Science

Sharks off the coast of the Bahamas are getting into drugs like cocaine, caffeine and painkillers — or rather, drugs are getting into them. The contaminated blood of species including nurse sharks and Caribbean reef sharks reveals the damage...

Platypuses just got weirder.As if a mammal that lays eggs, senses electricity with its bill and fluoresces isn’t enough of a headscratcher, now it appears platypuses also share a feature with birds. Tiny pigment-filled packets in the mammals’ hair...

In one of the biggest surprises of NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission, its target asteroid, Bennu, turned out to be a jagged, rugged world covered in large boulders, with few of the smooth patches that earlier observations from Earth-based instruments had...

The data your smartwatch already collects could soon help flag an early warning sign for type 2 diabetes.Hidden in the patterns of heart rate, sleep and daily activity captured by everyday wearables are subtle clues that, when combined with...

A haunting whale song discovered on decades-old audio equipment could open up a new understanding of how the huge animals communicate, according to researchers who say it's the oldest such recording known.The song is that...

NASA has selected eight student teams as finalists in the 2026 Gateways to Blue Skies Competition, giving them the resources to help address a critical challenge for U.S. aviation: maintenance.  Challenges facing the commercial aviation industry include a shortage of qualified maintenance workers and increasing demands to keep complicated aircraft running for...

A brain repair kit that helps yaks and other animals naturally cope with low oxygen levels at high altitudes may point to a new way to treat brain diseases such as multiple sclerosis. In mice with brain damage that...

A handful of tiny molecules circulating in the blood may help identify which older adults are most likely to survive the next two years, researchers report February 24 in Aging Cell.In a study of more than 1,200 people 71...

In northern Vermont, where I live, old newspaper clippings show pictures of people driving trucks across Lake Champlain. Those icy, ephemeral corridors, though, seem like relics of a bygone era.Roughly half a century ago, maybe more, the region started...

At any given moment, about 20 volcanoes on Earth are actively erupting. Often among them is Mayon—the most active volcano in the Philippines. The nearly symmetrical stratovolcano, on Luzon Island near the Albay and Lagonoy gulfs, rises more than 2,400 meters...