Natural History

tree trunks joined

Natural Wonders: When Trees Fuse and Flourish as One

Ecologist Suzanne Simard famously says that trees are "social...
rocks on cliff side

Natural Wonders: China’s Egg-Laying Cliff

For centuries, the Sui people of China’s Guizhou province...
A chimpanzee climbing

Downclimbing in Apes Led to Human Arm Development

Every time you go for a swim, throw a...
Remains at the Hospital of St. John the Evangelist.

‘Bone Biographies’ Show Lives of Ordinary People in Medieval England

Bones from Cambridge, England have revealed the surprisingly detailed...
Arctic woollybear caterpillar

Woolly Bear Caterpillar: The Great Arctic Survivor

A while back, I was looking for relics from...
extinct goat

Natural Wonders: Why Are There no Cold-Blooded Mammals?

We divide the animal kingdom into two camps: warm-blooded...
shark head on

Shark Attack Survivor Mike Coots Became a Shark Advocate

BY ALEXANDER HARO This story originally appeared in The Inertia. When...
A group of bonobos.

Bonobos Often ‘Make Friends’ With Strangers

For the first time, researchers witnessed wild bonobos making...
An illustration of two dodo birds in their natural habitat.

Should the Dodo Be Brought Back to Life?

Decades ago, we disparaged the dodo as dumb because...
rainbow eucalyptus

Natural Wonders: Rainbow Eucalyptus

No, it is not Photoshopped. The rainbow eucalyptus's bark...
Decapitated skeletons at the site.

Ancient Headhunting Massacre of Women and Children in China

Researchers have unearthed a mass grave in China containing...
Artists impression of a Woolly Rhino.

Woolly Rhino Genome Reconstructed From Ancient Hyena Poo

We know of two species of Ice Age woolly...
Fiona the ewe

After Two Years, ‘Britain’s Loneliest Sheep’ Finally Rescued

In the UK, a very lonely ewe named Fiona...
a planetary impact

Earth’s Mantle Contains Alien Matter, Study Finds

When a giant body plunged into the primordial Earth...
green snake's head and scales

Searching For a Snakebit Sun God’s Nemesis

Ancient Egyptians were definitely snake-charmed — but by which...
Illustration of the Big Bang

Scientists Discover Nature’s ‘Missing Law’

Nearly 164 years after Charles Darwin published On the...
A Welwitschia in the Namib Desert.

Natural Wonders: Welwitschia

There is an alien in the desert. OK, that's...
the sun in detail

These Wicked, Cyclical Solar Storms Would Wreck Modern Earth

A giant blast of solar radiation that would bring...
Looking out through the entrance of Cueva de los Marmoles in Spain

Prehistoric People Used Human Bones As Tools

Prehistoric people may have created tools from the bones...
giant dragonfly fossil

The Largest Insect That Ever Lived — Don’t Worry, It’s Not A Mosquito

While some of us are still recovering from the...
Animal print engravings in Namibia

Stone Age Carvings Are so Precise That They Reveal Species, Gender, Even Age

Newly discovered Stone Age carvings in western Namibia are...
Stromatolites in Australia by coastal lake

Natural Wonders: Stromatolites

Early in its history, long before the dinosaurs, Earth...
The Sphinx snow patch melts for the third consecutive year.

The Sphinx Snow Patch Melts for Just 10th Time in 300 Years

The longest-lasting snow patch in the UK has completely...
Two lineages emerged from the bottleneck: Neanderthals and humans.

Our Human Ancestors Almost Went Extinct

Humanity now numbers over eight billion people, and it...

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