
This ancient South American kingdom ran on bird poop
Maize farmers in Peru’s Chincha Valley were fertilizing their crops with seabird poop as early as the year 1250

This ancient South American kingdom ran on bird poop
Maize farmers in Peru’s Chincha Valley were fertilizing their crops with seabird poop as early as the year 1250

Earth’s core may contain 45 oceans’ worth of hydrogen
An experiment to quantify the amount of the universe’s lightest element in Earth’s core suggests that the planet’s water has mostly been here since the beginning


The quirky geology behind Olympic curling stones
The rocks used in the Olympic sport of curling come from one island in Scotland and one quarry in Wales. What makes them so special?

Why has this winter been so cold?
While it’s been a frigid winter in the eastern U.S., the western region of the country has seen record warmth

Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime show highlighted Puerto Rico’s power grid. Here’s why
Bad Bunny performed part of the Super Bowl halftime show from a power-line-themed set, drawing attention to the problem of widespread blackouts in Puerto Rico

Yellowstone’s earthquakes spark microbial boom deep underground
Earthquake swarms can supercharge microbial growth

Babies keep the beat as Artemis slips, solar flares blast and PFAS rise
Babies show innate rhythm as NASA’s Artemis II mission hits delays, a major solar flare erupts and concerns grow over PFAS “forever chemicals”

Ancient seafarers helped shape Arctic ecosystems
Humans might have been sailing the sea between Greenland and Canada as long as it’s been unfrozen, archaeological evidence suggests

Snakes on a train? King cobras may be riding the rails in India
A new study suggests king cobras may be accidentally boarding trains across India
Do apes have an imagination? A new study suggests Kanzi the bonobo did
This famous ape may have understood pretend actions—suggesting he had the capacity to imagine

Frigid air creates mesmerizing ‘cloud streets’ around Florida
As temperatures plunged across the eastern U.S., a breathtaking cloud pattern took shape off the coasts of Florida

Why bits of continents keep turning up in the middle of oceans
It turns out that continental breakups are just as messy as human ones, with the events leaving fragments scattered far from home