Footprints left behind by prehistoric people may be some of the strongest evidence yet that humans arrived in the Americas earlier than previously thought. Over 60 “ghost tracks” —…
Author: ID
How did we get here? The roots and impacts of the climate crisis
Even in a world increasingly battered by weather extremes, the summer 2021 heat wave in the Pacific Northwest stood out. For several days in late June, cities such as Vancouver,…
The past’s extreme ocean heat waves are now the new normal
Yesterday’s scorching ocean extremes are today’s new normal. A new analysis of surface ocean temperatures over the past 150 years reveals that in 2019, 57 percent of the ocean’s surface…
Antarctica’s Thwaites Glacier ice shelf could collapse within five years
The demise of a West Antarctic glacier poses the world’s biggest threat to raise sea levels before 2100 — and an ice shelf that’s holding it back from the sea…
The Southern Ocean is still swallowing large amounts of humans’ carbon dioxide emissions
The Southern Ocean is still busily absorbing large amounts of the carbon dioxide emitted by humans’ fossil fuel burning, a study based on airborne observations of the gas suggests. The…
Lithium mining may be putting some flamingos in Chile at risk
Flamingos may be a kind of canary in the coal mine when it comes to warning of a hidden cost of green technologies. Lithium mining appears to be a major…
A new saber-toothed mammal was among the first hypercarnivores
Nearly 42 million years ago, a fearsome bobcat-sized creature prowled the forests of what is now San Diego. Unlike most animals at the time, it was a hypercarnivore, built to…
School mask mandates in the U.S. reduced coronavirus transmission
The verdict is, once again, in: Masking in schools is effective. During the COVID-19 pandemic’s delta variant wave, schools that required masking had approximately one-fourth the rates of in-school coronavirus…
A new saber-toothed mammal was among the first hypercarnivores
Nearly 42 million years ago, a fearsome bobcat-sized creature prowled the forests of what is now San Diego. Unlike most animals at the time, it was a hypercarnivore, built to…
How to make irresistible traps for Asian giant hornets using sex
Male Asian giant hornets captivated by the chemical signals of a ready-to-mate queen could one day find themselves stuck in a trap instead. In a new study, scientists identified three…
