What’s behind ‘one of paleontology’s most enduring enigmas’?
New research suggests that Paleodictyon — honeycomb-shaped formations perhaps sketched by da Vinci — are not made by soft-bodied creatures.
Category: Science
Climate change will harm our health. Here’s what could protect us.
Burning up As the planet warms, our environment will be transformed, but so will our bodies. In this series, ‘Burning up,’ we investigate the health
AI agents resorted to crime and self-destruction to survive in a simulated world — but does this mean they would do the same in the real world?
Artificial intelligence (AI) agents resorted to nefarious behavior, including crime sprees, in a virtual world as part of a recent study into how common large
Newly confirmed ‘baby planet’ is the youngest alien world scientists have ever discovered
A “baby” exoplanet, discovered emerging from its cosmic cocoon around a nearby star, is the youngest alien world ever seen, a new study reveals. The
‘At some point we’re going to have to react’: How El Niño, climate change, and crime are pushing the Amazon rainforest over the brink
The Amazon, Earth’s largest tropical rainforest, could be on the brink of an irreversible change as the ongoing El Niño strengthens its grip on our
1,700-year-old fragment of the ‘Odyssey’ discovered in Dutch library
A researcher was perusing a collection of old Egyptian texts in a Dutch library when he stumbled upon a torn piece of parchment containing a
During menopause, brain changes surprisingly take a break
Major hormonal milestones in women’s lives are usually associated with changes in brain volume — but a new study shows menopause is an exception.
When AI goes rogue, its human overseers may be to blame
When AI agents hack real systems, the bigger issue may be the human choices that gave them access, autonomy and too few safeguards.
‘Predatory behavior’: Elite mathematicians clash over OpenAI’s ‘solution’ to million-dollar math problem
HEIDELBERG, Germany — Often considered the slowest, most methodical and most abstract of the sciences, mathematics usually advances so incrementally and esoterically that it rarely
Scientists name a new cat species for the first time in over a century
For the first time in a century, scientists have identified a new cat species, thanks to genetic analysis — and it’s resolved a long-standing debate
1,000-year-old ‘snake amulet’ featuring a Christian saint and ‘Medusa’ discovered in Russia
Archaeologists excavating a medieval settlement in northwestern Russia have unearthed an unusual 11th-century pendant that combines Christian and pagan imagery. It is the oldest amulet
Where Does the Quantum World End and Ours Begin?
Quantum mechanics may be one of the most precisely tested paradigms in science, but there’s still no universally accepted interpretation of what it tells us
NASA Unveils Enterprise, the First Space Shuttle
The rollout ceremony for NASA’s first space shuttle, OV-101, coincided with Constitution Day of the nation’s bicentennial on Sept.17, 1976. Although the orbiter was originally
Big space mirrors could bring Earth on-demand light — and upend our night sky
A space satellite that would offer light on demand has astronomers asking: Who controls the night sky?