Alex Fox

Alex Fox

 

Alex Fox is a freelance science journalist based in California. He has written for the New York Times, National Geographic, Science, Nature and other outlets. You can find him at Alexfoxscience.com.

Yosemite Valley seen from the Tunnel View lookout point in the Yosemite National Park, California on July 08, 2020. The park's sewage has now tested positive for the presence of the novel coronavirus, suggesting that some of its visitors over the Fourth of July weekend were infected.

Yosemite Sewage Tests Positive for Coronavirus

Test results suggest there were dozens of visitors carrying the novel coronavirus in the park over the Fourth of July weekend

Researchers unearthed this bison-bone hoe in Manitoba, Canada.

Centuries-Old Gardening Hoes Made of Bison Bone Found in Canada

The tools provide evidence that the region's Indigenous population practiced agriculture pre-European contact

A visual representation of global methane from January 26, 2018. Red areas indicate higher concentrations of methane swirling in the atmosphere.

World Methane Emissions Hit New High

Agriculture and fossil fuels drive a surge in global emissions of the powerful greenhouse gas

The main circular earthwork at Navan Fort in Northern Ireland measures roughly 130 feet in diameter. But archaeologists surveying the site have found signs of even larger structures that may have been temples.

Evidence of Enormous Temples Found at Northern Ireland's Navan Fort

Non-invasive survey reveals traces of Iron Age religious structures, early medieval royal residences

At 33 pounds, Andean condors are the heaviest soaring birds on Earth, but a new study finds they can stay airborne for up to five hours at a time without flapping at all.

The Andean Condor Can Soar 100 Miles Without Flapping

The impressively efficient flight was recorded during a new study of the giant scavenger’s aerial prowess

The wreck of an ancient Greek ship, the Peristera, rests at a depth of 92 feet below the water's surface.

This Ancient Greek Shipwreck Is Now an Underwater Museum

The Peristera, a cargo vessel loaded with thousands of amphorae, sank in the Aegean Sea around 500 B.C.

The violin-shaped artifacts lack signs of wear associated with use as tools or weapons.

Do These 10,000-Year-Old Flint Artifacts Depict Human Figures?

Archaeologists say the objects' grooves evoke the hips and the narrowing of the neck around the shoulders

This beluga whale was spotted off the coast of San Diego, California in late June. The sighting was the farthest south the normally polar species has ever been seen.

In a Rare Sighting, Wayward Beluga Spotted Off San Diego

The whale was seen thousands of miles south of its usual habitat, the farthest south the species has ever been seen

A European bison in the Netherlands, which has also sought to reintroduce the herbivores.

Wild Bison to Roam Britain for First Time in Thousands of Years

A small herd of four European bison will be released into a woodland in southeastern England in spring 2022

Roughly 1.4 million years ago, Homo erectus made this hand ax out of a hippopotamus' thigh bone.

1.4-Million-Year-Old Ax Made of Hippo Bone Found in Ethiopia

Thought to have been made by Homo erectus, the implement adds range and sophistication to the bipedal hominin's toolkit

Archaeologists discovered rock art engraved inside this 4,000-year-old stone monument in northern Israel. Illustrations highlight the herd of horned animal figures etched into the boulder.

Millennia-Old Rock Art in Israel Offers Window Into Lost Culture

The carvings depict animals, geometric designs and what may be a human face

An illustration approximates a pod of Ankylorhiza tiedemani hunting diving birds.

Giant Extinct Dolphin May Have Hunted Other Whales

The nearly 16-foot species may have been an apex predator like modern killer whales, researchers say

A fire in the Yakutia region of Siberia in early June seen from the air. A June heat wave saw temperatures in Verkhoyansk, a town in Yakutia, hit 100 degrees Fahrenheit.

Earth Could Hit Critical Climate Threshold in Next Five Years

Report: 20 percent chance that one of the next five years will see annual global temperatures rise to 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit above pre-industrial levels

Archaeologists unearthed the nearly complete cat skeleton at the ancient settlement of Dhzankent in Kazakhstan.

In Ancient Kazakhstan, Nomadic Herders Kept Their Toothless Pet Cat Alive

An assessment of the 1,000-year-old feline's bones suggest it wouldn’t have been able to survive without human care

A set of 120,000-year-old shells from the Qafzeh Cave in northern Israel. Ancient humans collected these shells, which had natural perforations, and arranged them on lengths of string.

New Research Suggests Humans Invented String at Least 120,000 Years Ago

Marks found on ancient shells indicate that they were laced together to create necklaces

An aerial photo of Nishinoshima erupting on June 29.

Volcanic Island's Explosive Growth Creates New Land

The Japanese island of Nishinoshima has added 500 feet to its coastline in less than a month

An artist's rendering of Kongonaphon kely, a newly described 4-inch-tall reptile that lived in southwestern Madagascar some 237 million years ago. Researchers think the Triassic creature may be closely related to the common ancestor of dinosaurs and pterosaurs.

Giant Dinosaurs and Pterosaurs May Have Evolved From This Four-Inch-Tall Reptile

In Madagascar some 237 million years ago, the tiny <em>Kongonaphon kely</em> was chasing down insects on two legs

Volunteers repair and re-chalk the Cerne Abbas Giant in Dorset, England. The 180-foot figure has been on the grassy hillside as long as anyone alive can remember, but many wondered if it might be thousands of years old. Now, new evidence suggests the drawing dates not to the prehistoric period, but to medieval times.

Snail Shells Date England's Cerne Abbas Giant to Medieval, Not Prehistoric, Era

Researchers are conducting additional testing aimed at confirming the chalk figure's age and origins

“For the elite, the nobility, everything did change radically—the administration of the country, legal frameworks, the organization of the landscape,” says study co-author Richard Madgwick. “But at a lower level, people adapted to the new normal rapidly.”

How Did the Norman Conquest Change English Cuisine?

After the invasion of 1066, pork and possibly chicken spiked in popularity

New research suggests this legless amphibian called a caecilian may be the first known amphibian to possess a venomous bite.

This Worm-Like Amphibian May Pack a Venomous Bite

A new study suggests that legless burrowers called caecilians may be the first known amphibian to have venom glands in their mouths

Page 17 of 24