Explore the latest scientific discoveries, science news, breakthroughs and developments from around the world.
Sulfur-crested cockatoos are surprisingly smart. In Australian cities such as Brisbane and Sydney, they've learned how to turn on drinking fountains by twisting the handle with their feet. In Sydney, they're even able to lift the lids of municipal garbage cans to get to the leftover food scraps inside.
More than 93,000 visible appearances of brands promoting unhealthy food and drink, alcohol, gambling and speculative products were recorded during coverage of the largest FIFA World Cup in history, new research has found. Unhealthy food and drink brands accounted for more than seven in 10, with 65,722 appearances.
While the Discovery Channel's annual Shark Week event has given the public greater familiarity with sharks, much about them—from their mysterious love lives to how their eating habits bring them into conflict with recreational anglers—remains a mystery to scientists. Now, two new studies led by researchers from the University of Massachusetts Amherst peer into these important aspects of shark biology to help guide real-world conservation strategies.
A University of Iowa-led research team has reported in a new study the most detailed observations to date of the bow shock at Jupiter, our solar system's gas giant. The findings from NASA's Juno mission reveal key differences between Jupiter's bow shock and Earth's. They also may lead to a better understanding of the physics of how shocks function in even more powerful energy releases, such as those from dying stars. The research is published in Nature Communications.
Marine scientists have been amazed to discover an endangered sea cucumber can live for decades, with some animals living more than 100 years, in a first-of-its-kind genetic mark-recapture study. Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) Senior Principal Research Scientist Dr. Sven Uthicke said the findings suggested black teatfish sea cucumber populations recover much more slowly than previously thought and that this had implications for commercial fishery catch limits.
Related storiesNewly confirmed 'baby planet' is the youngest alien world scientists have ever discovered60 million stars: Euclid space telescope snaps the most detailed photo of the Milky Way ever takenAn 'impossible' black hole merger may finally be solved thanks to Einstein's relativity — but it raises an even bigger mysteryNASA's latest space telescope has officially taken its first photos of our universe. Launched on Aug. 30, the Nancy Grace Roman Telescope is on its way to Lagrange point L2, a "parking spot" in space about a million miles (1.6 million kilometers) from Earth where it will begin scanning deep space. Using its 300-megapixel camera, Roman captured hundreds of stars as green...
About 100 years ago, archaeologists unearthing pottery sherds in Tampa Bay found something unexpected. Some of the fragments they recovered had designs nearly identical to decorated pottery found hundreds of miles to the north. At least on the surface, the pottery appeared to be Mississippian, a culture that emerged more than 1,000 years ago and brought social, economic and political transformation across southeastern North America. For years, archaeologists excluded peninsular Florida from maps of its range, but the artifacts suggested a different story.
Researchers at The University of Texas at Arlington have created a mathematical model to identify and analyze vortices, the rotating structures at the heart of hurricanes. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is now using the model to monitor hurricane development worldwide.
A drop of coffee on a tabletop often leaves a dark ring behind. This everyday mark is a reminder that a drying droplet is not passive: As water evaporates, it can transport the particles suspended inside it toward the edge. Scientists call this the coffee-ring effect. For inkjet printing and surface coatings, however, a ring is often exactly what engineers do not want. They need the material to land in a controlled, predictable pattern.
Children can be hard on a relationship, but some kids can bring parents closer together. Research from Rutgers University has found that often, it is girls who inspire closer parental bonds. In a study published in Personality and Individual Differences, scholars at Rutgers Business School's Center for Women in Business report that fathers of daughters show higher levels of attachment, commitment, trust and intimacy toward the child's mother than fathers of sons.
Gastrointestinal parasites can cause serious health problems in North American bison, but the drugs producers rely on to control them can become less effective when used too frequently or without knowing which animals actually need treatment.
Insect "detectives" have discovered two new types of large stick insects, showing scientists are still uncovering new species in some of Australia's most well-studied landscapes. Researchers at the University of Sydney have revised the Australian representatives of the stick insect genus Anchiale, identifying two new species, one with unique "lidded" eggs. They also reinstated a third species that had been hidden in plain sight for decades.