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Top Science News

October 6, 2024

A study determines when and how pterosaurs went from tiny tree-climbers to towering terrestrial titans Flying reptiles first came down from the trees in the mid-Jurassic Period, paving the way for giants with 10-meter wingspans. Fingers and toes ...
Pockets of microbes have been found living within a sealed fracture in 2-billion-year-old rock. The rock was excavated from the Bushveld Igneous Complex in South Africa, an area known for its rich ore deposits. This is the oldest example of living ...
According to a new study, colonies of ants began farming fungi when an asteroid struck Earth 66 million years ago. This asteroid impact caused a global mass extinction but also created ideal ...
The extinction of hundreds of bird species caused by humans over the last 130,000 years has led to substantial reductions in avian functional diversity -- a measure of the range of different roles ...

Latest Top Headlines

updated 9:03am EDT

Health News

October 6, 2024

Deep brain stimulation may provide immediate improvement in arm and hand strength and function weakened by traumatic brain injury or ...
Inside every cell, inside every nucleus, your continued existence depends on an incredibly complicated dance. Proteins are constantly wrapping and unwrapping DNA, and even minor missteps can lead to cancer. A new study reveals a previously unknown ...
Scientists have made an enormous step toward understanding the human brain by building a neuron-by-neuron and synapse-by-synapse roadmap -- scientifically speaking, a 'connectome' -- through the brain of an adult fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster). ...
Consuming moderate amounts of coffee and caffeine regularly may offer a protective effect against developing multiple cardiometabolic diseases, including type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease and ...

Latest Health Headlines

updated 9:03am EDT

Physical/Tech News

October 6, 2024

Astronomers have discovered an exoplanet orbiting Barnard's star, the closest single star to our Sun. On this newly discovered exoplanet, which has at least half the mass of Venus, a year lasts just over three Earth days. The team's observations ...
Astronomers have detected carbon dioxide and hydrogen peroxide on the frozen surface of Pluto's largest moon, Charon, using observations from the James Webb Space Telescope. These discoveries add to Charon's known chemical inventory, previously ...
Augmented reality (AR) takes digital images and superimposes them onto real-world views. But AR is more than a new way to play video games; it could transform surgery and self-driving cars. To make the technology easier to integrate into common ...
In a surprise finding, astronomers using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope have discovered that the blowtorch-like jet from a supermassive black hole at the core of a huge galaxy seems to cause stars to erupt along its trajectory. The stars, called ...

Latest Physical/Tech Headlines

updated 9:03am EDT

Environment News

October 6, 2024

Comamonadacae is a family of bacteria often found growing on plastics in water. A new study finds a bacterium in this family can break down the plastic for food. Researchers also identified the enzyme the bacterium use to degrade plastic. The ...
Researchers have known for several decades that thunderstorms can act as miniature particle accelerators that produce antimatter, gamma rays and other nuclear phenomena. But they did not know how common the phenomenon was. In observations taken by a ...
Ever wish you could stop that fruit fly on your kitchen counter in its tracks? Scientists have created flies that halt under red light. In doing so, they discovered the precise neural mechanisms involved in stopping. Their findings, published this ...
Dolphins are extremely playful, but little is known about how they -- and other marine mammals -- communicate during playtime. New research shows that bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncates) use the 'open mouth' facial expression -- analogous to a ...

Latest Environment Headlines

updated 9:03am EDT

Society/Education News

October 6, 2024

A new study by more than 50 climate scientists worldwide provides the clearest projection that Antarctica's ice sheet will retreat rapidly after 2100 under current carbon emissions, with global sea levels rising by as much as 5.5 feet by 2200. The ...
Our planet will only remain able to provide even the most basic standard of living for everyone in the future if economic systems and technologies are dramatically transformed and critical resources are more fairly used, managed and shared, a new ...
Methane concentrations in Earth's atmosphere increased at record speed over the past five years. At least two-thirds of annual methane emissions now come from human activities, including fossil fuel use, agriculture, and landfills and other ...
A new study shines a light on the enormous scale of uncollected rubbish and open burning of plastic waste in the first ever global plastics pollution inventory. Researchers used A.I. to model waste ...

Latest Society/Education Headlines

updated 9:03am EDT