New Research

Scientists Predict Sun Will One Day Turn Into Giant Crystal Ball

New observations of white dwarfs confirm theory that the star remnants transition into solid structures as they cool

Easter Island Statues May Have Marked Sources of Fresh Water

A spatial analysis of the island's moai and ahu seem to line up with ancient wells and coastal freshwater seeps

Shucked oyster shells lay beneath the moonlight at Fanny Bay Oyster Company on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada.

Oysters Open and Close Their Shells as the Moon Wanes and Waxes

A new study suggests the mollusks may widen and narrow their shells depending on movement of plankton, which shifts with the lunar cycle

Icelandic horses today

Burials Suggest Icelandic Vikings Had a Thing for Stallions

Adding some insight into their little-known funerary practices, DNA analyses confirm that sacrificial stallions were buried in Viking graves

Dental calculus on the lower jaw a medieval woman entrapped lapis lazuli pigment.

Blue Pigments in Medieval Woman’s Teeth Suggest She Was a Highly Skilled Artist

A new study posits the woman was licking brushes covered with pigments of lapis lazuli, a rare and expensive stone used to decorate illuminated manuscripts

Planet Hunter TESS Is Already Spotting Hundreds of Crazy New Worlds

The first data from the space telescope's mission tallies more than 200 potential planets, including some just 50 light-years away

Sorry, the Mona Lisa Is Not Looking at You

A new study suggests the famous painting's eyes don't follow viewers around the room but are looking off to their right instead

Dragonflies Embark on an Epic, Multi-Generational Migration Each Year

Monarch butterflies aren't the only migratory marathoners in North America

The poison mimic frog, or Ranitomeya imitator, is one of the world's only known genetically monogamous frogs.

Scientists Identify Gene Pattern That Makes Some Animals Monogamous

A new study has found that 24 genes show similar activity in the brain tissue of five species that stick with one mate at a time

The most common allergy for adults is shellfish.

A Lot of American Adults Have Food Allergies—and a Lot Mistakenly Think They Do

A new study found that 19 percent of adults believe they had a food allergy, but only 10 percent have symptoms consistent with the condition

A sparkling violetear (Colibri coruscans) and a brown violetear (Colibri delphinae) display their neck side-feathers to dissuade each other from using their weaponized bills, which have strongly serrated edges and dagger-like tips.

Some Hummingbirds Evolved Bills That Make Them Better at Fighting—but Worse at Feeding

A new study adds complexity to the notion that hummingbirds are ‘all about drinking efficiently from flowers,’ as one researcher puts it

One of the flower-strewn slabs.

Could These Fossils Push Back the History of Flowers?

A study analyzing 200 tiny flowers from 174 million years ago suggests angiosperms were around during the Jurassic, but paleobotanists are skeptical

Scientists Cracked Themselves Up With a Study That Found Parachutes Are No More Effective Than Empty Backpacks

Always read the fine print

Cars getting too close to the Fimmvörðuháls volcano in Iceland.

Tourists Are Getting Too Close to Volcanoes

Visitors to Iceland's volcanoes are ignoring the rules, many to get the perfect selfie

The red arrow points to where the prehistoric shark tooth got lodged in the pterosaur's neck.

What Is a Shark Tooth Doing in the Neck of a Flying Pterosaur?

A new study suggests that the winged reptile fell prey to a hungry predator lurking in the water

Prior to the new study, only one ancient individual's DNA had been retrieved: a person of aboriginal descent from the Willandra Lakes region seen here.

DNA Can Help Repatriate the Remains of Aboriginal Australians

A new study was able to match genetic material of ancient remains to the DNA of living Aboriginal communities

Cardinals in Different Regions Could Actually Be Distinct Species, Their Songs Suggest

Populations of the ubiquitous red bird have different calls and genetics in the American southwest

Morigenos dolphins.

Cliquey Adriatic Dolphins May Have Strategies for Avoiding Each Other

You can’t swim with us

Pine Island Glacier

Past Global Flood Shows Antarctica's Ice Is More Fragile Than We Thought

Data indicates the West Antarctic Ice Sheet collapsed after a small rise in temperature, meaning sea level could rise faster than predicted

The mandibles of the Dracula ant, Mystrium camillae, are the fastest known moving animal appendages, snapping shut at speeds of up to 90 meters per second.

A Dracula Ant's Snapping Jaw Is the Fastest Known Appendage in the Animal Kingdom

A new study found that the ant can snap its mandibles at a speed of up to 200 miles per hour—5,000 times faster than the blink of an eye

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