Neandertals were the first hominids to turn forest into grassland 125,000 years ago
Neandertals took Stone Age landscaping to a previously unrecognized level. Around 125,000 years ago, these close human relatives transformed a largely forested area bordering...
SCIENTIFIC NEWS
Quantum physics requires imaginary numbers to explain reality
Imaginary numbers might seem like unicorns and goblins — interesting but irrelevant to reality. But for describing matter at its roots, imaginary numbers turn...
In 2021, COVID-19 vaccines were put to the test. Here’s what we learned
2021 was the year the COVID-19 vaccines had to prove their mettle. We started the year full of hope: With vaccines in hand in...
How sleep may boost creativity
The twilight time between fully awake and sound asleep may be packed with creative potential. People who recently drifted off into a light sleep...
A bacteria-virus arms race could lead to a new way to treat shigellosis
When some bacteria manage to escape being killed by a virus, the microbes end up hamstringing themselves. And that could be useful in the...
Cicada science heats up when Brood X emerges. 2021 was no exception
In one of history’s weird coincidences, the second summer of a global pandemic brought Johns Hopkins biologist Ethan Allen Andrews out on a Baltimore...
Antarctica’s Thwaites Glacier ice shelf could collapse within five years
The demise of a West Antarctic glacier poses the world’s biggest threat to raise sea levels before 2100 — and an ice shelf that’s...
The only known pulsar duo sheds new light on general relativity and more
The only known duo of pulsars has just revealed a one-of-a-kind heap of cosmic insights. For over 16 years, scientists have been observing the...
The cosmic ‘Cow’ may have produced a new neutron star or black hole
A cosmic flare-up called the Cow seems to have left behind a black hole or neutron star. When the flash was spotted in June...
2021 research reinforced that mating across groups drove human evolution
Evidence that cross-continental Stone Age networking events powered human evolution ramped up in 2021. A long-standing argument that Homo sapiens originated in East Africa...
Ukraine: Oleshky ceasefire offers ‘hope’ for civilians as attacks on aid vehicles continue 
World News in Brief: 300,000 displaced in Lebanon, Türk ‘deeply concerned’ over Novaya Gazeta closure, $50 million refugee appeal, World Cities Day 
DR Congo: Hunger deepens for millions amid conflict, Ebola and climate shocks 
African Athletes Should be Free to be Themselves