All Science
- These fish sing only at night. But why?
The male plainfin midshipman fish sing to woo their mates, but only in the dark of night. A new study may answer why these underwater love songs never grace the light of day.
- First LookOut of Africa just once? DNA offers fresh look at humanity's family roots
Nearly all modern Eurasians are descended from an out-of-Africa migration about 60,000 years ago, but some have genetic markers of earlier divergences, suggesting a more complex story.
- First LookEn-Gedi scroll unfurled: How technology helped reveal an ancient biblical text
Scientists unfurled the previously unreadable En-Gedi scroll – an ancient carbonized text – using computer technology. Could this technology open new windows on humanity's past?
- Where did Australia's aboriginals come from? Genomic data reveals clues.
Today's aboriginals are descended from the first humans to enter Australia, and they did it far earlier than scientists previously thought, a new DNA study reveals.
- How a wobbly Earth may have drawn ancient migrants out of Africa
Small changes in the Earth's tilt may have shifted the climate enough to drive a dispersal of ancient humans from their original native continent.
- Musk's Mars colonization plan: Time to get real?
On Tuesday, SpaceX founder Elon Musk is expected to unveil technical plans to colonize Mars. But will his approach square with international standards?
- NASA orbiter reveals 'Shangri-La' on Titan
NASA's Cassini orbiter has imaged a large, dark region with linear sand dunes on Saturn's biggest moon, Titan.
- Pluto's heart: How did it get so frosty?
Pluto's heart: Scientists have modeled the ice composition on the dwarf planet and have a theory now about why ice formed in the depths of the Pluto's iconic 'heart.'
- First LookWhat's with those giant green space blobs? Telescopes give a hint.
Lyman-alpha blobs glow a mysterious green in the night sky. Until now, astronomers didn't have an explanation for the phenomenon.
- Chinese space station to plummet back to Earth, officials say
China's first space station, the 9.4 ton Tiangong-1, will burn up in Earth's atmosphere sometime in the second half of next year, say Chinese officials.
- Scientists reveal secret of this amazingly durable micro-critter
How does the world's most durable critter do it? New genome sequences for the microscopic tardigrade reveal the genetic basis of the creature's remarkable toughness.
- First LookCan scientists create an AI that that sees, hears, and...understands?
IBM and MIT will collaborate on the Laboratory for Brain-inspired Multimedia Machine Comprehension – a bid to help AI interpret what it sees and hears, the same way human beings do.
- How quantum teleportation could help ensure online privacy
Physicists set a new quantum record this week, teleporting photons across several miles of fiber optic network.
- First LookMalfunction delays Russia's next launch to space station
Russian space agency Roscosmos says that, due to technical reasons, it will be delaying plans to bring NASA astronaut Shane Kimbrough and Russian cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Andrey Borisenko up to the International Space Station on Sept. 23.
- First LookApocalypse Cow: Will California bill cut gassy livestock emissions?
A new California law will require the state's dairy industry to reduce the methane that comes from cow flatulence and manure.
- First LookCalifornia's sea otter population makes a comeback
For the first time, the Monterey Bay Aquarium census is reporting that the southern sea otter population is higher than 3,090.
- Mars may have been able to harbor life for longer than we thought
Mars had lakes as recently as 2 billion to 3 billion years ago, new research suggests, which is long after scientists believed it was warm enough to harbor liquid water.
- First LookHow an ancient skeleton may uncover secrets of the Antikythera shipwreck
The discovery of a skeleton in the famed Antikythera shipwreck may shed light on the origins of an ancient Greek mariner.
- What happens when the systems we rely on go haywire?
Can we learn to predict and control the systems essential to our survival?
- First LookBlack holes belch fire after devouring cosmic spaghetti, studies show
By examining 'echoes' of infrared light, scientists were able to measure the intensity of black hole flares.