Science News

When you think about the history of humans and cats, you probably conjure up thoughts of Egyptian pharaohs and their pampered pets. But now researchers think that cats might have been taking the first steps toward domest...

Touted as a promising alternative energy source for decades, solar panels crown rooftops and roadside signs, and help keep spacecraft powered. But how do solar panels work?

Some doctors have used the diabetes drug metformin to treat obesity in children, even if they don't have diabetes, but a new study suggests that the drug may not help non-diabetic kids and teens lose weight over the long...

Home In A Day wikihouse.cc On a cold, gray day in central London, Alastair Parvin is staring at a coffeepot, or what used to be one before he took it apart to clean it. The appliance lies strewn across an office table, a...

The dominant narrative in any climate change discussion is often the shrinking of the polar ice caps. According to this account, polar ice will disappear in the next few decades, leaving polar bears scrambling for the fe...

Exposure to "dog dust," or the dried flakes of skin that fall from Fido, may protect against developing allergies and asthma in later life by altering intestinal bacteria, a new study in mice suggests.

Named for its use in the process of koshering (or removing blood from meat) in accordance with Jewish dietary laws, kosher salt has a large grain size and lower sodium content per tablespoon than most common table salts.

Researchers have discovered what appears to be flowing water near the equator of Mars. The water may flow during certain seasons and while it may be tempting to immediately launch a research mission to these locations, t...

There are more snowy owls in the eastern United States than at any time in at least 50 years. That may be because there are fewer lemmings up north, or perhaps more snow than usual.

An ancient "Snowball Earth" episode in which much of the globe was covered in ice could have been triggered by the weathering of volcanic rocks, which took heat-trapping carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere.

Scientists now have a male to match the largest female spider fossil ever found, but the discovery complicates the original interpretation of the species.

Early human cousins, the Neanderthals, may have intentionally buried their dead, a new excavation suggests. Neanderthals might have had the mental capacity to conduct symbolic behaviors, such as creating graves.

Cats lived amongst Chinese villagers 5,300 years ago, new research finds. The kitties may or may not have been domesticated, but likely helped village farmers keep rodents out of their grain stores.

A megaflood may have washed across what is now Idaho nearly 50,000 years ago, carving a gorge like those seen on Mars -- a discovery that could shed light on ancient geological processes on both planets.

Are modern humans the only species that has ever created graves, tombs and cemeteries? New research suggests the answer is no: Neanderthals also may have intentionally buried their dead.

A remote Polynesian island apparently invented a mixed binary numeral system centuries before mathematician Leibniz, in order to facilitate quick mental math to distribute goods in their trading system.

As the saying goes, "water, water everywhere" -- well, maybe not exactly everywhere.

Inhabitants of Mangareva island spoke the language of computers centuries before the first programmer was born, creating their own fusion of binary and decimal systems     

The European Space Agency, ESA, is getting ready for the launch of Gaia. The surveyor will launch on Dec. 19 and its primary objective will be to observe the Milky Way and a billion stars.

Borax is a naturally occurring mineral powder, which consists of soft, colorless crystals. The mineral is an important compound of the element boron, and goes by a number of scientific names, including sodium borate and ...

The internet giant Google has quietly amassed a portfolio of eight companies that build robots, with more to come. But what is it planning?     

HEL MD Set Up Outside This truck has a freakin' laser on it. U.S. Army photo Named by someone who clearly hated Maryland, the High Energy Laser Mobile Demonstrator (HEL MD) hit 90 incoming mortar rounds and UAVs with a 1...