January 2022 - Science News

US on Track For ‘Staggering’ Flood Damage by 2050, Scientists Predict

Climate change is on track to ramp up the annual cost of US flood damage more than 25 percent by

Being a super-friendly dog has one potential drawback, study finds

The friendliness of your dog could have serious implications for its social standing with other canines, new research suggests. In

The lost city of Cahokia was mysteriously abandoned, and we still don’t know why

For a couple of hundred years, Cahokia was the place to be in what is now the US state of

The atmosphere of this extreme exoplanet has an intriguing similarity to Earth

Astronomers have just peered into the atmosphere of one of the most extreme exoplanets ever discovered. Although it’s absolutely not

Methane pollution just reached new heights, and the sources may not be what you think

Methane recently reached 1,900 parts per billion (ppb) of Earth’s atmosphere according to measurements taken by the National Oceanic and

What actually is a ‘bomb cyclone’? An atmospheric scientist explains

A bomb cyclone is a large, intense midlatitude storm that has low pressure at its center, weather fronts and an

This stupendous crater on Mars looks eerily like a tree stump

You might be forgiven for thinking the above picture is the stump of a tree. Shift your perspective a little,

Orcas documented killing blue whales and eating their tongues in a world first

For the first time, a pack of orcas – also known as killer whales – have been observed hunting and

How the venom of the king baboon spider could help us better understand chronic pain

If you ever come across a king baboon spider (Pelinobius muticus), which lives primarily in Tanzania and Kenya, keep your

Birds use Earth’s magnetic field for ‘stop signs’ when they migrate

Thanks to a combination of sensing the Earth’s magnetic field through vision and an in-built compass that allows them to orient themselves according to

Scientists spent 4 years identifying a new wasp that only leaves its home for 2 days

Parasitic gall wasps don’t get out much. For the vast majority of their year-long lives, from eggs to larvae, pupae

Our brains keep us 15 seconds ‘in the past’ to help us see a stable world, says study

Our eyes are continuously bombarded by an enormous amount of visual information – millions of shapes, colors, and ever-changing motion

How gut microbe symbiosis helps squirrels keep their muscles during hibernation

Ground squirrels spend the end of summer gorging on food, preparing for hibernation. They need to store a lot of

Scientists solve the century-old mystery of why this special insect can float in water

Apart from fish, scientists have found only one other animal that can regulate its buoyancy in the water using swim

This extremely toxic lake could show us how life may have survived on Mars

The search for life on Mars is not an easy one. Not only is the red planet difficult to get

Teeny tiny 500-million-year-old fossils could help explain the evolution of spiders

Two tiny fossils, each smaller than an aspirin pill, contain fossilized nerve tissue from 508 million years ago. The bug-like

New models let us Dive Into One of The Brightest Star Explosions We’ve Ever Seen

A star that exploded into brightness nearly 200 years ago can now be explored in glorious, multi-wavelength detail. In a

New treatment helps frogs regenerate limbs with functioning nerves in just 18 months

Our bodies connect us to the world. When people lose parts of their bodies to disease or traumatic injury, they

Signs of an unknown solar ‘tsunami’ have been discovered deep inside Earth’s ice

Deep beneath the ice in Greenland and Antarctica, researchers have found signs of an enormous solar ‘tsunami‘ that once crashed

800-year-old chronicle turns out to be earliest report of ball lightning in England

One day in June 1195, around noon, something unusual took place near the city of London. A dark cloud appeared

The latest verdict on the future of coffee is here, and the news is not good

The world could lose half of its best coffee-growing land under a moderate climate change scenario. Brazil, which is the

The source of ghostly shadows in the Sun’s atmosphere could finally be identified

We might finally have an explanation for mysterious shadows of falling material in the atmosphere of the Sun, observed during

Just two words on a cookie label can mess up how it tastes, study finds

Human taste buds are easily manipulated. With just a few simple words, researchers have found the same chocolate chip cookie

Wolves already had the genetic mutation to turn into tiny dogs 54,000 years ago

One of the main genetic mutations responsible for small size in certain dog breeds, such as Pomeranians and Chihuahuas, evolved in dog relatives long

Glacier lakes make permanent ice disappear over twice as fast, study reveals

Glaciers are retreating faster globally due to climate change but they melt more quickly when they flow into a lake

We may finally understand why clouds are different between Earth’s hemispheres

You might think that clouds are clouds all over Earth, but that’s not quite so. If you’re in the Southern

Jaw-Dropping View of The Milky Way Reveals Mysterious Structures Dangling in Space

A new image of the heart of the Milky Way is revealing mysterious structures we’ve never seen before. Taken using

‘Killer lake’ in Africa looks like paradise, but it’s hiding a deadly secret

The engineers aboard the floating power station on Lake Kivu could only watch nervously as the volcano in the distance

Record-breaking nuclear fusion experiment achieves historic plasma milestone

The secret behind a record-breaking nuclear fusion experiment that spit out 10 quadrillion watts of power in a split second

Abandoned SpaceX rocket will crash into the Moon within weeks, scientists say

A chunk of a SpaceX rocket that blasted off seven years ago and was abandoned in space after completing its

Study confirms suspicions that cat brains are smaller than they used to be

As cats have become domesticated over the last 10,000 years or so, their brains have shrunk significantly in size, a

Astronomers detect strange signals we’ve never seen before in our cosmic vicinity

Something in Earth’s cosmic neighborhood is emitting weird signals of a kind we’ve never seen before. Just 4,000 light-years away,

Wild new paper suggests Earth’s tectonic activity has an unseen source

Earth is far from a solid mass of rock. The outer layer of our planet – known as the lithosphere – is

Hippos will aggressively spray poop at the mere sound of a stranger’s wheeze honk

The hippopotamus is a surprisingly mysterious beast. Although it’s the third largest land mammal, can run a spritely 30 km/h

What’s the deal with 5G and plane safety? Here’s what you need to know

Several international airlines recently cancelled flights into certain US airports over concerns the rollout of 5G mobile communication technology could

Tonga eruption was equivalent to ‘100s of Hiroshima bombs’, says NASA

The volcanic eruption in the South Pacific Kingdom of Tonga peaked on January 15 with more explosive force than 100

A Harvard mathematician has basically solved an epic, 150-year-old chess problem

On one level, chess seems like a simple game: 64 individual black or white squares, 16 pieces per side, and

Astronomers Detect Rare ‘Missing Link’ Black Hole in Our Closest Galactic Neighbor

A rare treasure that could shed light on the evolution of black holes has been discovered in the Milky Way’s

Landmark poverty experiment shows extra money changes babies’ brains

Putting cash in the hands of mothers can help shape the brains of their babies, according to a rigorous randomized

Mysterious signal of hidden lakes on Mars may not be what we thought

The likelihood of lakes of liquid water hidden under Mars‘ southern polar ice cap is receding before our very eyes.

Two Colossal Sphinx Statues Discovered Inside Ancient Egyptian Temple

Archaeologists in Egypt have discovered two colossal limestone statues of King Amenhotep III that are fashioned to look like sphinxes,

James Webb Space Telescope reaches its destination in huge mission milestone

The James Webb Space Telescope has fired its thrusters and reached its orbital destination around a million miles (1.5 million

Physicists detect mysterious X particles in ‘primordial soup’ for the first time

A mysterious particle thought to have existed briefly just after the Big Bang has now been detected for the first

A fetus was preserved within an Egyptian mummy because it ‘pickled’, scientists say

Last year, archaeologists presented an incredible first: the discovery of a mummified fetus within the abdomen of its mummified ancient

Vets race to save endangered birds caught in oil spill off the coast of Peru

A Lima zoo is racing to save dozens of seabirds, including protected penguins, left covered in oil after 6,000 barrels

Climate change could open up ‘rivers in the sky’ over East Asia

We know that the climate crisis is already having a profound effect on global weather systems, altering temperatures, rainfall, wind

Bioengineers have modeled the workings of the world’s most basic synthetic life form

Life is complicated. Even the smallest cells contain a mind-blowing assortment of chemical reactions that allow them to thrive in

This adorable jumping spider can’t actually see its own most vivid color

Jumping spiders may have exceptional eyes, but one adorable species seems to have a curious lack in the vision department.