team

13,000 Years Ago, a Firestorm Covered 10% of Earth’s Surface, Triggering an Ice Age

by

At a point some 12,800 years ago, a tenth of Earth’s surface suddenly became covered in roaring fires. The firestorm rivalled the one that wiped out the dinosaurs, and it was likely caused by fragments of a comet that would have measured around 100 kilometers (62 miles) across.   As dust clouds smothered Earth, they … Read more

Archaeologists Find 40 Beheaded Roman Skeletons With Skulls Between Their Legs

by

About 40 beheaded skeletons were among 425 bodies found in a late Roman cemetery uncovered by archeologists in southern England. The team of around 50 archeologists made the discovery during an excavation at Fleet Marston, near Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, on the route of the multi-billion pound high-speed rail link that is currently under construction, HS2 said.   … Read more

Fish Have ‘Talked’ For 155 Million Years, And Now You Can Hear Their ‘Voices’

by

All manner of croaks, chirps, and deep trombone moans permeate Earth’s waters, just like the cacophony of sounds that fill its forest air. For example, reefs are surprisingly noisy places, and many of the noisemakers are fish.   “We’ve known for a long time that some fish make sounds, but fish sounds were always perceived as … Read more

For The First Time, a Lone Black Hole Has Been Found Wandering The Milky Way

by

Like an ancient cardigan, the Milky Way should be absolutely riddled with black holes. According to our best estimates, there should be as many as 10 million to 1 billion stellar-mass black holes out there, drifting peacefully and quietly through the galaxy. There’s just one problem when it comes to counting them: Unless they manage … Read more

A New, ‘Highly Virulent’ HIV Variant Was Just Discovered in Europe

by

A newfound variant of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, has been uncovered in the Netherlands and appears to cause faster disease progression compared with other versions of the virus.   The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infects and destroys immune cells called CD4 cells in the body, causing the number of these cells to plummet. … Read more

The Mysterious ‘Pareidolia’ Phenomenon Turns Out to Have a Surprising Bias

by

It’s fun sometimes when your eyes play tricks on you, and you see a face that isn’t really there, staring back at you from a power plug or a potato. This phenomenon is called face pareidolia, and it’s something that humans, and even chimps, naturally do.   But it looks like facial features aren’t the … Read more

This Extremely Toxic Lake Could Show Us How Life May Have Survived on Mars

by

The search for life on Mars is not an easy one. Not only is the red planet difficult to get to, it’s deeply inhospitable to life as we know it. However, there are places on Earth that could show us how life may have been able to survive on Mars – if not now, then … Read more

How NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope project chief used Jimmy Buffett quotes to thank mission team

by

Turns out that NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope project manager is a self-described “parrot head.” The term is a playful reference to fans of calypso singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett, who project manager Bill Ochs recently quoted when congratulating the Webb Space Telescope team. (For his part, Buffett was said to once call his fans “parrot heads” … Read more

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has reached its final destination. Let’s celebrate the team that got it there (op-ed)

by

Dr. Thomas Zurbuchen is associate administrator for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate. He contributed this article to Space.com’s Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. There is a new speck of light in the sky right now, best observable from Earth around midnight. This blurry speck — dim as it may be, small as it may be — represents … Read more

Hippos Will Aggressively Spray Poop at The Mere Sound of a Stranger’s Wheeze Honk

by

The hippopotamus is a surprisingly mysterious beast. Although it’s the third largest land mammal, can run a spritely 30 km/h (19 mph) over short distances, and is far more dangerous to humans than a grizzly bear, we know relatively little about its social communication.   A new study working to rectify this lack of knowledge … Read more