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Sharks are primordial beings that have existed long before the first trees emerged on Earth. Around 450 million years ago, during the Late Ordovician period, small scales termed dermal denticles hinted at the early existence of sharks or their ancestors. Although fossilized jaws or skeletons are absent, these scales represent vital evidence for the ancient […]

In 1997, forest ecologist Suzanne Simard undertook a pioneering experiment in British Columbia that has subsequently impacted both scientific inquiry and public perceptions of forest ecosystems. By encasing paper birch and Douglas fir seedlings in plastic chambers, she provided each species with unique isotopes of carbon dioxide—carbon-14 for one and carbon-13 for the other. After […]

Roger Fielding directs a muscle physiology laboratory at Tufts University. In a research study he collaborated on with Walter Frontera and others, the team conducted muscle biopsies on the same cohort of older volunteers on two separate occasions, 8.9 years apart, and assessed both whole-muscle strength and the contractile characteristics of individual muscle fibers. At […]

The two-ton block of ice made its way to the Iowa State Memorial Union via a refrigerated truck. It had been sourced from the Portage Glacier near Anchorage a few days prior by a team of US Navy scuba divers, retrieved by helicopter, flown to Anchorage airport, placed on a commercial flight to Minneapolis, and […]

When the Soviet Venera 13 lander arrived on Venus in 1982, it operated for 127 minutes before the planet’s conditions overwhelmed it. The surface environment of Venus is so extreme that it can destroy equipment within hours, with the maximum functioning time for a successful Soviet lander limited to just a few hours. Venus exhibits […]

Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh were compelled to discard Kafka. They were constructing a reading experiment and required a book from which volunteers would lose interest, yet The Trial consistently captivated participants. Jane Austen provided the solution. Sense and Sensibility was chosen instead. Psychologist Erik Reichle selected it for being sufficiently easy to tune […]

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In 1933, northern China was steeped in a tumultuous era of Japanese occupation. A laborer involved in the construction of the Dongjiang Bridge over the Songhua River in Harbin discovered an extraordinary skull. Aware of its potential importance, he chose not to turn it over to the authorities because of the prevailing geopolitical tensions, opting […]