Prairie voles can find partners just fine without the ‘love hormone’ oxytocin
Prairie voles have long been heralded as models of monogamy. Now, a study suggests that the “love hormone” once thought essential for their bonding...
Mysterious marks on Ice Age cave art may have been a form of record keeping
As far back as roughly 25,000 years ago, Ice Age hunter-gatherers may have jotted down markings to communicate information about the behavior of their...
It’s possible to reach net-zero carbon emissions. Here’s how
Patricia Hidalgo-Gonzalez saw the future of energy on a broiling-hot day last September. An email alert hit her inbox from the San Diego Gas &...
Birds that dive may be at greater risk of extinction
Birds that dive underwater — such as penguins, loons and grebes — may be more likely to go extinct than their nondiving kin, a...
Fossils suggest early primates lived in a once-swampy Arctic
The Arctic today is a hostile place for most primates. But a series of fossils found since the 1970s suggest that wasn’t always the...
A powerful laser can redirect lightning strikes
Like a high-tech hammer of Thor, a powerful laser can grab hold of a lightning bolt and reroute its path through the sky. In...
How rare earth elements’ hidden properties make modern technology possible
In Frank Herbert’s space opera Dune, a precious natural substance called spice melange grants people the ability to navigate vast expanses of the cosmos...
Here’s what you need to know about COVID’s XBB.1.5 ‘Kraken’ variant
The omicron variant’s family tree has grown substantially over the last year. The brood now encompasses a subvariant soup with alphanumeric names such as...
Enceladus is blanketed in a thick layer of snow
Saturn’s moon Enceladus is shrouded in a thick layer of snow. In some places, the downy stuff is 700 meters deep, new research suggests....
Sea life offers a lens for self-exploration in ‘How Far the Light Reaches’
How Far the Light ReachesSabrina ImblerLittle, Brown & Co., $27 In How Far the Light Reaches, Sabrina Imbler shows us that the ocean, in...
A new treatment could restore some mobility in people paralyzed by strokes 
What has Perseverance found in two years on Mars? 
This robot automatically tucks its limbs to squeeze through spaces 
Greta Thunberg’s new book urges the world to take climate action now