Below, co-authors Michael Wong and Robert Hazen share five key insights from their new book, Time’s Second Arrow: Evolution, Order, and a New Law of Nature. Michael and Robert are researchers at the Carnegie Institution for Science’s Earth and Planets Laboratory. Robert is a veteran geoscientist who has done highly influential work in mineralogy and
Scientists using the James Webb Space Telescope just mapped the mysterious upper atmosphere of Uranus for the first time, revealing strange new features of the planet’s mysterious magnetic field and glowing auroras. The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) observed Uranus rotating for 15 hours (nearly a full Uranian day) to learn more about how ice
Astronomers have captured the first views of a young sun-like star blowing bubbles, offering a rare glimpse at how our solar neighborhood might have behaved in its youth. Using NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, researchers observed HD 61005 — a young star located about 120 light-years from Earth with roughly the same mass and temperature as
A broken face sculpture with a beautiful chin. Image credits: ALEJANDRO POHLENZ/Unsplash The human chin is uniquely human, and the assumption has always been that it must have evolved for a specific purpose, perhaps to strengthen the jaw during chewing or speech. After all, chimpanzees and gorillas don’t have chins. Neither did Neanderthals nor Denisovans.
Anyone who lives around, works with, or simply loves horses will know they can be noisy characters. Three of the main sounds they make include whinnies (the loud neighing sounds they’re known for), squeals, and nickers. Nickers are deep sounds because of their low frequency, while squeals are much higher. But whinnies are a unique
A new study published in Science Advances has revealed that prototaxites—the giant structures that towered over Earth’s landscapes some 400 million years ago—were neither plants, nor fungi, nor animals. Instead, they belonged to a completely unknown and now‑extinct lineage. The research, led by Corentin Loron and colleagues, shows that Prototaxites taiti was not a fungus
Whinnies seem to play a role in horses’ social interactions. Credit: Mumemories/Getty The horse whinny, or neigh, has been a familiar sound at least since the animal was domesticated, around 4,200 years ago. But until now, scientists didn’t understand how horses produced this characteristic vocalization. New research shows that horses (Equus ferus caballus) whinny by
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station to begin the Starlink 6-110 mission on Feb. 24, 2026. Image: Adam Bernstein/Spaceflight Now Update Feb. 24, 7:10 p.m. EST (0010 UTC): SpaceX confirms deployment of the 29 Starlink satellites. SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket
Summary: The amygdala has long been pigeonholed as the brain’s “primitive fear center,” but new research suggests it is actually a highly sophisticated strategic mediator. The study shows that the amygdala helps the brain choose between two fundamental learning strategies: action-based (focusing on motor movements) and stimulus-based (focusing on the identity of an object). When
Whistle while you whinny: researchers identify two sounds straight from the horse’s mouth Nature How a Horse Whinnies: With a Whistle and a Song The New York Times The secrets of neighing are finally revealed Le Monde.fr ‘Singing and whistling’ the secret behind a horse’s whinny, study reveals Australian Broadcasting Corporation A horse’s whinny is unlike any other sound