New Research

Physicist Avinash Kumar of Simon Fraser University stands beside the Mpemba effect apparatus.

The Physics of Why Hot Water Sometimes Freezes Faster Than Cold Water

For decades, physicists have debated whether the phenomenon exists and how to study it

It's all about identifying cracks—microcracks, in this case—in the armor.

The Scientific Reason Why Razors Don't Stay Sharp for Long

When soft hair hits the blade’s weak points, it causes the metal to chip apart

A wild bumble bee seen pollinating a blueberry bush.

Wild Bees Are Worth $1.5 Billion for Six U.S. Crops

Study also finds that crop yields are often limited by a lack of pollinators

The comparatively massive female anglerfish (Melanocetus johnsonii) with her tiny mate permanently fused to her belly.

Anglerfish Drop Their Immune Defenses to Find Love

Male anglerfish are major clingers. To avoid mistaking mates as foreign tissue, the deep sea couples lost part of their immune system in evolution

Bogs are perhaps best known for preserving prehistoric human remains. One of the most famous examples of these so-called "bog bodies" is Tollund Man.

Study Suggests Bones Preserved in Peat Bogs May Be at Risk

Per the paper, archaeologists need to act quickly to recover organic material trapped in the wetlands before specimens degrade

Sperm swimming illusion when seen from above. The sperm tails seems to move symmetrically from one side to another. This view on how sperm moves was established since first observed by Antonie van Leeuwenhoek in 1677, more than three centuries ago.

Researchers Discover How Human Sperm Really Swim

A new 3-D microscopy study overturns hundreds of years of reproductive science

The huge sarsen stones that make up Stonehenge's outer ring weigh around 20 tons each and stand roughly 23 feet tall.

Archaeologists Pinpoint Origins of Stonehenge's Mysterious Megaliths

A new study used chemical analysis to determine that the 20-ton boulders came from the West Woods, some 15 miles away

Scientists have isolated the gene the makes the Australian fruit immune to a devastating disease plaguing American citrus.

How the Australian Finger Lime Could Save American Citrus

Scientists found the gene that makes finger limes impervious to a disease turning oranges green and bitter

Mathematically speaking, the honeycombs grow like crystals.

Scientists Crack the Mathematical Mystery of Stingless Bees' Spiral Honeycombs

The waxy architectural wonders seem to grow like crystals

The Crocodylus checchiai skull analyzed in the new paper came from an approximately 10-foot-long reptile.

New Evidence Suggests Ancient Crocodiles Swam From Africa to America

The prehistoric reptiles would have gotten some help from ocean currents

The top fish is a Russian sturgeon and the bottom is an American paddlefish. In between, two varieties of hybrid 'sturddlefish' created by accident.

Scientists Accidentally Bred a School of 'Sturddlefish'

Researchers mixed paddlefish sperm with sturgeon eggs because the fish seemed too dissimilar to form a hybrid

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

Wall art dated to around 1900 B.C. shows visitors to Egypt wearing colorful robes distinct from the white clothing worn by locals.

New Research Reveals Surprising Origins of Egypt's Hyksos Dynasty

An analysis of ancient tooth enamel suggests the enigmatic ancients were immigrants, not invaders

That's a lot of hot dogs!

How Many Hot Dogs Can a Person Eat in Ten Minutes?

83 hot dogs might be the human limit—but only after specific training to stretch the stomach

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

An array of 24 speakers can quiet city noise by as much as closing the window

Window-Mounted Device Could Keep Out City Noise

A microphone outside the window measures the incoming noise so that an array of two dozen speakers can cancel it out

A Rufous Hummingbird sips on the nectar from an Orange Justicia plant in California

Hummingbirds Learn to Count to Find Their Favorite Flowers

Researchers found that wild rufous hummingbirds could remember which flower in a sequence held nectar

“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

Canada's white-throated sparrows have remixed their classic song by trading a series of triplets for doublets at the end.

Canada’s White-Throated Sparrows Are Changing Their Tune

The new song is catching on and spreading across the country at an unprecedented speed

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