Fossilized feces are common finds at paleontological dig sites and might actually contain hidden treasures. By scanning fossilized dung assigned to a close dinosaur relative from the Triassic period, scientists discovered a 230-million-year-old beetle species, representing a new family of beetles, previously unknown to science. The beetles were preserved in a 3D state with their…

Researchers have succeeded in culturing meat in the laboratory in the form of millimeter-scale slabs of contractile bovine muscle. This innovative tissue culture process, arrayed in stackable hydrogel modules, uses electrical pulses to align myotubules thus mimicking the texture, grain and bulk of real steak meat. Further advances may help meet the increasing worldwide demand…

A giant fossilized penguin discovered by New Zealand school children has been revealed as a new species. Penguins have a fossil record reaching almost as far back as the age of the dinosaurs, and the most ancient of these penguins have been discovered in Aotearoa. Fossil penguins from Zealandia (ancient Aotearoa) are mostly known from…

Danish and Swedish researchers have dated the enormous Hiawatha impact crater, a 31 km-wide meteorite crater buried under a kilometer of Greenlandic ice. The dating ends speculation that the meteorite impacted after the appearance of humans and opens up a new understanding of Earth’s evolution in the post-dinosaur era. Ever since 2015, when researchers at…

How can Einstein’s theory of gravity be unified with quantum mechanics? It is a challenge that could give us deep insights into phenomena such as black holes and the birth of the universe. Now, a new article presents results that cast new light on important challenges in understanding quantum gravity. A grand challenge in modern…

A team of researchers has examined the fossil record of these apex predators and found out that modern tiger sharks are older than previously thought. An international team of researchers led by Julia Turtscher from the University of Vienna examined the fossil record of these apex predators and found out that modern tiger sharks are…

Asian elephants are keen to cooperate with friends and have evolved strategies to mitigate competition in their social groups, but cooperation breaks down when food resources are limited, according to new research. The study sheds light on the evolution of cooperative behavior in mammals. The researchers tested nine semi-wild Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) at the…

When ozone and skin oils meet, the resulting reaction may help remove ozone from an indoor environment, but it can also produce a personal cloud of pollutants that affects indoor air quality, according to a team of researchers. In a computer model of indoor environments, the researchers show that a range of volatile and semi-volatile…

Astrophysicists combine current scientific understanding about the Earth with broader questions about how life alters a planet to ask: if a planet with life has a life of its own, can it also have a mind of its own? The research raises new ideas about the ways in which humans might tackle global issues such…

Dogs are generally considered the first domesticated animal, while its ancestor is generally considered to be the wolf, but where the Australian dingo fits into this framework is still debated, according to a retired anthropologist. «Indigenous Australians understood that there was something different about the dingoes and the colonial dogs,» said Pat Shipman, retired adjunct…