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Science News

Latest science news, discoveries and scientific developments.

Teenager's rare autoimmune disorder caused her to hallucinate a flying green dinosaur
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Teenager's rare autoimmune disorder caused her to hallucinate a flying green dinosaur

The patient: A 16-year-old girl in CaliforniaThe symptoms: The teenager was referred to an emergency department because she was having hallucinations, including seeing a flying green dinosaur and hearing voices telling her to hurt others. She also had a sense that she was being followed.In the emergency room, she was trembling and sweating and had a racing pulse and shallow, fast breathing. She did not have a fever, although she did have one at the hospital that had referred her.During her conversations with ER clinicians, the teen reacted to the vision of the dinosaur as though the creature were present in the room. She reported that she had experienced these hallucinations since seventh gr...

📅 2026-10-14 10:00:00    •    Live Science
Global deforestation slowed in 2025 but surged in Congo basin: Study
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Global deforestation slowed in 2025 but surged in Congo basin: Study

Deforestation slowed worldwide last year, but the improvement is unlikely to last as the situation deteriorates in Central Africa and an exceptionally strong El Niño weather pattern intensifies, a new study said on Wednesday.

📅 2026-10-14 09:10:01    •    Phys.org
Ancient climate shifts may explain why today's flowering plants are so diverse
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Ancient climate shifts may explain why today's flowering plants are so diverse

The two warmest time periods on Earth in the past 140 million years drove both mass extinctions and explosions in plant diversity, according to researchers in Australia and Austria who say this could explain how flowering plants became dominant among land plants. The study, published in Nature Plants, examined fossilized pollen and spores to show that the mid-Cretaceous and early Cenozoic periods of extreme global warmth were central to plant evolution. This applies not only to flowering plants, but also to the other main land plant groups.

📅 2026-10-14 09:00:06    •    Phys.org
Hundreds of whale calves have mysteriously died in Patagonia — and scientists are racing to find out why
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Hundreds of whale calves have mysteriously died in Patagonia — and scientists are racing to find out why

Since June, more than 300 southern right whale (Eubalaena australis) calves have died in Argentine Patagonia, in what scientists describe as an "exceptional" die-off. The preliminary figure already far exceeds the previous annual record set in 2012, when 113 southern right whale calves died — the highest number ever documented for the species, both locally and globally.Now, scientists are racing to figure out exactly what's causing the record-breaking die-off. Laboratory analyses of specimens that died this year tested positive for the pathogenic bacterium Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae, environmental authorities in Chubut province told Live Science. E. rhusiopathiae was first identified in so...

📅 2026-10-14 09:00:00    •    Live Science
Gigantic prehistoric snake discovered in India may have been one of the largest ever
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Gigantic prehistoric snake discovered in India may have been one of the largest ever

A massive prehistoric snake discovered in India may have rivaled the largest snake ever known. Called Vasuki indicus, the 47-million-year-old giant could have reached up to 50 feet long, making it comparable to the legendary Titanoboa. Scientists believe its enormous body made it a slow-moving ambush predator, similar to a modern anaconda.

📅 2026-10-14 05:44:39    •    ScienceDaily
New knee arthritis treatment delivers lasting pain relief without surgery
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New knee arthritis treatment delivers lasting pain relief without surgery

A promising new treatment for knee arthritis uses tiny, dissolvable particles to block abnormal blood vessels, easing inflammation and pain without joint replacement surgery. In a study of 194 patients, 80% experienced clinically meaningful pain relief lasting at least 12 months.

📅 2026-10-14 04:39:11    •    ScienceDaily
Wild bobwhite quail spotted after habitat restoration project
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Wild bobwhite quail spotted after habitat restoration project

Multiple coveys of wild bobwhite quail were recently sighted at the University of Tennessee's Ames AgResearch and Education Center, marking an encouraging milestone in an ongoing effort to restore habitat for the species at this historic bird dog field trial destination.

📅 2026-10-14 03:20:08    •    Phys.org
AI can act exactly like a human, but we still don't think it's conscious
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AI can act exactly like a human, but we still don't think it's conscious

A new study reveals that people draw a surprisingly sharp line between human consciousness and artificial intelligence, even when both behave identically. Researchers found that participants considered even the most responsive AI less conscious than the least responsive human. Yet when asked about "awareness" instead, people judged humans and AI much more similarly.

📅 2026-10-14 01:41:55    •    ScienceDaily
Black women in food industries face systemic roadblocks
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Black women in food industries face systemic roadblocks

Lilly Jan was perplexed and a little annoyed. Last year, Jan, an assistant teaching professor in the Cornell Nolan School of Hotel Administration in the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business, was trying to collect information on food industry businesses owned by Black women.

📅 2026-10-14 01:40:01    •    Phys.org
A planet 320 light-years away confirms what scientists long suspected
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A planet 320 light-years away confirms what scientists long suspected

Astronomers have discovered that a scorching-hot planet 320 light-years away shares a striking chemical similarity with its host star, providing the first direct evidence for a fundamental assumption about planet formation. The breakthrough could help scientists predict what distant rocky planets are made of and identify worlds with conditions favorable for life.

📅 2026-10-14 00:24:40    •    ScienceDaily
AI reveals a hidden chemical shortcut that could turn CO2 into fuel
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AI reveals a hidden chemical shortcut that could turn CO2 into fuel

Scientists used artificial intelligence to uncover nearly 10,000 chemical reactions involved in transforming carbon dioxide into fuels and chemicals, revealing crucial pathways that traditional models had missed. The discovery dramatically improved predictions of CO2 conversion and uncovered a surprising hydrogen reaction that could inspire more efficient catalysts.

📅 2026-10-14 00:01:11    •    ScienceDaily
Ultrashort laser pulses offer a new way to probe electrons' quantum geometry
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Ultrashort laser pulses offer a new way to probe electrons' quantum geometry

Researchers at Friedrich Schiller University Jena and the University of Regensburg have developed a method for determining, using light, a quantum property of electrons that has hitherto been difficult to access. The focus is on what is known as Berry curvature—a quantity that describes certain geometric properties of the quantum mechanical states of electrons. The researchers measured it in a layer of the semiconductor tungsten diselenide, just one atomic layer thick, using ultrashort laser pulses. The results have been published in the latest issue of the journal Nature Photonics.

📅 2026-10-13 23:40:02    •    Phys.org
Scientists discover 'D-rex', a giant fungus from Chinese forests whose unique lineage dates back 65 million years
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Scientists discover 'D-rex', a giant fungus from Chinese forests whose unique lineage dates back 65 million years

Deep in the forests of Yunnan, China, scientists have discovered a "fungal giant" that challenges our understanding of how large fungi can become. The newly described species, Dianjunus rex, produces vertical fruiting bodies up to 50 cm (20 inches) high and weighing up to 2.2 kg (4.9 pounds)—the largest known within the phylum Ascomycota.

📅 2026-10-13 23:20:10    •    Phys.org
Isle of Wight fossil Europe's first known long-clawed megaraptoran dinosaur
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Isle of Wight fossil Europe's first known long-clawed megaraptoran dinosaur

A new species of dinosaur—a long-clawed predator the size of a large tiger—has been discovered by a UCL-led team from a fossil found on the Isle of Wight. The dinosaur, described in a new paper in the journal Royal Society Open Science, belongs to a group of agile, two-legged carnivores called megaraptorans and is the first of this group to be found in Europe.

📅 2026-10-13 23:10:14    •    Phys.org
210-million-year-old dinosaur discovery reveals a lost world in Africa
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210-million-year-old dinosaur discovery reveals a lost world in Africa

A newly identified 210-million-year-old dinosaur from Zimbabwe is helping scientists uncover a surprisingly distinct prehistoric ecosystem. The discovery suggests that ancient climate differences may have separated dinosaur populations across southern Africa, leading to unique species that challenge previous assumptions about their evolution.

📅 2026-10-13 22:53:03    •    ScienceDaily