Mar 17th, 2026 - Follow Earth on Google If you picture a juvenile blue crab's biggest problem as avoiding hungry fish, a new study suggests you're missing the real threat. In the mid-salinity parts of Chesapeake Bay – where many young crabs gather as they grow – the main predator isn't striped bass or anything else with fins. It's bigger blue crabs. A long-running field study from the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center ( SERC ) found that cannibalism was essentially the only source of predation the researchers detected on juvenile blue crabs in a mid-salinity tributary. The good news is ... [Read More]

Mar 17th, 2026 - It's quick and easy to access Live Science Plus, simply enter your email below. We'll send you a confirmation and sign you up for our daily newsletter, keeping you up to date with the latest science news. Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Join the conversation Add us as a preferred source on Google Get the Live Science Newsletter Get the world's most fascinating discoveries delivered straight to your inbox. By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. You are now subscribed Your newsletter sign-up was successful ... [Read More]

Mar 17th, 2026 - The UK government has committed to investing £1bn over the next four years to enable the country to win the race to deliver quantum computing at scale . The funding is made up of over £500m dedicated to helping quantum computing companies scale and develop uses for the technology in areas such as pharmaceuticals, financial services and energy. Over £400m of the overall funding is targeted to support breakthroughs in sensing and navigation, and the skills and infrastructure needed to bring these technologies to market. Dedicated funding of ... [Read More]

Mar 16th, 2026 - Quantum computing is no longer a technology of the future. Its ecosystem is being built now, and states that make meaningful investments early in quantum's mainstream development will reap the rewards. Quantum computing is an emerging class of advanced computing that complements classical supercomputers and AI accelerators, enabling new capabilities for certain scientific, industrial and national security applications when tightly integrated with high-performance computing (HPC) infrastructure. After years of being described as a distant research effort, quantum technologies are entering an ... [Read More]

Mar 16th, 2026 - It's far from clear if the weather is planning to cooperate, but spring arrives — technically, at least — Friday. The vernal equinox arrives on Friday, marking the start of the spring season for the Northern Hemisphere and the fall in the Southern Hemisphere. On the equator, the sun will be directly overhead at noon. Equinoxes are the only times when both the North and South poles are lit by sunshine at the same time. Equinoxes have been marked and celebrated around the world for centuries. In Japan, for example, Vernal Equinox Day is a public holiday. At the Mayan site Chichen ... [Read More]

Mar 16th, 2026 - First of all, don't panic. The first warm days of spring don't just draw gardeners out into the sunshine. Snakes also come out of hibernation to enjoy the warmth, search for food, and find a mate. While they like to bask on a warm driveway, it's not uncommon to find them slithering through your garden or curled up under the shrubs in your flower beds. If you do see a snake in your garden , don't panic. Snakes tend to trigger fear. It's easy to see why when their bodies can take up the length of your flower bed and their camouflage keeps them well hidden. But these reptiles do have some ... [Read More]

Mar 16th, 2026 - Cambodia has reported a new human case of H5N1 bird flu in a woman, the country's second confirmed case so far this year. confirmed the case on Saturday in a 45-year-old woman from Ropai Village in Banteay Meanchey Province, near the Thailand border. She was hospitalized and is under close medical care. The woman told health officials she raised chickens and ducks and had handled some that died. Officials also said there were reports of dead chickens and ducks in the village. Officials are collecting samples from individuals who had contact with the patient. Close contacts are being treated ... [Read More]

Mar 16th, 2026 - Reading time 3 minutes Early Earth was a brutally hot, volcanically active, radiation-bathed wasteland. Somehow amid this hostility, the necessary ingredients for life must have appeared, but where did they come from? Astronomers have been working to answer that question for decades. They have developed several hypotheses, one of which suggests that asteroids and comets delivered the ingredients to Earth over the course of many collisions. A study published today in Nature Astronomy adds to a growing body of evidence to support this idea, finding all five nucleobases in samples of the ... [Read More]