Cats overwhelmingly choose to sleep on their left side, a habit researchers say could be tied to survival. This sleep position activates the brain’s right hemisphere upon waking, perfect for detecting danger and reacting swiftly. Left-side snoozing may be more than a preference; it might be evolution’s secret trick.

South Australia’s tiny pygmy bluetongue skink is baking in a warming, drying homeland, so Flinders University scientists have tried a bold fix—move it. Three separate populations were shifted from the parched north to cooler, greener sites farther south. At first the lizards reacted differently—nervous northerners diving for cover, laid-back southerners basking in damp burrows—but after two years most are settling in, suggesting they can ultimately thrive.

Urban wildlife is evolving right under our noses — and scientists have the skulls to prove it. By examining over a century’s worth of chipmunk and vole specimens from Chicago, researchers discovered subtle yet significant evolutionary changes in these rodents’ skulls, seemingly in response to city life.

New research reveals why early human attempts to leave Africa repeatedly failed—until one group succeeded spectacularly around 50,000 years ago. Scientists discovered that before this successful migration, humans began using a much broader range of environments across Africa, from dense forests to harsh deserts. This ecological flexibility, developed over thousands of years, gave them the adaptive edge needed to survive the more difficult exit routes into Eurasia.

Poachers are using a sneaky loophole to bypass the international ivory trade ban—by passing off illegal elephant ivory as legal mammoth ivory. Since the two types look deceptively similar, law enforcement struggles to tell them apart, especially when tusks are carved or polished. But scientists may have found a powerful new tool: stable isotope analysis.

Farming didn t emerge in the Andes due to crisis or scarcity it was a savvy and resilient evolution. Ancient diets remained stable for millennia, blending wild and domesticated foods while cultural innovations like trade and ceramics helped smooth the transition.

Experiments and simulations show Paleolithic paddlers could outwit the powerful Kuroshio Current by launching dugout canoes from northern Taiwan and steering southeast toward Okinawa. A modern crew proved it, carving a Stone-Age-style canoe, then paddling 225 km in 45 hours guided only by celestial cues—demonstrating our ancestors’ daring and mastery of the sea.

Two newly discovered viruses lurking in bats are dangerously similar to Nipah and Hendra, both of which have caused deadly outbreaks in humans. Found in fruit bats near villages, these viruses may spread through urine-contaminated fruit, raising serious concerns. And that’s just the start—scientists found 20 other unknown viruses hiding in bat kidneys.

The shift from lizard-like sprawl to upright walking in mammals wasn’t a smooth climb up the evolutionary ladder. Instead, it was a messy saga full of unexpected detours. Using new bone-mapping tech, researchers discovered that early mammal ancestors explored wildly different postures before modern upright walking finally emerged—much later than once believed.

Leafcutter ants live in highly organized colonies where every ant has a job, and now researchers can flip those jobs like a switch. By manipulating just two neuropeptides, scientists can turn defenders into nurses or gardeners into leaf harvesters. These same molecular signals echo in naked mole-rats, revealing a deep evolutionary link in how complex societies function, even across species. The study also teases out a possible connection to insulin and longevity, hinting at new frontiers in understanding human behavior and lifespan.

Lichen from the Mojave Desert has stunned scientists by surviving months of lethal UVC radiation, suggesting life could exist on distant planets orbiting volatile stars. The secret? A microscopic “sunscreen” layer that protects their vital cells—even though Earth’s atmosphere already filters out such rays.

Wildfires don’t just leave behind scorched earth—they leave a toxic legacy in Western rivers that can linger for nearly a decade. A sweeping new study analyzed over 100,000 water samples from more than 500 U.S. watersheds and revealed that contaminants like nitrogen, phosphorus, organic carbon, and sediment remain elevated for up to eight years after a blaze.

Over 300 million years ago, Earth experienced powerful bursts of carbon dioxide from natural sources—like massive volcanic eruptions—that triggered dramatic drops in ocean oxygen levels. These ancient "carbon burps" led to dangerous periods of ocean anoxia, which stalled marine biodiversity and potentially reshaped entire ecosystems. In a groundbreaking study, scientists combined high-tech climate models with deep-ocean sediment analysis to pinpoint five such events. The alarming part? Today's human-driven CO₂ emissions are skyrocketing at speeds hundreds of times faster than those ancient upheavals—raising urgent questions about how modern oceans, particularly coastal zones rich in marine life, might react.

Southern resident killer whales have been caught on drone video crafting kelp tools to groom one another—an unprecedented behavior among marine mammals. This suggests a deeper social and cultural complexity in these endangered whales than scientists previously realized.

Two Ice Age wolf pups once thought to be early dogs have been identified as wild wolves, thanks to detailed DNA and chemical analysis. Surprisingly, their last meals included woolly rhinoceros meat—an unusually large prey item—hinting that ancient wolves might have been bigger than today’s. Their well-preserved bodies also shed light on wolf pack behavior and Ice Age environments.

Exploration for deep-sea minerals in the Clarion Clipperton Zone threatens to disrupt an unexpectedly rich ecosystem of whales and dolphins. New studies have detected endangered species in the area and warn that mining noise and sediment could devastate marine life that relies heavily on sound. With so little known about these habitats, experts urge immediate assessment of the risks.

DNA from a skull found at Newgrange once sparked theories of a royal incestuous elite in ancient Ireland, but new research reveals no signs of such a hierarchy. Instead, evidence suggests a surprisingly egalitarian farming society that valued collective living and ritual.

Ancient coral fossils from the remote Seychelles islands have unveiled a dramatic warning for our future—sea levels can rise in sudden, sharp bursts even when global temperatures stay steady.

In a remarkable twist of science, researchers have transformed a fungus long associated with death into a potential weapon against cancer. Found in tombs like that of King Tut, Aspergillus flavus was once feared for its deadly spores. Now, scientists at Penn and several partner institutions have extracted a new class of molecules from it—called asperigimycins—that show powerful effects against leukemia cells. These compounds, part of a rare group known as fungal RiPPs, were bioengineered for potency and appear to disrupt cancer cell division with high specificity.

A Rice University team discovered that bubbling CO₂ through a mild acid dramatically improves the lifespan and efficiency of electrochemical devices that convert CO₂ into useful fuels. This simple trick prevents salt buildup—a major barrier to commercialization—by altering local chemistry just enough to keep salts dissolved and flowing. The result? A device that ran for over 4,500 hours without clogging, using common catalysts and scalable technology. It's a breakthrough that could make green CO₂ conversion far more viable in the real world.