera Rubin Saw In Spiral Galaxies Changed Physics Forever
You’re in the gym, and it’s nearly the end of your workout. You’re finishing on the stationary bike, so you hop on and get pedaling, dreaming of what you’re going to cook for dinner…but then you look at the clock. You’ve been cycling for longer than that, right? According to a new study, time really … Read moreTime Seems To Move Slower In This One Place, And You Might Be Going There Today