The Search for the Original Silly Goose in the Fossil Record
It’s taken decades, but scientists may have finally found Earth’s first fowl. It started in 1993 on Vega Island, a frigid, windswept rock off the Antarctic Peninsula. A mostly headless…
The Physics That Keeps a Crowd From Becoming a Stampede
Every July, at the opening ceremony of the San Fermín festival signaling the imminent start of the running of the bulls in Pamplona, Spain, more than 5,000 people cram into…
Life’s Building Blocks Lurked Inside NASA’s Bennu Asteroid Samples
Our solar system contains planets, dwarf planets, asteroids and comets — but only one world is known to harbor life. Scientists have long debated whether Earth is truly unique. Perhaps…
Celtic Women Held Sway in ‘Matrilocal’ Societies
A tantalizing vision of a women-centric society has emerged from an ancient cemetery in the bucolic countryside of southwest England. Whereas women commonly left home to join their husbands’ families…