Earthen piles built by a chicken-like bird in Australia aren’t just egg incubators — they may also be crucial for the distribution of key nutrients throughout the ecosystem. In the…
Author: ID
Mars has two speeds of sound
On Mars, the speed of sound depends on its pitch. All sound travels slower through Mars’ air compared with Earth’s. But the higher-pitched clacks of a laser zapping rocks travels…
50 years ago, the future of solar energy looked bright
Farming the sun’s energy – Science News, April 8, 1972 More and more scientists and engineers are beginning to believe that solar conversion will account for a significant portion of…
How do we know what emotions animals feel?
A dog gives a protective bark, sensing a nearby stranger. A cat slinks by disdainfully, ignoring anyone and everyone. A cow moos in contentment, chewing its cud. At least, that’s…
The W boson might be extra hefty. If so, it could hint at new physics
There’s something amiss with a mass. A new measurement of the mass of an elementary particle, the W boson, has defied expectations. The result hints at a possible flaw in…
A hole in a Triceratops named Big John probably came from combat
A gaping hole in the bony frill of a Triceratops dubbed “Big John” may be a battle scar from one of his peers. The frill that haloes the head of…
How a western banded gecko eats a scorpion
Western banded geckos don’t look like they’d win in a fight. Yet this unassuming predator dines on venomous scorpions, and a field study published in the March Biological Journal of…
Diamonds may stud Mercury’s crust
A treasure trove of diamonds may be sown into Mercury’s cratered crust. Billions of years of meteorite impacts may have flash-baked much of Mercury’s surface into the glittery gemstones, planetary…
An ancient impact on Earth led to a cascade of cratering
A bevy of craters formed by material blasted from the carving of another, larger crater — a process dubbed secondary cratering — have finally been spotted on Earth. Several groupings…
These are the first visible-light images of Venus’ surface captured from space
By serendipity, scientists have photographed Venus’ surface from space for the first time. Though the planet’s rocky body is concealed beneath a thick veil of clouds, telescopes aboard NASA’s Parker…
