Newly-analyzed data from the Cassini space probe has revealed that Saturn is losing material from its visually stunning ring system at a rapid rate, due to an effect cased by the planet’s wide-reaching magnetic field that produces what NASA is calling “ring rain”. The rapid loss of material has alsoread more
A team of researchers from Brazil, Japan and the US may have solved the mystery regarding how the evolution of verbal language as used by humans got its start, using the connection between ancient cave art and the acoustic properties of the caves that they are found in. The authorsread more
The oceans of Planet Earth are warming at a much faster rate than previously thought–forty percent faster–according to a new report, with 2018 being the hottest year on record for the planet’s aquasphere. Using improved data collected through a worldwide network of automated robotic probes, the report also adds evidenceread more
The growing international ban on the trade of ivory from elephant tusks has been increasing the focus on harvesting the illicit material from an unusual source: the tusks of long-extinct mammoths, preserved in the frozen Siberian tundra. Out of the 72 tons of mammoth ivory exported by Russia in 2017, 80 percent was to China–the world’s largest market for the substance–and now that China has instituted a ban on their ivory trade, the market for frozen mammoth tusks may be heating up.
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