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Tiny stature of extinct ‘Hobbit’ thanks to fast evolution
New research suggests that the tiny human species - that survived until about 18,000 years ago, later than any human species other than our own - evolved its small size remarkably quickly while living on an isolated island.
October 16, 2019
While still in the womb, humans have extra lizard-like muscles in their hands
Research involving a non-invasive scan of living human embryos shows that some muscles, thought to have been abandoned by our mammalian ancestors 250 million years ago, are still present before birth. They're among the oldest, albeit fleeting, remnants of evolution yet seen in humans.
October 14, 2019
It’s been 20 years since the Day of 6 Billion
Our global human population was estimated to reach 6 billion on today's date in 1999. Eleven years later, in 2011, Earth had gained another billion people. Today - October 12, 2019 - it stands at about 7.7 billion, according to United Nations estimates.
October 12, 2019
International Observe the Moon Night is October 5
International Observe the Moon Night is a worldwide celebration of lunar science and exploration, celestial observation, and our cultural and personal connections to the moon. In 2019, it comes on October 5. Here's how to join in.
October 2, 2019
Researchers to spend a year trapped in Arctic ice
In October 2019, the research icebreaker Polarstern will drop anchor at an ice floe in the northern Laptev Sea, to spend a year investigating Earth’s Arctic.
September 30, 2019
What climate change in the Arctic means for the rest of us
Air temperatures in the Arctic are increasing at least twice as fast as the global average due to climate change. What worries climate scientists about this?
September 30, 2019
IAU names the 2nd interstellar visitor
The first known interstellar visitor received the official name 'Oumuamua, meaning 'scout.' This one has a less romantic name and one that sets a standard for future discoveries: 2I/Borisov.
September 26, 2019
Drought reveals a lost Spanish Stonehenge
Thanks to 2019's record drought in Europe, a 7,000-year-old circle of 150 upright stones is back on dry land in western Spain, after 50 years underwater.
September 26, 2019
An astronomer contemplates the equinox
You can think of the equinox not as a whole day, but as a point along Earth's orbit. Want to understand that better? Guy Ottewell offers some insights.
September 22, 2019
Plastic pollution has entered fossil record, says study
A new study has found that plastic pollution is being deposited into the fossil record, with deposits increasing exponentially since 1945.
September 12, 2019
