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Nature
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As grandiose as we might think our civilizations have become, we are but the latest entry in the long chronicle detailing life on Earth. We humans share this planet with fellow organisms whose vast numbers completely tower over our own. We borrowed this planet from its previous inhabitants from eons ago and whose lives were written on the soil-turned-rock on which they were laid to rest. Modern Sciences urges its readers to contemplate our planetary co-inhabitants, both past and present.
Prehistoric Planet: Was Carnotaurus a Charmer?
Snippets from the recently-aired dinosaur feature “Prehistoric Planet” showed giant predatory dinosaurs like Carnotaurus, which had ridiculously tiny…
This mosquito species from Papua New Guinea was lost for 90 years – until a photographer snapped a picture of it in Australia
Tracking mosquitoes in our backyards, such as Aedes notoscriptus, helps authorities work out future health risks. Cameron Webb…
Hotter Kalahari desert may stop hornbills breeding by 2027
Southern Yellow-billed Hornbills struggled to breed at high temperatures. Nicholas B. Pattinson Nicholas B. Pattinson, University of Cape…
Five facts about the gruesome beauty of solitary wasps
Malloscelis taiwanianus, a spider wasp, found in Sichuan, China. Shutterstock Seirian Sumner, UCL Most people recognise a wasp…
My job is full of fossilised poop, but there’s nothing icky about ichnology
The author and a colleague on the hunt for fossil traces. Morena Nava Lara Sciscio, Jurassica Museum If…
Stinky seaweed is clogging Caribbean beaches – but a New Zealand solution could turn it into green power and fertiliser
Getty Images Saeid Baroutian, University of Auckland and Terrell Thompson, University of Auckland Rotting seaweed has plagued the…
What Exactly Was a “Cave Lion?”
PBS Eons takes us on a tour of the latest findings about the long-extinct relatives of today’s African…
When is a species really extinct?
Dodos have been extinct for centuries, but it’s not a simple matter to definitively designate a species as…
Into the ocean twilight zone: how new technology is revealing the secrets of an under-researched undersea world
James Bell, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington; Alice Rogers, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University…
Yorkicystis, the 500 million-year-old relative of starfish that lost its skeleton
Reconstruction of the prehistoric Yorkicystis haefneri adapted from fossil evidence, created by Hugo Salais (Metazoa Studio). Samuel Zamora,…