Sea sponges, among the oldest creatures in existence, let out what looks like a deep sea “sneeze” to filter out waste, researchers found in a new study. Using time-lapse video, researchers captured the behavior, which could help them better understand how sponges evolved. “Our data suggest that sneezing is an adaptation that sponges evolved to […]
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A common ‘forever chemical’ known as PFOS (perfluorooctanesulfonic acid) has been linked to liver cancer in humans in a worrying new study. Once a key ingredient in the water-repelling product commercially known as Scotchguard, PFOS was finally phased out soon after the turn of the century following concerns over its toxicity and environmental impact. […]
The world’s biggest ice sheet could cause “several meters” of sea-level rise over centuries if the global temperature rises more than 2 °C, according to a British study published Wednesday. Researchers at Durham University concluded that if global greenhouse emissions remain high, the melting East Antarctica Ice Sheet (EAIS) could cause nearly half a […]
In a fascinating discovery, western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) at Zoo Atlanta have been caught summoning their keepers using a strange cough-sneeze hybrid. Only two other species have displayed this ability to create new vocalizations to attract our attention: zoo-housed chimpanzees and orangutans. Now, we can add gorillas to that list. Below, 24-year-old […]
To date, Earth is the only planet we know of that has continents. Exactly how they formed and evolved is unclear, but we do know – because the edges of continents thousands of miles apart match up – that, at one time long ago, Earth’s landmass was concentrated in one big supercontinent. Since that’s […]
Humans take a lot of pride in their brains. We like to think we are an intelligent species, and even though size isn’t everything, our noggins are some of the largest nature has to offer. The idea that our brains are shrinking is not one we like to consider. For more than four decades, […]
A new discovery about jumping spiders could challenge some pretty hefty human assumptions about the cognitive abilities of arthropods. According to a study that examined the motions of their eyes and bodies while they sleep, it’s possible that these tiny spiders are not just resting, but dreaming – entering a sleep state fascinatingly similar to […]
Stingrays are no longer the silent residents of the sea scientists once thought them to be. Caught on camera, two different stingray species have been discovered making weird clicking sounds in a lucky discovery that has delighted marine ecologists – but also left them stumped. “That we only just realized that these commonly […]
In the case of future catastrophe, it’s often said cockroaches will be the last lifeform left standing on Earth. But there’s another, more mysterious bug living in the deep that could give roaches a run for their money. A group of football-sized isopods have been roaming the seafloor like giant, blown-up roly-poly bugs for 200 […]
The Deepwater Horizon oil spill was not a short-lived catastrophe. Over 10 years after one of the largest environmental disasters in human history, a sticky oil residue still coats some marshland in the Gulf of Mexico, a new report reveals. Its impacts are still not fully understood. In the months following BP’s 2010 Deepwater calamity, desperate […]