Science & Nature

First game of chess against a computer was played in 1952 by Alan Turing. Because there were no computers powerful enough to actually run the program Alan Turing "ran" the program manually on a piece of paper May 6, 2019

Australia's Great Barrier Reef is being eaten alive by millions of venomous sea stars known as crown-of-thorns starfish (COTS). Scientist have developed a new robot to hunt and kill these sea stars-a murderous, autonomous underwater vehicle called RangerBot. It kills with a single shot of bile May 3, 2019

Squirrels were originally placed in US cities as a way to reconnect city dwellers with nature April 27, 2019

While scientists were analyzing prehistoric worms recovered from permafrost, two 40,000 year old nematodes 'revived' and began moving and eating, making them the oldest multi-cellular life alive on Earth. April 20, 2019

In 1962 two US scientists discovered Peru's highest mountain was in danger of collapsing. When this was made public, the government threatened the scientists and banned civilians from speaking of it. In 1970, during a major earthquake, it collapsed on the town of Yangoy killing 20,000. April 14, 2019

MIT has genetically modified trees to glow in the dark in the hopes of creating a literally green source of light for the future. April 9, 2019

Elephants are a keystone species. They carve pathways through impenetrable under brush shaping entire ecosystems as they create pools in dried river beds and spread seeds as they travel. April 7, 2019

Check out the caveman fused into rock. After extracting the bones sticking out from limestone, researchers believe the Neanderthal fell down a sinkhole around 150,000 years ago. The bones gradually became incorporated into the stalactites left behind by water dribbling down the cave walls. March 28, 2019

Elephants are highly empathetic and generous even towards other species. Once an elephant found a rancher with a broken leg and dragged him under the shade of a tree, guarding him and gently touching him with her trunk March 21, 2019

Of the 5000 or so species of mammals on the planet only female humans have permanent breasts. March 20, 2019

A rare mutation among the Bajau people lets them stay underwater longer: natural selection at the PDE10A gene has increased spleen size in the Bajau, providing them with a larger reservoir of oxygenated red blood cells. March 15, 2019

It's been 125,000 generations since the emergence of human species, 7,500 generations since human physiology reached what is essentially its modern state, 500 generations since the agricultural revolution, and ONLY 20 generations since the scientific revolution! March 10, 2019

Here's a fact about the Murchison meteorite, which fell to earth in 1969. It contained high levels of organic compounds, came from a parent body that had liquid water, and the amino acids it contained could not have been synthesized on earth because they consisted of both left- and right- isomers. March 7, 2019

Jupiter's Great Red Spot is so loud, it's acoustic sound waves heat up the surrounding atmosphere to almost 2400 degrees Fahrenheit March 4, 2019

The reason why we view neanderthals as hunched over and degenerate is that the first skeleton to be found was arthritic. March 2, 2019