Science

More than 1,600 years ago, as fire engulfed a Roman settlement in what is now Bulgaria, a young man appears to have made a desperate decision: he climbed inside a huge storage jar and hid. He never came out. Archaeologists uncovered his remains inside the vessel during excavations at the ancient Roman colony of Deultum…

An ambitious conservation project off the coast of California has helped save the endangered Santa Cruz Island fox from near extinction. The rescue effort involved removing 5,036 feral pigs, allowing the native island fox (Urocyon littoralis santacruzae) population to recover from fewer than 100 animals to more than 1,300 across the 96-square-mile island. According to…

Glacier in Antarctica. Image Credit: Jason Auch/Wikipedia Scientists have directly linked surface meltwater to a sudden increase in the speed of an Antarctic glacier, after drilling deep into Langhovde Glacier in East Antarctica. The study titled ‘Acceleration of an Antarctic outlet glacier driven by surface meltwater input to the base,’ found that water from melting…

Representative Image (AI-generated) Its appearance told one story; its DNA tells another. For decades, the extinct Miracinonyx trumani was known as the “American cheetah” because its long legs, slender body and adaptations for speed made it look remarkably similar to Africa’s modern cheetahs. But a new genetic study has overturned that long-held picture. Published in…

Indoor cat wearing a cat collar and bell. Image Credit: Wikipedia Domestic cats can be effective hunters of birds, but a simple change to what they wear may make it harder for them to catch their flying prey. A study of 94 outdoor cats in New York and Florida found that they brought home 61%…

The system is called WHOLISTIC, short form for Whole Organism Live Imaging System for recording Tissue and IntraCellular activity. The body is never truly quiet. Even when an animal appears to be resting, billions of cells are sending signals, responding to changes and coordinating with organs far beyond their immediate surroundings. For scientists, the challenge…

A busy bird feeding station. Image Credit: Tim Felce/Wikimedia Commons Food and water stations intended to help wild birds may also help a potentially deadly parasite spread between species, according to a study published in Molecular Ecology. Researchers found that Trichomonas gallinae, a parasite that causes trichomonosis, was widespread among birds and in shared food…

The bath was incorporated directly into the emperor’s palace, with its heating system, bathing areas and sophisticated architecture working together within a relatively compact space. Nearly 1,700 years ago, an emperor could retreat from the demands of the Roman court without leaving his palace. Beneath a monumental tower in what is now eastern Serbia, he…

PC: Study: Shell-Dense Island Off Culasawani, Vanua Levu Island, Fiji: Midden or Muddle? Archaeologists investigating Fiji’s Vanua Levu have identified a small coastal island whose sediments are made up largely of discarded shellfish remains. The site, near Culasawani on the island’s north coast, covers about 3,000 square metres and contains a shell-rich deposit that makes…

Coconut Husk. Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons Royal Society of Chemistry(RSC) Advances published a study which found that green coconut husk waste could remove 95.5% of Congo red dye from water within 80 minutes. The researchers modified the coconut-derived lignin by adding nitrogen-containing groups, creating what they called aminated lignin. Under the best conditions tested, only…