Imagination Isn’t Just Memory Replay — Your Brain Rebuilds It From Scratch

Learn how imagination works in the brain and why it may come from higher-level systems, not just a replay of sensory experiences.

Ancient African Workshop Reveals Ironworking Tradition That Was Used for Nearly Eight Centuries

Learn about the discovery of a 2,400-year-old iron-smelting workshop in Senegal, shedding light on the Iron Age in West Africa. 

Aboriginal Cave Paintings of Now-Extinct Tasmanian Tiger May Shift Extinction Timeline

Discover how Indigenous art from less than 1,000 years ago could reshape what we know about the Tasmanian tiger’s disappearance from mainland Australia.

Human Language May Have Started With Just Two Words

Learn how early human language relied on simple verb-noun combinations, and how these structures still survive today as clues to how speech first developed.

3 Apex Predators — Snow Leopards, Wolves, and Leopards — Coexist by Choosing Different Prey

Learn how snow leopards, Himalayan wolves, and leopards share the same habitat in the Himalayas by hunting different prey, allowing multiple apex predators to coexist without direct competition.

500-Million-Year-Old Fossil Reveals a Claw That Rewrites the Origins of Spiders

Learn how a fossil from Utah’s Wheeler Formation reveals where early spider relatives lived, how quickly complex animal body plans emerged after the Cambrian Explosion, and why those traits took millions of years to shape ecosystems.

2,000-Year-Old Pompeii Ash Reveals Romans Burned Incense and Wine From Distant Lands

Learn how researchers decoded 2,000-year-old ash from Pompeii incense burners to reveal imported resins from Africa and Asia, wine-based offerings, and how global trade shaped everyday Roman rituals.

Gentle Handling Improves Baby Chick Welfare by Triggering Positive Emotions

Learn how baby chicks choose spaces linked to gentle human contact — and what this reveals about animal welfare on farms.

April's Full Pink Moon of 2026 Won't Have a Rosy Hue but Will Still Glow — Here's What to Know

Learn more about April's full Pink Moon in 2026, how it got the name, and its cultural significance. 

This All-Female Fish Has Been Cloning Itself for 100,000 Years — and Its DNA Is Still Thriving

Learn how the Amazon molly, an all-female fish that reproduces asexually, uses gene conversion to maintain healthy DNA and survive more than 100,000 years without males.

Seals' Intricate and Sensitive Whiskers Could One Day Help Robotics Navigate In the Dark

Learn how seals move their whiskers to pick up tiny movements in the water — and what this might mean for the future of robotics.

Ghost Forests Could Tell Us Which Coastal Regions Are Vulnerable to Environmental Change

Learn how scientists are studying America’s ghost forests to improve the resilience of coastal habitats.

Saturn's Aurora Instigates a Bizarre Spinning Illusion, Driven by a Nonstop Cycle of Wind and Heat 

Learn how winds in Saturn's upper atmosphere power a continuous aurora, creating misleading changes in the planet's rotation rate.

Bennu Sample Reveals Three Distinct Organic–Mineral Domains Shaped by Ancient Water

Learn how nanoscale scans of Bennu reveal a diverse chemical landscape shaped by ancient water, and reshaping our understanding of early Solar System processes.

66 Million Years Ago, Squid Survived the Dinosaur-Killing Extinction in Deep-Sea Oxygen Refuges — Then Rapidly Evolved

Learn how a new genomic study reveals that squid and cuttlefish survived a mass extinction in deep-sea refuges before rapidly diversifying into modern species.

A Fire Destroyed a Bronze Age Village — but Preserved a 3,500-Year-Old Loom

Learn how a fire preserved an entire weaving setup, giving an unusually detailed look at Bronze Age textile production.

Astronaut's Sudden Loss of Speech Prompted NASA’s First ISS Medical Evacuation

Learn how 4-time space flier Mike Fincke’s medical episode on the International Space Station is still a mystery to doctors.

24 Newly Discovered Species Reveal a New Branch of Life Hidden in the Deep Sea

Learn how researchers discovered a new superfamily living at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean.

New Cicada COVID Variant (BA.3.2) Shows Ability to Evade Immune Defenses

Learn how the new Cicada COVID-19 variant’s spike protein mutations may help it partially evade existing immunity and drive new infections.

Sperm Loses Its Ability to Navigate in Zero Gravity — A Biological Hurdle for Long‑Term Off‑Earth Settlement

Learn how microgravity could affect sperm, fertilization, and embryonic development in space.