Science

An unusual rock formation deep in the Australian outback could hold key clues to future climate change, now that it has finally been dated correctly. The Pinnacles—part of the world’s largest wind-blown limestone belt, spanning more than 600 miles—are providing new insights into Earth’s ancient climate and changing landscape, after scientists…

The analysis of health records of more than 120,000 adults in the UK with an average age of 57 found that people who are happy with their lives are significantly less likely to suffer a heart attack or stroke. They were also less likely to develop coronary artery disease, suffer a…

Last month, while trundling across the Martian landscape, the eyes of the Perseverance Mars rover settled on an extraordinary rock. Featuring black and white striations like Alpine granite, it has NASA scientists excited that the rover is entering an area where new discoveries about the planet can be made. Sighting it…

Four years ago, someone came across an extraordinary find—a juvenile rhino from the Pleistocene ‘mummified’ in the Siberian permafrost. Alerting the relevant authorities, the discovery turned out to be a 4-year-old woolly rhino (Coelodonta antiquitatis) with its fur, skin, and organs intact, offering paleontologists a rare glimpse into the biology of…

Reprinted with permission from World At Large, a news website of nature, politics, science, health, and travel. Depending on where you live in the world, you may be opening this story with every tree in your neighborhood blushing bright yellow, orange, and red, or you could be wondering why all the colors…

The oldest traces of fermented dairy ever discovered were recently found in western China’s Tarim Basin, dating back 3,600 years. A DNA analysis shows that rather than being cheese, as the physical profile of the sample suggested, it was actually solidified kefir. Kefir is a type of fermented milk that offers…