COVID-19 has killed a million Americans. Our minds can’t comprehend that number
One million deaths. That is now roughly the toll of COVID-19 in the United States. And that official milestone is almost certainly an undercount....
SCIENTIFIC NEWS
A Denisovan girl’s fossil tooth may have been unearthed in Laos
A molar tooth from Southeast Asia probably belonged to a member of a cryptic group of Stone Age hominids called Denisovans, researchers say. If...
Pressure to conform to social norms may explain risky COVID-19 decisions
The pandemic has entered a murky stage, and social norms are quickly shifting, something I’ve thought a lot about lately. Many people are testing...
High-energy neutrinos may come from black holes ripping apart stars
When a star gets too close to a black hole, sparks fly. And, potentially, so do subatomic particles called neutrinos. A dramatic light show...
A ‘mystery monkey’ in Borneo may be a rare hybrid. That has scientists worried
Six years ago, tour guide Brenden Miles was traveling down the Kinabatangan River in the Malaysian part of Borneo, when he spotted an odd-looking...
Farmers in India cut their carbon footprint with trees and solar power
In 2007, 22-year-old P. Ramesh’s groundnut farm was losing money. As was the norm in most of India (and still is), Ramesh was using...
A special brew may have calmed Inca children headed for sacrifice
Two Inca children slated for ritual sacrifice more than 500 years ago quaffed a special soothing concoction that has gone undetected until now. Those...
NASA’s InSight lander has recorded the largest Marsquake yet
Any Martians out there should learn to duck and cover. On May 4, the Red Planet was rocked by a roughly magnitude 5 temblor,...
Experiments hint at why bird nests are so sturdy
To build its nest, a bird won’t go for any old twig. Somehow, birds pick and choose material that will create a cozy, sturdy...
Prehistoric people may have used light from fires to create dynamic art
Prehistoric people may have used firelight to create the illusion of movement in their art. An analysis of 50 engraved stones excavated in France...
Uganda’s UN-supported wildlife forensics lab turns ivory seizures into convictions 
World News in Brief: Cycle of violence continues in Haiti, seafarer deaths off Somalia, food insecurity in the Middle East 
Collective action needed to tackle global information crisis, UN-led dialogue hears 
Ukraine war ‘a human rights catastrophe’ that must end, says Türk