Science

Tasmanian devils, dogs and shellfish are some of the only animals that are known to carry naturally occurring cancers that can pass between individuals. But scientists in Vermont have discovered a new animal species that can do the same, catfish. When they researched the mysterious black skin lesions afflicting catfish in Lake Memphremagog and other…

A team of scientists has uncovered a naturally occurring microbial process that could change how uranium-contaminated water is cleaned up. Studying bacteria living in the flooded Königstein uranium mine in Germany, the researchers discovered that certain microorganisms can transform highly soluble uranium into a rare, stable mineral that remains locked in place instead of spreading…

Two people can watch the exact same machine respond to a question and reach completely different conclusions about what just happened. One assumes anything convincing enough must be simulating a mind somewhere underneath. The other insists that convincing behaviour and actual thought are two entirely separate things, no matter how good the imitation gets. Alan…

Researchers clipped a few wing and tail feathers of wild Alaskan kittiwakes (AI enhanced image. Credit: Nature Counts) Researchers who clipped a few wing and tail feathers of wild black-legged kittiwakes in Alaska to make flying harder, have found that the effects lasted well beyond a single breeding season. The birds struggled to raise chicks…

Two hundred years ago, you wouldn’t have been able to find them outside of South America. But since then, Nutria, one of the world’s largest rodents, has taken over US. These rodents were initially brought to North America in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, primarily for fur farming, since their soft underfur was…

How Fossilised wood shows the history of Europe Imagine you are holding a piece of fossilized wood. It might, at first sight, seem to be nothing more than a well-preserved relic of some ancient forest. But within its crystalline framework is a geological diary, quietly recording the rise and fall of continents, extreme underground temperatures…

In 1976, ornithologist George Archibald began an unusual daily ritual, dancing beside a whooping crane named Tex in an attempt to save one of the rarest birds on the planet. Tex had been raised in captivity and had imprinted on humans rather than other cranes, meaning she showed no interest in mating with her own…

Florence Nightingale is remembered as the founder of modern nursing, but her influence reached far beyond hospitals and healthcare. Through discipline, compassion and a determination to improve lives, she changed the way patients were treated and helped shape modern medicine. Among her many memorable sayings, one quote continues to inspire people across generations: “I attribute…

Two centuries ago, a British geologist gave the world its first named dinosaur. Megalosaurus, described from a handful of fossilised bones, marked the birth of an entire scientific field. Back then, researchers worked with little more than fragments, guesswork and imagination to picture prehistoric life. Fast forward 200 years, and palaeontology looks unrecognisable. Scientists no…

Image Credit: guinnessworldrecords.com Shark is a unique animal that has survived five mass extinctions and swam in our oceans before trees existed. For many of us, the thought of a shark brings up the images of big, sharp teeth with terror. However, for one American marine biologist named ‘Emily Morrison,’ these marine predators are not…