Apr 2nd, 2025 - A simple tweak could dramatically improve the lifespan of Li-ion batteries. At first, the battery in your phone or electric car works just fine. It charges, discharges, and recharges with smooth regularity. But after months or years, the battery weakens. The charge doesn't last. The range shortens. Scientists have long blamed this aging on stress from high voltages, particularly during charging. Now, a team of scientists in South Korea has identified a silent saboteur within these batteries — and they've found a surprisingly simple way to stop it. Why You Shouldn't Let Your Phone ... [Read More]

Apr 2nd, 2025 - If humanity ever settles on Mars, one of the biggest dangers might not come from deep space, radiation, or even food shortages. It could come from something as seemingly harmless as dust. A new study from researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder reveals that long-term exposure to Martian dust could pose serious health risks for astronauts. These risks range from chronic lung damage to thyroid dysfunction. The research, which brings together experts in medicine, geology, and aerospace engineering, offers the first detailed analysis of the chemical composition of Martian dust and how ... [Read More]

Apr 2nd, 2025 - Every evening, as the sun dips below the horizon, thousands of bats surge out of caves and take to the skies. For those who have watched it up close, the spectacle is unforgettable – dark wings blur together in motion that is so dense, it can seem fluid. Yet amidst this chaos, one mystery remains: how do they all manage to avoid collisions? Despite emerging in massive numbers from tight spaces, bats almost never crash. "The bats don't run into each other," noted Aya Goldshtein from the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior . "Even in colonies of hundreds of thousands of bats all ... [Read More]

Apr 2nd, 2025 - She could have picked up any old stone from the thousands in the ruins of Tel Azeka, an ancient town in Israel . Instead 3-year-old Ziv Nitzan pulled out 3,800-year-old treasure from the Middle Bronze age. "When she rubbed it and removed the sand from it, we saw something was different about it," Ziv's sister, Omer said in a Facebook post released Tuesday by Israel's Antiquities Authority. "I called my parents to come see the beautiful stone, and we realized we had discovered an archaeological find." Experts later identified it as a Canaanite seal or scarab. "Scarabs were used in this period ... [Read More]

Apr 2nd, 2025 - Using environmental DNA analysis and traditional fishing techniques, researchers are seeking answers about the current population of axolotls in their natural habitat. The numbers are alarming. axolotls are critically endangered. According to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species , these aquatic monsters—a national symbol that features on Mexico's 50 peso bills, and which were once considered divine entities, the "twins" of the Aztec deity Quetzalcoatl—are at "extremely high risk of extinction in the wild." The figures tell it best. In 1998 there were 6,000 axolotls per square ... [Read More]

Apr 2nd, 2025 - "Mudball meteorite" spent 2 million years avoiding collision – until Earth One of the most studied space rocks of all time has given scientists another big surprise, with the "mudball meteorite" Aguas Zarcas found to have been in orbit for two million years without crashing into any other objects – or if it did, there was no damage. It challenges conventional thought of the "fragile" carbonaceous chondrite class it belongs to. This meteorite has captured people's imaginations since it shot through Earth's atmosphere in April 2019, splitting up and raining down on Costa Rica. In ... [Read More]

Apr 2nd, 2025 - Viking was founded in 1997 with the vision that travel could be more destination focused and culturally immersive. The company expanded into the American market in 2000, establishing a sales and marketing office in Los Angeles, California. Since then, Viking has grown to a fleet of more than 90 vessels, offering river, ocean and expedition voyages on all seven continents. Viking provides destination-focused itineraries for curious travelers, with each journey including a shore excursion in every port and an onboard and onshore enrichment program that provides deep immersion in the ... [Read More]

Apr 1st, 2025 - More mammals were living on the ground several million years before the mass extinction event that wiped out the dinosaurs, new research led by the University of Bristol has revealed. The study, published in the journal Palaeontology , provides fresh evidence that many mammals were already shifting toward a more ground-based lifestyle leading up to the asteroid's impact. By analyzing small-fossilized bone fragments, specifically end of limb bones, from marsupial and placental mammals found in Western North America—the only place with a well-preserved terrestrial fossil record from this ... [Read More]