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How Two Mummies Rewrote the History of the Green Sahara
Genomic analysis of two 7,000-year-old mummies reveals the inhabitants of the once-lush "Green Sahara" were a genetically isolated population who adopted new technologies through cultural exchange rather than interbreeding.
How Big Does an Asteroid Need to Be to End Humanity?
From city-destroyers to planet-sterilizers, scientists are tracking the asteroids that could one day threaten all life on Earth and developing the technology to prevent them from doing so.
Why Don’t Animals Need to Go to the Gym?
While humans hit the gym to train, animals, from geese to kangaroos, perform incredible feats of endurance and strength through instinct and biological adaptation, rather than through intentional workouts.
Storing Radioactive Waste Is Weirder Than You Think
From deep underwater pools and solid glass cakes to simple empty rooms in hospitals, the ways we store radioactive waste are far weirder than you might imagine.
How Ancient Crocs Survived Two Apocalypses
While modern crocodilians are impressive survivors, their ancestors—from armored plant-eaters to swift two-legged hunters—used entirely different strategies to survive ancient apocalypses and conquer the world.
Why Our Entire World Depends on This One Tree
The modern world relies on natural rubber, a material that cannot be fully replicated, sourced from a single tree species at risk of being wiped out by a devastating disease.
How Fire, Not Spears, Wiped Out America’s Giants
Researchers at the La Brea Tar Pits discovered that a combination of climate change and massive, human-sparked wildfires—not just hunting—led to the extinction of North America’s megafauna.
This Rock Is Older Than the Solar System
Containing the building blocks of DNA and stardust older than the Sun, the Murchison meteorite offers an unprecedented glimpse into the origins of our solar system and life itself.
Why We Drink The World’s Most Harmful Substance
Despite being the most harmful substance on Earth, alcohol's role as a social lubricant creates a dangerous paradox that society is only now beginning to confront.
When Did Humans Learn to Talk? The Evolutionary Mystery of Language
Language is what makes us human, but since words don’t fossilize, their origin is a profound scientific puzzle.…