Before the first mammals, before dinosaurs roamed the Earth, a plant grew in Gondwana, a huge continent in the Southern Hemisphere. Almost 280 million years later, in what is now Brazil, scientists have identified the fossil remains of that plant as an early member of a lineage called cycads, or cycadales, that continues to this […]
The unevenness in global action comes even as scientists warn that the damages from rising temperatures are already reverberating around the globe. A report by the Environmental Protection Agency published last week found that in the United States, wildfires are now starting earlier in the year, heat waves are more frequent and flooding is more […]
In the case, BP P.L.C. v. Mayor and City Council of Baltimore, No. 19-1189, the fossil fuel companies requested an expansive review of issues in the decision to send the case to state court; the city requested that the rules of appeal be interpreted narrowly, in a way that would have allowed the case to […]
C.M.U. is also looking ahead, brainstorming about how they could adapt Scout for the fall, when many students will be vaccinated, and whether they can use their new tools to slow the spread of other infectious diseases, like flu. “We were on a call with Fathom a few days ago dreaming about what the long […]
First came the walks — and then, seemingly all at once, the wheels. Back at the beginning of the pandemic with interminable lockdowns on the horizon, people broke up the monotony of their homestays with short jaunts on foot around the neighborhood just to get some sunlight and fresh air; or, as the writer Ruby […]
Mint has a great deal to say. This persistent perennial contributes refreshing coolness to food and drink, often with a bittersweet edge and sometimes spiked with notes of pepper. It’s not subtle like some herbs, and makes its presence known in everything from cocktails to candy, regardless of whether the context is savory or sweet. […]
For centuries, humans have been captivated by the beauty of the betta. Their slender bodies and oversized fins, which hang like bolts of silk, come in a variety of vibrant colors seldom seen in nature. However, bettas, also known as the Siamese fighting fish, did not become living works of art on their own. The […]
Dr. Caleb Kelly, a gastroenterology fellow at Yale University, was recently asked to review a paper about mammals receiving lifesaving oxygen through their anuses. “I laughed, to be honest,” he said. “I thought it was a joke.” It seems like a no-brainer that bottoms are not for breathing. But the authors of a new study, […]
Scientists studying a sample of oceanic crust retrieved from the Pacific seabed nearly a mile down have discovered traces of a rare isotope of plutonium, the deadly element that has been central to the atomic age. They say it was made in colliding stars and later rained down through Earth’s atmosphere as cosmic dust millions […]
We humans have Tinder, Hinge, eHarmony and Grindr. For other animals, there’s a real dearth of matchmaking services, not even Bumble or Plenty of Fish. But for future queens of one ant species, sterile worker ants seem to serve this function by physically carrying their royal sisters to neighboring nests. There, the queens-to-be can mate […]
