More from Laura Baisas (Page 19)

A mosquito sitting on a bright green leaf.

Rare homegrown malaria cases in the US force health advisory, but don’t panic yet

By Laura Baisas

Pouring a cup of hot coffee into a mug.

The ‘experience’ of a cup of coffee may be just as stimulating as its caffeine

By Laura Baisas

A spider monkey stands on a tree branch with a baby monkey on her back.

The ancestor of all placental mammals survived the dino-killing asteroid

By Laura Baisas

A saltwater crocodile peering up over green-ish water.

Why scientists gave vaccines to farmed crocodiles

By Laura Baisas

An orangutan sits in the forest and looks forward with its hands under its chin.

Orangutans can make two sounds at the same time

By Laura Baisas

An artist's illustration of a megalogon, which went extinct 3.6 million years ago and are believed to have grown to lengths of 50 feet.

Megalodons were likely warm-blooded, despite being stone-cold killers

By Laura Baisas

A close-up of a katydid, an insect with six long and lean legs.

A 50-million-year-old insect testicle is one lucky find

By Laura Baisas

Close-up photos of three fossil animal specimens from the same area and time horizon as the fossil hominin tibia studied by the research team. These fossils show similar cut marks to those found on the hominin tibia studied. The photos show (a) an antelope mandible, (b) an antelope radius (lower front leg bone) and (c) a large mammal scapula (shoulder blade).

Cut-up prehistoric bone raises questions about early human cannibalism

By Laura Baisas

Astronomers studying a powerful gamma-ray burst (GRB) with the International Gemini Observatory, operated by NSF’s NOIRLab, may have observed a never-before-seen way to destroy a star. Unlike most GRBs, which are caused by exploding massive stars or the chance mergers of neutron stars, astronomers have concluded that this GRB came instead from the collision of stars or stellar remnants in the jam-packed environment surrounding a supermassive black hole at the core of an ancient galaxy.

Explosive star ‘demolition derby’ observed for the very first time

By Laura Baisas

An artist’s reconstruction of Olympicetus thalassodon pursuing a school of fishes alongside plotopterid birds (background) somewhere in the eastern North Pacific Ocean.

This dolphin ancestor looked like a cross between Flipper and Moby Dick

By Laura Baisas

An aerial view of the excavation site in Tiel, Netherlands. The excavation of the 4,000 year old sanctuary began in 2017.

Newly discovered ‘Stonehenge of the Netherlands’ is 4,000 years old

By Laura Baisas

A school of grunts and horse-eye jack fish swim above a reef in Hol Chan Marine Reserve near Ambergris Cay, Belize.

Fish are thriving near marine protected areas—and so are coastal communities

By Laura Baisas

Two small huts near clear, turquoise tropical waters in Tobacco Caye, Belize. he Central American country is the third nation this year to be certified malaria-free.

After a 70-year battle, the WHO declares Belize malaria-free

By Laura Baisas

Examples of engravings discovered in the Roche-Cotard cave (Indre et Loire - France). On the left, the "circular panel" (ogive-shaped tracings) and on the right the "wavy panel" (two contiguous tracings forming sinuous lines).

Neanderthals were likely creating art 57,000 years ago

By Laura Baisas

Bumblebee pollinator over red and orange flowers

Microscopic worms use electricity to ride bumblebees like EVs

By Laura Baisas

A white Andalusian horse galloping in a field.

Horses once had multiple hoofed toes

By Laura Baisas

An old scale used for calculating body weight.

New medical policy finally address the limitations and flaws of BMI

By Laura Baisas

A summer sunrise over a grassy meadow.

‘Unprecedented’ ocean temperatures and extreme heat waves pop up around the globe

By Laura Baisas

An archaeologist uncovers a skull and bones. The Trumpington Cross was found during the excavation of the burial in 2012.

This 7th-century teen was buried with serious bling—and we now know what she may have looked like

By Laura Baisas

A glow-worm on a leaf.

Bright white lights are a buzzkill for glow-worm romance

By Laura Baisas

Two ants facing one another. Ants release a pheromone that helps other ants sense danger.

Ants brains are surprisingly good at communicating danger to others

By Laura Baisas

A Tyrannosaurus Rex menaces the theme park's first customers in a scene from the 1993 film Jurassic Park.

Celebrate 30 years of Jurassic Park with these recent dinosaur discoveries

By Laura Baisas

Paramecium bursaria under a microscope. All creatures whose cells house a nucleus, including Paramecium bursaria, can be traced back to a common ancestor called the Last Eukaryotic Common Ancestor (LECA).

Newfound single-celled hunters may have been Earth’s first-ever predators

By Laura Baisas

An illustration of the rhynchosaur Bentonyx from the Middle Triassic of Devon, about 245 million years ago.

This ancient reptile had a deadly vegetarian diet

By Laura Baisas

The California two-spot octopus (Bimaculoides) is the first octopus species to have its genome sequenced and is very helpful for studying cephalopods.

Octopuses rewrite their own RNA to survive freezing temperatures

By Laura Baisas

A summit eruption of Kīlauea volcano, within Halemaʻumaʻu crater, began at approximately 4:44 AM on June 7, 2023. Lava is flowing on the crater floor and there are several active vent sources. The eruption at Kīlauea’s summit is occurring within a closed area of Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park and high levels of volcanic gas are the primary hazard of concern.

Hawaii’s Mount Kīlauea volcano erupts again—and you can watch it live

By Laura Baisas

Four kittens standing in grass. Less invasive measures could protect stray cats and the environment.

A new shot can be a safe and effective alternative to surgical spaying

By Laura Baisas

The Downtown Manhattan skyline stands shrouded in a reddish haze as a result of Canadian wildfires on June 6, 2023 in New York City. Over 100 wildfires are burning in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia and Quebec resulting in air quality health alerts for the Adirondacks, Eastern Lake Ontario, Central New York, and Western New York.

Wildfire smoke is choking the eastern United States

By Laura Baisas

A monkey laying on a tree smiling.

Super semen could be one reason why primates evolved to masturbate

By Laura Baisas

An entrance to the Dinaledi Chamber of the Rising Star Cave system, part of the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site near Johannesburg, South Africa. Newly found grave sites and wall engravings have led a team of archeologists to reevaluate the meaning-making capacity of an early human ancestor, Homo naledi.

Extinct human cousins may have beaten us to inventing burial rituals

By Laura Baisas

A doctor examines a chest x-ray.

A daily pill could cut lung cancer deaths in half, new study shows

By Laura Baisas

A badger in a forest on a rainy day.

Air quality monitoring stations could help track and preserve threatened species

By Laura Baisas

An elk grazing in Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming.

The role of people in preserving nature, according to America’s National Parks docuseries

By Laura Baisas

An conservator from English Heritage looks at one of over 50 pairs of tweezers Roman men and women used to remove armpit hair.

The Roman Britons cared a lot about hair removal, and it shows in artifacts

By Laura Baisas

A moth with wings extended outward lands on a flower.

This massively underrated pollinator needs your help

By Laura Baisas

A graphic rendering of the ESA's Mars Express orbiter. Mars Express lifted off from Baikonur Cosmodrome aboard a Soyuz–Fregat rocket on June 2, 2003. It entered orbit around Mars on December 25, 2003 and reached its operational orbit in January 2004. The initial mission duration was one Martian year (687 Earth days), completed in September 2005.

Witness space history by tuning into the first almost-live stream from Mars

By Laura Baisas

The adult gomphothere skull (foreground, tusk capped in white plaster) was separated from the main body (background, covered in plaster) prior to its preservation.

Elephants once roamed Florida—and scientists just stumbled on a graveyard full of them

By Laura Baisas

A mother and baby golden snub nosed monkey. These primates live in mountainous regions of southwestern China. Longer periods of maternal care may have helped them form more complex societies.

Chilly climates may have forged stronger social bonds in some primates

By Laura Baisas

An artist’s reconstruction of an Australian pterosaur flying with a large wingspan.

Dinosaur Cove reveals a petite pterosaur species

By Laura Baisas

A satellite view of Hurricane Florence in 2018. Atlantic hurricane seasons runs from June 1 to November 30.

NOAA predicts a ‘near-normal’ Atlantic hurricane season for 2023

By Laura Baisas

A full moon rises with clouds below. June's Strawberry Moon peaks on June 3.

A Strawberry Moon, solstice, and meteor shower will dance across the skies this June

By Laura Baisas

A microphone on a dark stage.

A lost ‘bawdy bard’ act reveals roots of naughty British comedy

By Laura Baisas

Reassembled partial skeleton Ambulator keanei with silhouette demonstrating advanced adaptations for quadrupedal, graviportal walking.

This 500-pound Australian marsupial had feet made for walkin’

By Laura Baisas

A saltwater crocodile with its mouth wide open.

Snorkeler pries crocodile’s jaws off his head to survive attack

By Laura Baisas

A close up of a skull and teeth.

Plague DNA was just found in 4,000-year-old teeth

By Laura Baisas

A walker in sneakers, with the bottom of the shoe visible.

Fitness & Exercise

Evolution of human foot arches put the necessary pep in our upright steps

By Laura Baisas

A sloth hangs in a tree in Costa Rica. The mammals have the slowest digestive system of any animal on Earth. It can take sloths two weeks to digest an entire meal, and they sleep about 20 hours a day to conserve energy.

Sloth schedules are surprisingly flexible

By Laura Baisas

The weevil Anchylorhynchus trapezicollis is the main pollinator of South American palm Syagrus coronata. Here, the weevil is seen on a female flower, touching the receptive parts and leaving pollen grains in the process.

Move over, bees: The lowly weevil is a power pollinator

By Laura Baisas

A sign that reads "Protect Our Waters" outside of the US Supreme Court before a rally to call for protection of the Clean Water Act on October 3, 2022. As the term began, the court was hearing arguments in the case of Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency.

Wetlands lose some environmental protections in new Supreme Court ruling

By Laura Baisas

For the first time after more than a decade of work by researchers in France and Switzerland, a paralyzed man has regained the ability to walk naturally using only his thoughts thanks to two implants that restored communication between his brain and spinal cord. The press conference was held in Lausanne on May 23, 2023.

AI-assisted brain and spine implants helped a paralyzed man control his legs again

By Laura Baisas

The sun over the ocean. Over 5,000 species could be at risk if deep sea mining begins in the Pacific Ocean's Clarion-Clipperton Zone.

A deep sea mining zone in the remote Pacific is also a goldmine of unique species

By Laura Baisas

Visible satellite image of Super Typhoon Mawar on Tuesday, May 23, 2023. At the time, Mawar had sustained 1-minute winds of 155 mph.

Guam hit by strongest ‘Super Typhoon’ in decades

By Laura Baisas

Meningococcal bacteria under a microscope. According to the World Health Organization, meningitis caused an estimated 25,000 deaths in 2019.

Meningitis shot that fights 5 different strains shows promise in latest trial

By Laura Baisas

A spiny mouse standing on a rock. Spiny mice can regenerate skin, muscle, nerves, spinal cord, and possibly cardiac tissue.

African spiny mouse joins a small but mighty group of bony plated mammals

By Laura Baisas

Climate justice campaigners march from the Shell Centre to Trafalgar Square to demand urgent climate finance and reparations for loss and damage for global south communities on November, 12 2022 in London. The march was organized by the Climate Justice Coalition as part of a Global Day of Action called by African climate campaign groups at COP27.

Chevron’s carbon offsets are mostly ‘junk,’ according to global watchdog investigation

By Laura Baisas

A polar bear stands on sea ice.

The Montreal Protocol had a dramatic ice-saving side effect

By Laura Baisas

A group of yellow and fuzzy baby chicks.

How a sniff test could make sexing chicks more humane

By Laura Baisas

A bathtub ring seen above the waterline o the brown and red rocks around Lake Powell, Utah due to drought that reduced the flow of the Colorado River.

Colorado River deals pays Arizona, California, and Nevada $1.2 billion to use less water

By Laura Baisas

A detailed example of a light bridge crossing a sunspot’s umbra. Hot solar material (plasma) rises in the bright centers of these surrounding “cells,” cools off, and then sinks below the surface in dark lanes in a process known as convection.

See hot plasma bubble on the sun’s surface in powerful closeup images

By Laura Baisas

An artist’s illustration of the giant gorgonopsian Inostrancevia with its dicynodont prey, scaring off the much smaller African species Cyonosaurus.

This tiger-sized, saber-toothed, rhino-skinned predator thrived before the ‘Great Dying’

By Laura Baisas

The lower Manhattan skyline at dusk.

NYC is sinking and climate change is only making it worse

By Laura Baisas

NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover captured this mosaic of an isolated hill nicknamed “Pinestand.” Scientists think sedimentary layers stacked on top of one another here could have been formed by a deep, fast-moving river

Mars rover snaps pics of dusty craters that may have once roared with water

By Laura Baisas

A newly hatched California condor.

Thriving baby California condor is a ray of hope for the unique species

By Laura Baisas

A rendering of the newly discovered Protathlitis cinctorrensis near coastal areas where it lived during the Cretaceous Period.

A giant new spinosaur species has been unearthed in Spain

By Laura Baisas

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