Nearly four decades after the Chornobyl nuclear disaster, the abandoned reactor remains one of the most hostile places on Earth. Radiation levels that would prove lethal to most forms of life still linger in parts of the exclusion zone, making it an unlikely setting for biological discovery. Yet among cracked concrete, rusting steel and contaminated…
While early birds existed in a time period when dinosaurs dominated, they were feathered, capable of gliding or flying, but looked nothing like the birds we have today. Unlike birds like pigeons, robins and eagles, which have short fan-shaped tails, these ancient birds possessed long, bony tails inherited from their dinosaur ancestors. The transition from…
A white dwarf is usually thought of as the quiet remnant left behind after a star has exhausted its fuel and shed much of itself into space. By that stage, any worlds that once orbited nearby are expected to have faced a violent fate. Yet one planetary system roughly 80 light-years from Earth appears to…
Scientists Thought Ravens Followed Wolves for Food. They Were Wrong. Ravens Predict Them For decades, biologists believed ravens found their next meal by shadowing wolves across the landscape until the predators made a kill. A new study in and around Yellowstone National Park suggests the birds are using a far more sophisticated strategy.Instead of constantly…
Studies show that the ancient timber circle, dubbed “Seahenge,” was built in 2049 B.C. It was excavated from a salt marsh near a beach on England’s east coast in 1999. (Image credit: Holmes Garden Photos/Alamy) A mysterious wooden monument buried beneath the Norfolk coast may have been built more than 4,000 years ago in an…
Earth will reach its farthest point from the Sun on July 6, a yearly astronomical event known as aphelion. At around 152.1 million kilometres from the Sun, the planet will be about 5 million kilometres farther away than it is in early January. Yet, despite this greater distance, the Northern Hemisphere will remain firmly in…
Archaeologists have been excavating the area for ancient secrets since the 1980s Archaeologists have uncovered what could be a 5,000-year-old ritual circle hidden beneath peat on a Scottish island, all without digging into the ground.Using advanced geophysical scanning equipment, researchers from Historic Environment Scotland (HES) detected a ring of buried pits beneath Machrie Moor on…
During the mid-20th century, large areas of Israel were transformed by one of the country’s most ambitious reforestation programmes. Millions of pine trees were planted to stabilise soils, combat erosion and create forests on previously open landscapes. At first, the initiative appeared to be an environmental success, with barren hillsides becoming green woodlands. However, decades…
Some tropical Heliconius butterflies have evolved a remarkable way to stay young, allowing them to live far longer than most butterflies. Most butterflies survive for only a few weeks after reaching adulthood. But scientists have now identified a group of tropical butterflies that can live for almost a year while showing little sign of physical…
Quote of the day by B.F. Skinner (AI-generated image) A psychologist best known for training pigeons to peck levers for food pellets is not the person most people would expect a quote about love from. Yet B.F. Skinner wrote exactly that. “We are only just beginning to understand the power of love because we are…
