Ant eating is widely distributed across mammalian lineages. If you were to design the strangest diet possible, eating nothing but ants and termites would probably make the shortlist. Yet over the past 66 million years, mammals across the globe have repeatedly gone down this path—not once or twice, but…
“This is a strategy to keep the US from intervening… that’s what their space architecture is designed to do.” US defense officials have long worried that China’s Guowang satellite network might give the Chinese military access to the kind of ubiquitous connectivity US forces now enjoy with SpaceX’s Starlink…
Ancient teeth reveal that a stimulant has been used since the Bronze Age. Ancient rituals and customs often leave behind obvious archaeological evidence. From the impeccably preserved mummies of Egypt to psychoactive substance residue that remained at the bottom of a clay vessel for thousands of years, it seems…
The Senate is restoring science funding to normal levels; that may not be enough. It’s pretty obvious at this point that the Trump administration is waging a full-scale assault on US science. It has proposed budgets that would be catastrophic, stopped the flow of research funds to a number…
Adding a pre-spin affects shuttlecock’s oscillating behavior, depending on direction of rotation. Serious badminton players are constantly exploring different techniques to give them an edge over opponents. One of the latest innovations is the spin serve, a devastatingly effective method in which a player adds a pre-spin just before…
Visitors have unearthed over 35,000 diamonds at Crater of Diamonds State Park since 1972. In southwest Arkansas, the state government runs what might be the world’s most unusual diamond mine. For the price of a movie ticket, anyone can dig for diamonds at Crater of Diamonds State Park—and keep…
Cocaine normally makes the heart race, but in this case the dog was lethargic, with a slower heart rate. Every dog owner knows that canines are natural scavengers and that vigilance is required to ensure they don’t eat toxic substances. But accidental ingestions still happen—like the chihuahua who vets…
The good news is that, for now, Erin appears unlikely to directly strike land. After several days of working its way across the open and at times hostile Atlantic Ocean this week, Hurricane Erin found more favorable conditions and exploded in intensity on Friday night. Shortly before noon on…
New experiments focused on understanding the enigmatic neutrino may offer insights. Everything we see around us, from the ground beneath our feet to the most remote galaxies, is made of matter. For scientists, that has long posed a problem: According to physicists’ best current theories, matter and its counterpart,…
“SpaceX can now proceed with Starship Flight 10 launch operations under its current license.” SpaceX is continuing with final preparations for the 10th full-scale test flight of the company’s enormous Starship rocket after receiving launch approval Friday from the Federal Aviation Administration. Engineers completed a final test of Starship’s…
