Jan 22nd, 2026 - Nautilus Members enjoy an ad-free experience. . A ncient kangaroos were huge. A modern kangaroo maxes out at 200 pounds, while some of their forebearers were as massive as 550 pounds. Given their size, paleontologists have analyzed whether the ancestors would have hopped in classic modern kangaroo style. The consensus from studies that have extrapolated body scaling proportions of modern kangaroos to ancient ones has been that their ankle and foot anatomy didn't offer sufficient strength to propel their weight into a hop. Nautilus Members enjoy an ad-free experience. But a study published ... [Read More]

Jan 22nd, 2026 - Feds Warn US May Lose Quantum Race Without Sustained Research Funding A lapsed federal law significantly strengthened coordination across the federal government, academia and industry on quantum computing - but gaps in authorization threaten to undermine progress, officials told lawmakers Thursday. Senior leaders from the Department of Energy, National Institute of Standards and Technology, NASA and the National Science Foundation testified before the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology that the National Quantum Initiative Act of 2018 created a long-absent national framework for ... [Read More]

Jan 21st, 2026 - Hand stencils found in an Indonesian cave have been dated to back to at least 67,800 years ago, making it the world's oldest-known rock art.    The team behind the discovery suggest the location of the find provides more evidence that Australia's first people arrived around 65,000 years ago.  As there is limited evidence of humans in the area during that time period, the team are investigating other limestone caves to gather more evidence of occupation.  Tens of thousands of years ago in what is now Indonesia, a human made their mark by placing their hand upon a cave ... [Read More]

Jan 21st, 2026 - Variants in maternal genes associated with chromosome errors in embryos that increase risk of miscarriage By studying genetic data from nearly 140,000 IVF embryos, scientists have with unprecedented detail revealed why fewer than half of human conceptions survive to birth. The research uncovered the strongest evidence yet for how common genetic differences leave some individuals more vulnerable to pregnancy loss. The vast dataset allowed the Johns Hopkins University-led team to demonstrate robust connections between specific variations in a mother's DNA and their risk of miscarriage. The ... [Read More]

Jan 21st, 2026 - A hand stencil found in a cave in Sulawesi has been assessed as being at least 67,800 years old Archaeologists have discovered what they believe is the world's oldest known rock art, in a cave off the island of Sulawesi, Indonesia. The hand stencil has been dated to at least 67,800 years ago, making it 1,100 years older than the earliest example of rock art that was known about before this, produced in Spain by Neanderthals. The Sulawesi work may, its finders say, provide insights into the migration of early humans to Australia. "Making this discovery was both thrilling and humbling. Seeing ... [Read More]

Jan 21st, 2026 - Researchers from the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore (NUS Medicine), and Duke University have proposed a neuroscience framework explaining how different types of motivation fundamentally reshape what and how the brain remembers. The study, published in the Annual Review of Psychology , reframes motivation not merely as "more effort" but as a set of distinct motivational moods that activate different systems in the brain, shaping memory outcomes in predictable ways. The study sheds light on two motivational moods-an adaptation-driven "interrogative mood" ... [Read More]

Jan 21st, 2026 - Veronika's improvised grooming device has caused great surprise – but that tells us more about humans than cows I have a farmer friend who regularly regales me with colourful stories of her cattle. Take the time when a beef cow called Noisette used her tongue to pull back the catch on the door of her pen so she could steal cattle nuts from the nearby feed bin. Or the time when she did it again, not to let herself out, but seemingly to stand back and watch as her freed compatriots "mooched around and caused mayhem." Where others see a herd of cows standing around looking bored, my ... [Read More]

Jan 21st, 2026 - [co-author: Walter DeGroft] Guess who's back. Back again. Quantum's back. Tell your friends. [1] For the third time in three years, the duo of Sen. Todd Young [R-IN] and Sen. Dick Durbin [D-IL] have introduced a bill to reauthorize federal funding in the quantum space. Namely, on Jan. 8, 2026, Sen. Durbin announced that he will be joining Sen. Young, and Sen. Maria Cantwell [D-WA] to introduce another bipartisan National Quantum Initiative Reauthorization Act. [2] Sen. Durbin's continued push for funding is unsurprising given the flurry of recent quantum activity in Illinois. For example, as ... [Read More]